THINQon : Touch HD

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Hugh Dupin

Touch HD

Latest Post: May 28, 2009 at 5:10 PM

26 followers

http://www.electronista.com/articles/08/09/15/htc.touch.hd/

An article about the HTC cell phone dubbed “Touch HD.” It gives its technical details – 3.8 inch screen with resolution of 800x480 pixels, GPS, Wifi, HSDPA-based 3G data, Edge, Quad Band GSM, EDGE, 5 megapixels camera, a front camera for video calls, and microSDHC storage.

I wanted to bring this article, which is a bit old by now but was in my bookmarks, for a discussion; a discussion on the effects of such phones. I would imagine that having such a phone, such a pretty phone, would make you want to use it, to take it out of your pocket – why have something so nice and never touch it, never play with it. But then what do you do? You talk on the phone, you are using a headset, you’re not really interacting with the phone. You SMS, now that’s better. You look at the GPS, use wifi, and play a game at the same time, even better. Throw in taking pictures of your friends with it, and now you’re talking.

What is my point? How much of cell phone use is derived from it being a fetish, beautiful, object? Cell phones are bad for you, unless you missed the memo, similarly to cigarettes, but that didn’t stop people from smoking in order to achieve a certain image. Cell phones started with an image (of being rich), and continue with it, and like cigarettes the image is so ingrained in society that you like that image even only for yourself when no one else is around. It is built by films, commercials, everywhere around you.

Now, don’t get me wrong. Cell phones are obviously extremely useful, and the reason I bookmarked this article is I would want this phone (though I’m not going to get it). Its big screen seems to enable you to carry a tiny laptop with you. That’s nice. But I’m also aware that having such a thing would really make me want to use it, and you know what, I rarely need to. Who actually needs all these things? There are business people who do, but they buy different kinds of phones mostly. The people who buy the iphones are usually people who do not need almost any of these features, but they will use them in order to get a chance to use the phone, and to be seen using it – and they’ll get hooked on it. Addicted.

(I’m just remembering a very nice conversation on Caravaggio’s Medusa I’ve been following, and the dangers of beauty. e.g.posts: post post )
The enchantment of beauty and the image enters our life so seamlessly.

How much then do you think we use things simply in order to play with them, to interact with them, to touch (HD) them?

This post is referenced by the following other contributors:

Roy Snider	in "Being smart at selecting a smart phone / Being smart at selecting a smart phone"	(Gadget Room)
Hugh Dupin	in "What to do about cell phones?"	(Gadget Room)

Reply to:

Solveig Wright, Where to begin?

May 28, 2009 at 5:10 PM

32 followers

You mention the word "fetish," but perhaps we can go further and take "fetish" in the religious (cultic) sense of an inanimate object believed to have special powers. Perhaps this sheds light on the bizarre behavior of people who suddenly find themselves separated from this source of power, people who wander around dazed without their GPS when previously they could navigate fairly well impromptu, or who suddenly find themselves unable to make a simple decision without plugging into the collective mind and calling a friend.

The connection to cigarettes is also interesting. I'll point out (only half as a joke) that the obsession with cell phones followed on the heels of major US cities' banning smoking in public places...