- Image by runnx via Flickr
Currently on the Web, there is a lot of discussion about phones, particularly smartphones.
I decided, in honor of this discussion, to do the following today: Go up to a few people and start chatting them up about their phones (particularly if they had a smartphone) and try to count how many smartphones I saw.
I managed to engage to youngish men, somewhere in there mid-twenties to early thirties, about their phones. One was a IPhone user, the other had a Blackberry Curve by the looks of it. The subway, apparently, if you are unafraid of these sorts of things, are great places to engage in these sorts of five minute chats. You get lots of information.
The IPhone carrier, was a bit brusk with me. However, I got him to admit that he only has One game one his phone. (I asked him how many games he had on his phone: Two, the game he was playing, sort of puzzle/time game involving water, and solitaire). He was playing it to pass the time on the subway, which has no reception. I asked him what he primarily what he used it for, the first word out of his mouth was email, though he looked at me curiously…
The second young man, who apparently works at Oppenheimer(he was carrying a bag and I asked him about it), admitted the Blackberry was his, and that it had no Internet. We got into a discussion about the amount of people who pull out there phones on trains. He admited he was trying to text message his friends, and that he feels it is a natural reaction for him to always be checking the phone for a SMS. He even uses it as a pocket watch, and feels very attached to looking at the screen. He hopes that the same technology in Chicago that brings cell service underground will come to NYC soon.
A third obervation: As I was taking the train home, between Manhattan and Jamaica Station (LIRR) I was sitting in the train on the facing to each other seats, in one of the old school cars (those in the know, know what I am talking about). The configuration seats 10 people, of which 6 were filled. After the train gets out of the “tunnels,” or the space between Manhattan and Long Island (underground), every person took out thier cellphone. All barring one person was carrying a Blackberry, and all of these Blackberry users were using them heavily. For what I don’t know, but it was an interesting observation, and one worth noting.
So if you haven’t taken your phone out on public transportation, and it is a smartphone, you are in fact, a bit strange.
(Note that this train was mostly tail end commuters, in the NYC metro area. This area is considered wealthier than average to the rest of the US, and it may show up in adoption of technology and purchasing habits, though it is worth noting that wealth is considered a leading edge of middle class behavior in the US)
(Also note that middle class costs a lot more in the NYC metro area, and that if these are leading indicators of anything, it would be good to know.)
Smartphone Tipoffs on the Street
Currently on the Web, there is a lot of discussion about phones, particularly smartphones.
I decided, in honor of this discussion, to do the following today: Go up to a few people and start chatting them up about their phones (particularly if they had a smartphone) and try to count how many smartphones I saw.
I managed to engage to youngish men, somewhere in there mid-twenties to early thirties, about their phones. One was a IPhone user, the other had a Blackberry Curve by the looks of it. The subway, apparently, if you are unafraid of these sorts of things, are great places to engage in these sorts of five minute chats. You get lots of information.
The IPhone carrier, was a bit brusk with me. However, I got him to admit that he only has One game one his phone. (I asked him how many games he had on his phone: Two, the game he was playing, sort of puzzle/time game involving water, and solitaire). He was playing it to pass the time on the subway, which has no reception. I asked him what he primarily what he used it for, the first word out of his mouth was email, though he looked at me curiously…
The second young man, who apparently works at Oppenheimer(he was carrying a bag and I asked him about it), admitted the Blackberry was his, and that it had no Internet. We got into a discussion about the amount of people who pull out there phones on trains. He admited he was trying to text message his friends, and that he feels it is a natural reaction for him to always be checking the phone for a SMS. He even uses it as a pocket watch, and feels very attached to looking at the screen. He hopes that the same technology in Chicago that brings cell service underground will come to NYC soon.
A third obervation: As I was taking the train home, between Manhattan and Jamaica Station (LIRR) I was sitting in the train on the facing to each other seats, in one of the old school cars (those in the know, know what I am talking about). The configuration seats 10 people, of which 6 were filled. After the train gets out of the “tunnels,” or the space between Manhattan and Long Island (underground), every person took out thier cellphone. All barring one person was carrying a Blackberry, and all of these Blackberry users were using them heavily. For what I don’t know, but it was an interesting observation, and one worth noting.
So if you haven’t taken your phone out on public transportation, and it is a smartphone, you are in fact, a bit strange.
(Note that this train was mostly tail end commuters, in the NYC metro area. This area is considered wealthier than average to the rest of the US, and it may show up in adoption of technology and purchasing habits, though it is worth noting that wealth is considered a leading edge of middle class behavior in the US)
(Also note that middle class costs a lot more in the NYC metro area, and that if these are leading indicators of anything, it would be good to know.)
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