Despite the many features and the dominance of iPhones and Smartphones, the brick and flip phones have not totally disappeared.
Ericcson, Motorola and Nokia brick phones, such as the famous Nokia 3310 are making a comeback in Europe, while Samsung flip phones are making a comeback in South Korea.
So despite the many features and dominance of the iPhone and Smartphone, older phones are making a resurgence. So what other devices that can easily be found in iPhones and Smartphones that will never die out?
1. Alarm Clock Radios
The alarm clock radio hasn’t completely disappeared, it is still being sold in plenty of stores in Australia such as Dick Smith and Harvey Norman. However with everyone checking their emails on their Smartphones before bed and with every phone fitted with alarms, more and more people are using their phones to wake themselves up rather than serene music.
2. Egg and Cooking Timers
Timing is extremely important when cooking, too little time and food is not cooked, too much time and food can turn into ash. Not all phones come with a timer, but it is easy enough to buy a timer app. That being said, if you’re on the phone or in the middle of texting, sometimes it is more convenient to buy an egg timer from the supermarket.
3. Games
You can buy video game, card game and board game apps on almost any Smartphone or iPhone. However the thrill of beating your family at Monopoly on a Sunday afternoon or the inevitably of hurting your thumbs when using PlayStation and Xbox controls will never die. Nothing beats seeing the look on my father’s face when I beat him at Ludo.
4. Maps
Most commonly seen on a GPS screen now rather than struggle with a hard copy, GPS apps are a good back-up in case the GPS in your car dies. While most people won’t chose to battle with hardcopy maps anymore, their existence and need for them haven’t died out.
5. The Notepad
I love Microsoft Office on my Smartphone, it’s the reason why I bought it, however it can be a bit of pain to take notes on. While it’s great to have Microsoft office on your Smartphone or to save messages as drafts, sometimes writing things down on a piece of paper is easier than writing on a virtual one.
This is a listicle I wrote for the UOWTV Multimedia website as chief topic editor in Week 12 of Newsroom 3 on Wednesday May 28th 2014. The published version of this article can be found here.
All images were taken from Google Images.
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