Poll: Should cellphones be called something else now?

[King of the Sandbox]

Pretty basic question here; since cellphones are now basically personal computers/cameras/phones/etc, kinda like Leela's arm thingy, should they be called something else?

I'm shooting for Coms. It's got a good sci-fi history, it's short (for communicators, obviously) and easy to remember and it lets you do just as the name implies, in many new ways, instead of just audibly, like a phone.

 

[Mr. Grey]

Communicative Personal Digital Assistant.

CPDA for short.

 

[Fraught]

It wouldn't really make a difference to me anyway.

I agree. It just wouldn't make any difference to me.

So I picked the "Stop changing everything!" option, because, really. STOP CHANGING EVERYTHING!

 

[Downfall89]

In Australia they are called Mobile Phones. And that is what they are; mobile phones. Why should we change it?

 

[King of the Sandbox]

In Australia they are called Mobile Phones. And that is what they are; mobile phones. Why should we change it?

Well, ok, Mobile/cell differences aside, the reason I'd like to see it changed is because they do so much more now, as I mentioned in the OP. It's like calling a modern car a horseless carriage. It's kinda silly, because while in the past, yes, that's what it was, it's now so much more, what with phones in them, GPS, HUDs, electrical outlets, etc, etc.

That's what I was getting at.

 

[Hiroshi Mishima]

I actually do think that they need to change the name but for one simple reason: They're not really phones anymore.

They play games, music, movies, email, oh and they happen to have a calling feature. If anything they're just the less interesting versions of PETs (PErsonal Terminals) from Rockman.EXE (aka Battle Network for those silly people who think that's all it is).

I'm still waiting for the day my "cell phone" has a cute artificial intelligence inside of it that I can chat with for company, help me out when I'm stumped, and then jack into the computer to tell me what the bloody hell is wrong with it in ENGLISH terms and not the made-up language of Microsoft error messages.

But knowing people today they'd just use Net Navi's for porn and hentai. *sigh* I hate humanity so much right now..

 

[SimuLord]

My phone is exactly that---a phone. I don't want it to be an email client, a gaming platform, a personal assistant, or anything other than a way to get pizza without having to walk to the pizza place.

 

[King of the Sandbox]

My phone is exactly that---a phone. I don't want it to be an email client, a gaming platform, a personal assistant, or anything other than a way to get pizza without having to walk to the pizza place.

See? that's what a phone should be. Having different monikers for the bells-and-whistles version would alleviate confusion, methinks.

I actually do think that they need to change the name but for one simple reason: They're not really phones anymore.

They play games, music, movies, email, oh and they happen to have a calling feature.

Exactly.

 

[manaman]

They have already been trying to differentiate regular cellphones from the mobile wonder devices by calling them Smartphones.

It doesn't seem to be catching well since nobody has mentioned this yet.

 

[BonsaiK]

Pretty basic question here; since cellphones are now basically personal computers/cameras/phones/etc, kinda like Leela's arm thingy, should they be called something else?

I'm shooting for Coms. It's got a good sci-fi history, it's short (for communicators, obviously) and easy to remember and it lets you do just as the name implies, in many new ways, instead of just audibly, like a phone.

I live in Australia. We never use the phrase "cell phone" here, if you started talking about a cell phone here people might think you're in the overnight lockup for drunk and disorderly behaviour and you want to make a call to your lawyer.

We call them mobile phones here (often shortened to just "mobile"), and the fancier ones we call camera/walkman phones (depending on which feature is more prominent) or PDAs (Personal Digital Assistant). The iPhone just gets called an iPhone, probably because it's in a unique category of gimmicky uselessness all its own.

 

[joshuaayt]

I vote we stop calling them 'mobile' phones over here; seeing as wireless landlines are also 'mobile', although in a different way.
Let's call them Communicative Electro-Magnetic Wave Generators, EMG's for short.

 

[King of the Sandbox]

They have already been trying to differentiate regular cellphones from the mobile wonder devices by calling them Smartphones.

It doesn't seem to be catching well since nobody has mentioned this yet.

That's because it still has phone in it, and giving just one app of the product as the name is well, imo... kinda stupid.

 

[Snork Maiden]

I like calling it a phone. If I'm gonna use a phone for something other than phoning I normally straight up say "could you pass me your camera" while gesturing at their phone. This is quicker than "pass me your comms", "what for?", "to use the camera."

Also it'd absolutely nothing like car/horseless carriage, because "phone" isn't a big ugly unwieldy word.

 

[King of the Sandbox]

I like calling it a phone. If I'm gonna use a phone for something other than phoning I normally straight up say "could you pass me your camera" while gesturing at their phone. This is quicker than "pass me your comms", "what for?", "to use the camera."

Also it'd absolutely nothing like car/horseless carriage, because "phone" isn't a big ugly unwieldy word.

Trust me, I've had tons of people ask me "What for?" when I as for something with a single purpose. I don't think it's limited to phones.

And the point with the horseless carriage thing was to imply how the meaning is no longer needed, not the weildy-ness of the word itself, because I would agree with you in that respect.

 

[Fortunefaded]

My phone is exactly that---a phone. I don't want it to be an email client, a gaming platform, a personal assistant, or anything other than a way to get pizza without having to walk to the pizza place.

Agreed.

I personally feel I'm surrounded by technology in nearly every facet of my life and because of this I abhor mobile phones that are anything but a mobile phone.

I see where OP is comming from and the names for mobile phones are changing. Well maybe not the names but the type of phones and how new generations see them. Smart phones for example, if I walk into any phone shop on the highstreet they have phones seperated between mobile, smart phones and Iphones.

No need for a name change for the standard mobile/cell, anything else is just uneccessary marketing, coining new buzzwords to shift more handsets.

In Australia they are called Mobile Phones. And that is what they are; mobile phones. Why should we change it?

[Mobile phones]it's now so much more, what with phones in them, GPS, HUDs, electrical outlets, etc, etc.

That's what I was getting at.

You are assuming everyone has a smart phone. My phone is basic with the features that are 'standard' now a days but selling points ten years ago!

 

[Ickorus]

PDA, that's pretty much what they are now.

 

[Signa]

I'm not sure what the definition of "cellular" is in the context of phones (small?), but I doubt that word properly encompasses what cell/mobile phones are today. COMs does sound cool. Too cool to catch on.

 

[SextusMaximus]

Here they're called Mobiles. It's very suitable, because they're mobile...