1.26.2004
My stupid phone is stupid
I don't understand why everyone is so thrilled with their camera phones. When I got mine I asked about getting one that could take a decent picture--I could have gotten the free one, but I wanted to be able to use it as an actual camera. Plus I knew that once you get a phone it's a massive pain to change to a new device and keep the same number.
The sales rep showed me two upgrade options, one with a removable memory card I'd have to get a reader for, and another without. The cameras were the same. I figured go with the cheaper one. "I can just email the pictures, right?" "Sure."
Lies. Lies. Lies.
It took some doing to realize that, while I can take a decent picture, and even video clips, there is a limit on the email size so I can't get the damn things out of the phone. If I take a slightly lower quality image, I can email it in four pieces and reassemble it in Photoshop. When I realized this, I thought, "that can't be right".
The phone has a 20 chapter manual--19 in Japanese and 1 in English. Seeing as how this is a Japanese-speaking country I think that's more than reasonable. And most of what I need to know to operate the thing is there anyway, but not this, so I called up the English support line (also an appreciated convenience).
After explaining my problem emailing pictures I got the long "hmmmmmm" response which means "we are not going to be able to help you". Just to confirm in my most differential voice I asked, "so it's not possible to email the full pictures from this phone?" The operator seemed very relieved to have been saved the embarassment of stating the obvious and agreed that that was the case. Which begs the question, why offer the higher resolution in the first place?
I'm writing this, and I know I'm missing something, but when I think about it I know that I'm not. All the unnecessary bells and whistles on this thing make me certain it's just another feature for it's own sake. Zen engineering? Who knows, probably even if I shelled out the ¥3,000 more for the stupid memory card and bought a reader, I would have had some other gripe. Just means I have to lug around my big old digital camera (which was small when I bought it in 1999) if I want to show y'all what I'm talking about.
This stuff doesn't normally get to me. You gotta roll with the punches when you don't speak the language and aren't a native of the culture, and I promise not to rant more than once a season about my cultural cluelessness since it's there are enough blogs doing that already. But I do think this story is instructive for anyone thinking about which phone to get.
All or nothing. Don't settle for mediocre!
The sales rep showed me two upgrade options, one with a removable memory card I'd have to get a reader for, and another without. The cameras were the same. I figured go with the cheaper one. "I can just email the pictures, right?" "Sure."
Lies. Lies. Lies.
It took some doing to realize that, while I can take a decent picture, and even video clips, there is a limit on the email size so I can't get the damn things out of the phone. If I take a slightly lower quality image, I can email it in four pieces and reassemble it in Photoshop. When I realized this, I thought, "that can't be right".
The phone has a 20 chapter manual--19 in Japanese and 1 in English. Seeing as how this is a Japanese-speaking country I think that's more than reasonable. And most of what I need to know to operate the thing is there anyway, but not this, so I called up the English support line (also an appreciated convenience).
After explaining my problem emailing pictures I got the long "hmmmmmm" response which means "we are not going to be able to help you". Just to confirm in my most differential voice I asked, "so it's not possible to email the full pictures from this phone?" The operator seemed very relieved to have been saved the embarassment of stating the obvious and agreed that that was the case. Which begs the question, why offer the higher resolution in the first place?
I'm writing this, and I know I'm missing something, but when I think about it I know that I'm not. All the unnecessary bells and whistles on this thing make me certain it's just another feature for it's own sake. Zen engineering? Who knows, probably even if I shelled out the ¥3,000 more for the stupid memory card and bought a reader, I would have had some other gripe. Just means I have to lug around my big old digital camera (which was small when I bought it in 1999) if I want to show y'all what I'm talking about.
This stuff doesn't normally get to me. You gotta roll with the punches when you don't speak the language and aren't a native of the culture, and I promise not to rant more than once a season about my cultural cluelessness since it's there are enough blogs doing that already. But I do think this story is instructive for anyone thinking about which phone to get.
All or nothing. Don't settle for mediocre!
