Cell Phone Design
Those who know me are probably surprised at this entry giving credit to a huge corporation--but good design is good design. I am a designer and I care about design in all kinds of applications. And certainly we benefit on the rare occasions when something mass produced is exceedingly well-designed.The object of my admiration is the Motorola PEBL. Unfortunately, I live in a fringe area and it worked only fitfully. But, I am definitely in the minority on that score.
This object--the minute you wrap your hand around it--just feels right. About the area of a pack of cigarettes but half as thick, its slight ly grippy surface attracts your skin and almost seems to bond with it.
The user-interface is spectacular. (I've used 3 other cell phones--Kyocera, Motorola W300, and Nokia 6103.) By far this interface surpasses all of them. It was only the 2nd phone I used, but the navigation was almost intuitive. The screen was large and extremely clear. But, sadly, for me, it didn't work in the mountains--or rather the hollows of Vermont. The pain of giving it up was almost physical. The next one I tried was the W300, and not only did it also not receive well, but the interface was incredibly clumsy and non-intuitive. I was happy that it did not work and could hardly wait to turn it in.
The one I have now, the Nokia, is satisfactory. The interface is okay, except I really, really hate the use of icons as opposed to text. But, it does operate well in my difficult area.
2007-05-20 06:51:36
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