Cola phones are too futuristic apparently.

[ace_of_something]

More than anything, this is a testament to just how gross CocaCola is.

 

[Doug]

So this got me thinking. Are companies actually holding back progress instead of helping it?

Yes. I thought that one was fairly obvious. Ok, some companies try and push things forward, but frankly most companies form unspoken cartels. Why do you think MP3's cost as much as they do? Why do you think the banks get away with often frankly ridiculous charges? Why do you think the UK gas and petrol companies get away with increasing price when the price of gas and petrol goes up, but not putting it back down when it goes down again?

Its because they all have unspoken agreements that they are "On to a Good Thing" and by working together, they remove the need to compete. Even more so, if they don't bother to innovate, they save research and development costs, meaning they all win whilst shafting the customer...

erm...
/rant

And my other question is... will the phone run off tea? Because that would be awesome.

Doesn't look like it.

 

[johnman]

Funny thing is, I kind of wonder if, in the long run, if this concept could actually be more damaging to the environment. I mean think about it: the phone runs on sugar, right. That means if everyone had one, we'd need a shitload of sugar to power them. To meet that demand, sugar farmers would need more cropland, probably destroying wilderness in the process and reducing biodiversity at an even greater rate. And heaven forbid that the sugar comes from corn, driving food prices up. It's the ethanol debacle all over again!

Coke currently drain massive reserves of water in Africa

 

[Simalacrum]

I think what Nokia are saying is that the phone still needs significant time for further development, and they require a product which can be developed and mass-produced within 2 years (the article says that the phone could be built within 5 years, which isn't what the company was looking for).

However, it does seem odd that Nokia didn't at the very least take on the project for the longer-term manufacturing instead...

 

[Starnerf]

Pepsi is the undisputed king of cola flavor. UNDISPUTED. Don't even try to dispute. You will be wrong.

Zeeky disputes, is not proven wrong because of the power of statistics, more people like coca cola etc.

Now, don't even argue past that point, because after the statistics there is only subjectivity.

All that proves is that better flavor doesn't translate into better results on opinion polls. Correlation != Causation.

 

[RanD00M]

Everyone knows Coke is the best.

I don´t know.Coke never had a delicious Lime taste,did it?

OT:I'll take 8.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

So this got me thinking. Are companies actually holding back progress instead of helping it?

All the time.

A lot of companies buy up and sit on patents for years and years, other times its just wouldn't be profitable to produce certain tech even though it would greatly improve everyones quality of life.

Think about the cure for AIDS, is there actually any money in it? The citizens of African countries can barely afford simple drugs. No way in hell could the average African AIDS sufferer afford the price of an AIDs cure.

Besides drug companies make enough money treating western sufferers with the huge daily cocktails of drugs they need.

In business you only do something if it will turn a good profit within a reasonable timeframe. They're never interested in the technological progress of humanity.

They aren't evil for doing so, its just that the pursuit of pure profit is the only way they can continue to exist.

That makes me sad...

 

[Sneaklemming]

Too futuristic? Says the people who already released an R&D ad for Nano-tech phones?!

Seriously, theyve got people thinking about how to use nanotechnology in phones!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IX-gTobCJHs

 

[somekindarobot]

Funny thing is, I kind of wonder if, in the long run, if this concept could actually be more damaging to the environment. I mean think about it: the phone runs on sugar, right. That means if everyone had one, we'd need a shitload of sugar to power them. To meet that demand, sugar farmers would need more cropland, probably destroying wilderness in the process and reducing biodiversity at an even greater rate. And heaven forbid that the sugar comes from corn, driving food prices up. It's the ethanol debacle all over again!

Coke currently drain massive reserves of water in Africa

You mean India? Because that's the only one I see that has the water reserve issue with Coca Cola. Besides, I presume that the device doesn't need Coke in particular, just any sort of sugar water would probably do.

 

[AplChild]

Pepsi is the undisputed king of cola flavor. UNDISPUTED. Don't even try to dispute. You will be wrong.

You See, by disputing it I have created a paradox because you say it's undisputed. So maybe I'm wrong but YOU good sir, have been sucked into a poorly explained portal.

 

[Kif]

I don't think the article tells the full story, somehow I doubt that Nokia would have just said 'it's too futuristic' or have any reason to turn it down because of lost money on chargers and batteries... which, though high in margin probably don't sell very much and if this phone were mass produced they could hike up the cost to cover loss purely because well... it runs on freaking soft drinks. In fact if they were really clever they would develop a longer lasting solution to sell.

People will still want to upgrade their phones as regularly as they do, in the large part due to contracts, or just better technology the battery has never played a part in my decision to upgrade. Though battery life often plays a part in what I upgrade to and if Nokia could sell a device that offers 4x a typical battery life I would certainly consider investing in them as I'm sure many would, which makes this battery idea quite lucrative.

Personally, I think that the main reason they would have turned this down is due to manufacturing overheads, developments in manufacturing technology to mass produce such a device, being able to mass produce the enzyme needed, I mean there's all sorts of variables when you take it away from a student's idea and prototype to mass produced phones that could be deemed as 'too futuristic' for current manufacturing techniques.

 

[Britisheagle]

Oh what a load of rubbish. Hope she finds another company that will release the phone.

 

[DP155ToneZone]

Good thread actually.

I comend you.

 

[mattttherman3]

Man this girl should start her own phone company, if I ever win the lottery, me and this guy starting our own phone company.

 

[somekindarobot]

the environmental implications would be no worse, the most it would do would be to spike sales of Cola drinks, which would really only give them more money to build sugar farms in 3rd world countries. no real environment problems, just ethical, a cake walk for big companies.

But my point was that in making those sugar farms, acres upon acres of wild habitat would be destroyed. And that's assuming they're using real sugar. In the US, they use corn syrup, and if they continued to do so it would drive up food prices. Again (again referencing ethanol fiasco).

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Good thread actually.

I comend you.

Thank you... I try.