Where Are All The App Phones?
Monday 18 August 2014 • 4:38 PM
In David Pogue’s 4 November 2009 column, he highlighted a linguistic conundrum facing the mobile industry:
“Smartphone” is too limited. A smartphone is a cellphone with e-mail — an old BlackBerry, a Blackjack, maybe a Treo. This new category — somewhere between cellphones and laptops, or even beyond them — deserves a name of its own.
I invited suggestions on Twitter. The best came from @mentalworkout: “app phone.” Bingo. Apps distinguish iPhonish phones from mere smartphones, so “app phones” it is.
Sadly, this is the only time I ever remember hearing this term. It’s a shame that it didn’t catch on, because I think Pogue’s analysis of the term “smartphone” is spot-on. And I would go further, arguing that even “dumb phones” are smart. They have GPS, allowing authorities to determine your precise location anywhere on the planet. They can make phone calls from practically anywhere on the planet wirelessly. They can send SMS messages. They can take pictures. And, in their own crude way, they can get onto the internet. Sounds pretty smart to me.
The other synonym for “dumb phone” is the (probably) more widely used “feature phone.” That term is even more confusing– app phones and dumb phones both have various features and hence, can justifiably be labeled “feature phone.”
I still try to use this term, even though it usually yields quizzical looks. I don’t care. I’m a technology snob and an linguistic snob. That doesn’t mean the two aren’t mutually exclusive. Long live the app phone!