What is a phone?

Headline: Seems the old telephone is going by the wayside… Some observations.

Calling from the desktop

For several years now I’ve not used a phone in the office. Instead I used other audio communications like Microsoft’s Lync or Skype. I have an excellent microphone and speaker setup… Or, if needed, I have some good headphones that I tend to use for more sensitive conversations or if I need to be a bit more quiet.

I can do this because I have the Skype plan that will let me make phone calls to cell phones and landlines.

Just this week a friend of mine told me that at their company they pulled out all the phones and in place of them gave everyone a headset to plug into their computer for making phone calls.

… pulled out all the phones and gave everyone headsets…

Smart Phone or Mini Tablet

I don’t think I’m alone when I say I use my phone for many things, but calling is one of the least used features. I had a phone stolen recently, and since I got my new phone 4 days ago, I’ve still not made a single phone call with it. And when I watch most people, they text rather than talk. Sometimes they text so much I think, “Wouldn’t it be faster to just pick up the phone?” But they don’t.

So today’s cell phones do seem much more like miniature tablets. And some, no so miniature with many phones today having 7” screens! That wasn’t true just a few years ago.