

Scott Adams: Phone - cwan
http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/phone/

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amirmc
Side note:

 _> "When my so-called phone rings, my first reaction is "Shit. What's wrong
now?" ..."_

This is so true. Partly because we've trained our contacts this way. I only
ring people when it's 'important' (read: shit+fan) and tend to expect the same
in return.

It's odd since a 30 second phone call can usually replace 10 minutes of back
and forth over email (albeit without the paper-trail).

~~~
glhaynes
I saw somebody not too long ago say something like "I wonder if 30 years from
now, ringing someone on the phone will be considered as rude as we now
consider showing up on their doorstep unannounced to be".

~~~
jbrennan
It is. It is and it always has been. Because since we've all had phones, we've
been under a social contract with them. When the phone rings, you have about
30 seconds to choose between being ripped out of your current focus (work,
reading, eating, in-person conversation, etc.) or to not answer at all (which
can come off as rude).

Sure, caller-ID and voicemail have mitigated these problems somewhat, but at
the very least your concentration is broken when the telephone rings. Email
and other textual messaging are much less invasive and you respond _when you
choose_.

Having said that, I do find some rare cases where a phone conversation is
better than a textual one (complex but short instructions, for example).

~~~
sprout
Not quite. If I'm, for example, naked in front of my computer, a phone call is
not as big a problem as someone at my door.

Especially if there are windows next to my door and the only path to my
clothes goes in front of the door. (Just speaking hypothetically here.)

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powrtoch
Not that I don't like Scott Adams' blog, but every time I see (dilbert.com), I
get my hopes up that just this once it'll be an actual comic.

~~~
lincolnq
Really? I'm quickly learning to expect it'll be an interesting blog post
instead of a boring recycled-joke office comic.

~~~
olliesaunders
I still like his comics, but yes, his writing is excellent.

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msg
Whenever someone wonders in conversation who won the Battle of Trafalgar or
how to get to Safeco Field by bus, I always say the same thing:

"That's the kind of question I ask the magic box."

For me this thing means knowledge. It's the oracle, the multitool, the utility
belt, the mystic key.

I suggest we all call it "the box".

~~~
auxbuss
The box is already colloquial English for the TV, as in, "What's on the box
tonight?".

~~~
msg
We are starting to call that thing a "screen" in my home, because we might
hook it up to Nintendo, DVD, computer, cable, what have you.

I agree "box" may be a little overloaded but the context will usually make
things clear. There is only one thing you can do with broadcast television:
watch.

We also have "the tube" for broadcast television (a little dated because the
tubes are disappearing), or "cable".

Maybe this is a regional thing though.

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bruceboughton
I like Charlie Brooker's name for them... Jabscreen [1]

Well, at least for a certain class of 'smartphone'

[1]
[http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/05/iphone-4...](http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jul/05/iphone-4-apple-
new)

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joelmichael
Calling it a phone is fine. I don't see why the word can't evolve. These sort
of things happen organically.

However, I liked his observation about the recipient of every phone call being
a "victim."

~~~
jobu
I think we should call it a global communicator link, or "Global" for short.

Points to anyone who knows the reference.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
>This is a replica of the Global Communicator link like they used on Earth
Final Conflict .

Points to anyone who can use Google.

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pkulak
I was down until he got to what he wanted to call it. Really? Can we just
choose something that isn't already tangled up in 50 pounds of sexual
innuendo?

~~~
daychilde
Fifty pounds? You must have _huge_ feet.

But on the topic at hand (as it were): I was hoping for some German-inspired
mashup name, like "Device that allows one person to sometimes hear part of
what another person is saying, no matter where they are, at least 80% of the
time".

Well, now that I type that, I suppose it's not very funny. But arguably more
funny than calling it "head".

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thailandstartup
>We need a new name for that thing

I've always hated Apple like the pox, but I give them this - they made it
fashionable to carry around a pocket computer.

~~~
spatulon
Pocket Computer is the term that sprang to mind as well. Eventually we can
drop the 'pocket' part when it becomes redundant. Alternatively, shorten it to
PC.

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ugh
The widely used colloquial term for mobile phone is „Handy“ (a fake anglicism)
in German. We don’t have that problem.

~~~
parbo
In Sweden we usually call it "mobil", so we don't have the problem either.

~~~
TorbjornLunde
Same in Norway, that being said: when someone says “mobil” people will usually
think of a cellphone and voice communication (or SMS), but that meaning will
probably change.

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bprater
My dad always told me: 'the phone is there for your convenience, not for for
anyone else'. If I don't feel like fielding a call at a given moment, I simply
won't pick up. But I'll take texts or emails anytime!

What about emergencies? A certain protocol exists for friends and family in
double-ringing the phone which always gets me to pick up immediately.

~~~
jedberg
Because my grandmother was insanely cheap, we had this thing where she would
call and hang up after one ring, and then we would call her back. Then the
phone company got priority ringing, so we just wouldn't pick up when she
called.

Anyway, your thing about double-ringing reminded me.

~~~
apu
FYI: "Leaving a missed-call" is a very common thing in India (and perhaps
other countries too).

~~~
iacvlvs
"Leave a missed call" was so popular in South Africa that the networks
implemented "Send a call me", where you send a GSM code with the target
person's phone number and the network sends that person an sms message from
your number with the text "please call me", your number, and an advertisement.
Normally sending messages attracts a charge per SMS but a "please call me" is
free, advertiser supported and limited in how many one can send per day.

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varikin
What about calling them a mobile?

~~~
maqr
This seemed glaringly obvious to me, but I guess he wouldn't have had anything
to write about then.

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lukifer
I've come to start using the term "exobrain", coined by Adams himself:
<http://dilbert.com/blog/entry/exobrain/>

~~~
wanderr
Me too, I think he should stick with that one.

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jiganti
I vote for phone. It just has a different definition now, in a generation or
so nobody will even remember that it was originally something used solely for
voice conversations.

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BerislavLopac
If you're a startup working on a mobile-related software or device, the
comments there are a whole wealth of the ideas for your brand name... Damn,
jeejah.com is taken... ;)

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amanuel
> _"Granted, there could be some confusion if a head is contemplated as a gift
> item, but that's a risk I'm willing to take."_

That's why it fun to read Scott's stuff. Right there in the middle of a
'serious' discussion on finding a new name for a phone he drops this little
LOLbomb.

I think calling it a memex would be interesting as well...going way old
school. ;-)

~~~
bitwize
"Oooooh, a head-bag, those are chock full of... heady goodness!"

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derefr
I like the term "node"—short for "communications node"—as a general term for
things you have in your pocket that give you WAN access. An iPhone is a node
and a computer (nodeputer? interactive node? smartnode?) An iPod Touch is just
a portable computer, and it connects to a MiFi node in my other pocket.

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staunch
More people will have "phone" computers than laptop computers so eventually we
can just refer to "phones" as computers. Laptops can still be laptops or PCs.

~~~
chadmalik
In that light, how about "eartop" or "fingertop"? or maybe "palmtop"? (that
one might have some tm issues).

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derefr
When I hear "palmtop", I free-associate back to "PDA", which is exactly what
they still are. Now they just make phone calls too.

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geuis
Call them jeejaws. That phrase in Anathem just so elegantly wrapped up what
cellphones really are like.

~~~
bitwize
I've heard "joymaker", from an even older SF novel, suggested.

~~~
gxti
Tasp? It's an electrical device that rots your brain by overstimulating it.
Too bad it sounds a little clinical.

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theschwa
Why not just use one of the terms that already in our daily vocabulary like:
Cell or Mobile.

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j-g-faustus
"Phone" is Greek for "voice", so perhaps a different name would be in order.

But neither "mobile" nor "cell" says anything about voice in particular, so I
would think they are suitable terms for "portable communication device
connected to a cellular network" even when the device primarily deals with
non-voice services.

~~~
bdonlan
However "cell" refers to a portion of the infrastructure running the cellular
network, so that's not a good option.

~~~
auxbuss
Node? But it's as about as unwelcoming as name as you could find.

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Qz
It may just stay being called 'phone', the same way a computer is called a
computer.

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JoelMcCracken
Slowly the word will mean something else. That's just how language works.

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mkramlich
my vote for new term:

comm

that's how I think of my iPhone. It's my comm unit. Cross between a Star Trek
communicator, tricorder and portable Spock science console. We just need to
add phaser.

~~~
barkmadley
Seconded. That is what the multi purpose, networked portable device is mostly
used for. Communication.

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bruceboughton
If I were being cynical I might call it a Tether.

~~~
jodrellblank
An informational skyhook?

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Rhapso
I call it my "Exo-brain"

------
noahth
The Oracle

