Are mobile phone makers ignoring the working man?

We have all laughed at the commercials for the Jitterbug. The phone for old people that are afraid of technology. The fact is that they have made insane amounts of money because of catering to a niche that everyone was ignoring. Well I am part of a nice that the mobile phone industry is still ignoring. The working man! I am a proud card carrying member of the Teamsters union (local 252). I have done blue collar work all my life and will probably do this until i die. I can tell you all my co-workers hate their phones. It is always for pretty much the same reasons. Size being the main one.The phones are too small to be functional. I used to be able to use one device for podcasts, mobile web surfing, texting, taking calls, checking email, and even notes for reviews of concerts I go to. Now my phone sits in my backpack for emergency use only. I am spending less and less all the time. You are becoming less and less of a priority.

My current phone is the LG Voyager™ in Titanium. The good news is that the keyboard is the best keyboard I have ever had on a phone. Great for texting, but that is about it. Other than that it really sucks. Keep in mind that I am talking about a phone with the working man in mind. This is not a phone for the 20 something people with desk jockey jobs. Those douches can shove their iHypes up their collective backsides!

    Here are the biggest things that would get me to buy a more expensive phone again:

  • Screen should be bigger than 2.81″ Between half an inch to a full inch bigger would be great.
  • Physical sliding lock to truly lock everything. The one that the LG Voyager™ in Titanium currently has still leads to butt dials.
  • Get rid of the “Say a command” lady or give option to disable until it’s ‘ready for prime time’. I have stopped using my phone for media partly because podcasts are constantly interrupted by that annoying voice that I have grown to hate more than anything.
  • Offer option where user could pay extra to avoid Rhapsody so free podcasts can be played for free without being tricked into charges. You have sold out your customers with Rhapsody and let them scam your customers out of their money. This has lead people to leave you and is bad for business. Dump Rhapsody! They are about as corrupt as it gets and they don’t seem to care about your customers at all. They are the other reason I no longer use my phone for media.
  • Full SD cards since the working man doesn’t have the tweezers or the time for MicoSD
  • Any scroll bars should be at least the width of an index finger to avoid hitting unwanted buttons more often than scrolling (this is the main reason for the bigger screen…functionality)
  • Getting to a browser should be one click and I should be able to default to the non-cached version.
  • Just as with the LG Voyager™ in Titanium , the working man phone should be lateral-clamshell design that hides the full QWERTY keyboard.

Remember with the working man you need to keep it simple. Fancy makes us frustrated and increases tech support calls and online chats like the one below…

Please wait for a Verizon Wireless sales representative to assist you with your order. Thank you for your patience!
Chat InformationA Verizon Wireless online pre-sales specialist has joined the chat. You are now chatting with Delysia
Delysia: Hello. Thank you for visiting our chat service. May I help you with your order today?
You: Wondering if you have any decent sized PDAs yet or if they are all still too tiny to be functional?
Delysia: I’d be happy to help you with that.
Delysia: Hello. Thank you for visiting our chat service. May I help you with your order today?
Delysia: Are you an existing Verizon Wireless customer?
You: yes
You: I have hated my phones for several years because they are too tiny.
Delysia: Excellent!
Delysia: I completely understand.
You: Excellent that I have hated my phones?
Delysia: Are you logged into “My Verizon” with your username and password?
You: NO
You: Never had a reason to. It always ticks me off when I try.
You: Logs me out when I’m trying to look at things.
Delysia: Ok, in order to possible upgrade discounts you be logged in.
You: Good, so no reason to log in then.
You: Now do you have a respectable sized phone?
You: Why would I upgrade if the phones are still tiny?
Delysia: This will give you an opportunity to view all the possible phones.
Delysia: To your liking.
You: Isn’t that what you are there for? You can’t tell me if Verizon has a phone with a screen bigger than 3 inches?
You: You may not know this but customers can view phones without logging in. Just to let you know. ;0
Delysia: Please hold.
Delysia: Please hold on while I check that information.
Delysia: I recommend the Blackberry Curve. The Curve delivers on the BlackBerry® promise with no compromises. BlackBerry push technology is designed to deliver emails to your smartphone as they arrive so you read and respond to them. Its applications work together so you can email a web page to one of your contacts while you’re browsing the web, or listen to music as you read and respond to your emails. VZ Navigator, BroadbandAccess Connect and a 2 megapixel camera round out the total package that the sleek and elegantly-designed Curve offers. This is an awesome smart phone! What do you think about this Blackberry?
You: I have yet to find a good review of that phone. Plus it is even smaller than the phone I have. Are you a robot? You don’t seem to have a clue about your products?
You: You also don’t seem to be even paying attention to what I am asking.
Delysia: I am sorry for the inconvenience.
Delysia: That is the largest screen that we offer at this time.
You: Still only tiny phones then. Getting that question answered was like pulling teeth.

This entire blog post can be shortened to one sentence though. “I want a bigger phone!” It doesn’t need to be some huge brick either. Just big enough to be functional please. I would love to offer my consulting services to any company for free to get a decent phone that works! Contact me.