Assignment 6 - Jeffrey Hertzberg

I tend to not use my cellphone nearly as much as I perceive others using theirs. I actually wouldn't feel too bad abnout not having my phone since I would consider my computer a more primary means of communication for me. The main functions I use my phone for are telling the time, and calling/texting friends on occasion. It is almost a habit to have my cellphone in my left pocket and check the time every once in a while regardless of where I am, so I would feel somewhat empty not being able to do this.

However, just because I do not use my phone, does not mean if I wouldn't use it more if I had a better one. My smart phone would be very similar to phones that are on the market today like a Blackberry. However it would also have a more complex AI. One that could sense where I was, and what my preference for communicatin would be. Then set the phone to vibrate, silent, or different volumes of ringing accordingly. It would also have full access to the internet with a life-sized virtual keyboard it could project. Plus, it could to tell me not only where I was, but how to get to any location from my current one.

There are a few socio-technical gaps that might be encountered using my smart phone. Primarily most people would not understand that my phone was smart and making it so I could not hear their calls/texts at certain times. While a system like this could probably not possibly exist there are still problems with it. At different times in the same situation I might want the phone to perform different settings or communicate to other users what my status is, but others might interpret this the wrong way. Creating the ideal smart phone is out of our reach currently I believe, but with proper design for the user we can bridge some gaps.