Keep Telling Yourself: Above All, It's a Phone

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Keep Telling Yourself: Above All, It's a Phone
《纽约时报》: 手机不再仅仅是移动电话



(中文大意)

　　丹尼尔-阿贝隆（Daniel Abelon）买了一部既可以打电话又可以听MP3的手机，他的这部诺基亚手机带有MP3播放器，内存为64MB，可以存储十几首歌曲，他利用手机的USB接口与电脑相连，每天可以换新的歌曲，如果有电话打进来，歌曲就会自动停播，一旦电话挂断，歌曲又会自动恢复。24岁的丹尼尔说：“我当时正想买一个MP3播放器，同时我又需要一部新的手机，所以这促使我去买了这部有MP3功能的新手机。现在我的很多朋友都买了这样的手机。”

　　分析人士称，上述手机的多功能性、小巧精致的外观以及使用的简单化反映出最近几年手机行业取得了突飞猛进的发展。制造商们不仅在生产更小、更轻以及更精美的手机，而且他们还在给手机增加越来越多的功能，这使得以往那些功能单一的手机渐渐遭到用户遗忘。

　　虽然丹尼尔的手机并非适合每个用户，但如今大多数手机现在已经不仅仅是个移动电话，很多人用手机拍照，上网以及收发电子邮件，手机还成了个人数字助理，而且将来手机功能肯定还会继续增加。

　　LetsTalk.com在线手机销售网站的首席执行官德利-泰莫（Delly Tamer）表示：“过去一年中手机技术的进步与未来12个月手机技术的创新相比注定仅仅是九牛一毛。”



By KEN BELSON   

It is clear that Daniel Abelon loves his cellphone, but not only because he finds it stylish or easy to use. No, Mr. Abelon, 24, a business consultant in New York, loves his phone, a Nokia 3300, because he can listen to his favorite songs on its earphones when he rides to work on the subway.

His blocky phone, which he bought six months ago for just $25 when he renewed his plan with AT&T Wireless, includes an MP3 player and 64 megabytes of memory, enough for about a dozen songs. Mr. Abelon uses the phone's U.S.B. port to link to his computer to replace songs every day or so. What if a call comes in while he is absorbed in, say, Bob Dylan's \"Hurricane\"? No problem. The song automatically pauses when calls arrive and resumes when he hangs up.

\"I was waiting for a while to buy an MP3 player, and I needed a new phone, so this gave me the impetus to buy one,\" said Mr. Abelon, who says strangers often strike up conversations about the phone when they see him using it. The versatility, size and simplicity of the phone are signs of how far the industry has come in recent years. Manufacturers are not only making smaller, lighter, slicker phones, but they are also adding features that make yesterday's models look like the clunky communicators on old \"Star Trek\" episodes.

Although Mr. Abelon's Nokia may not be for everybody, most phones these days are much more than just phones. Many now allow a user to snap photos, surf the Web, and send and receive e-mail; they also serve as personal digital assistants. And more change is inevitable.

\"The advances in style in the past year are going to be nothing compared to the advances in innovation in the next 12 months,\" said Delly Tamer, chief executive of a Web site for cellphone buyers, LetsTalk.com.

Still, the abundance of technology packed into new phones has complicated shopping. Phone makers and carriers love to promote bells and whistles, but those add-ons can drown out a basic truth: mobile phones are still primarily about mobility and making phone calls.

That is why cellphone buyers should follow a few basic guidelines that have as much to do with self-awareness as with technology. Most problems with cellphones can be avoided if you are honest with yourself about what you need.

The No. 1 rule: Pick a service plan first. After all, over the life of a contract, you will spend far more on the plan's monthly charges than on the phone itself. Choosing a plan - using the usual criteria, like the number of free minutes and the coverage in your area - also makes it easier to choose a phone, by automatically narrowing the possibilities. A carrier may have a lineup of, say, two dozen phones, with a wide range of features. High-end models can cost $200 or more, but you can get heavy discounts if you sign one- or two-year contracts or buy phones that are about to be discontinued. In addition, manufacturers often offer rebates of about $50. Some companies, like Verizon Wireless, offer even greater discounts if you renew a two-year contract for two more years.

Beware, though, of deals that look too good. Some independent shops, in particular, may push phones that have performed poorly. Web sites like a1wireless.com and cellphoneshop.net can help gauge a phone's quality.

Better deals also come with risks: If a small shop that sells several brands goes out of business, you may have a hard time having your phone repaired. Consider extra insurance, especially for expensive phones. Carriers offer the insurance for about $3 a month.

When it comes to shapes, most phones fall into three categories: candy-bar-size blocks, clamshells, and those with screens that slide back to reveal the keypad. All have their merits, but many people like clamshells and sliding-screen phones because the buttons are hidden, reducing the chances of making an accidental call.

Clamshells often transmit better sound, too, because the mouthpiece is closer to your lips.

The other main variables are a phone's weight, size and styling. Here, the differences are fuzzier, the choices more emotional. Pick up the phone and get the feel of it. Are the buttons easy to push? Is the keypad confusing? Are the letters so small that you have to squint to read them?

The LG VX6000 from Verizon Wireless, and several models from Samsung and Sony Ericsson, get high marks for their screens.

Then there is the question of how you use your phone. If you work in an office, carry your phone in a case and are a light to moderate user, you have many options: most phones should last a few years under those conditions, without major problems. But if you work outside - say, at a construction site - you may want to consider a model sold by Nextel, whose Motorola lineup includes some of the most durable phones on the market.

Nextel is also the leader in push-to-talk, a service that turns cellphones into walkie-talkies. Like a lot of workers in the field, Alan Sheinwald chose Nextel for this service. Mr. Sheinwald, who owns a gutter-and-leader business in Central Islip, N.Y., tried several phones and service plans for his eight teams of workers who install, clean and repair gutters.

With the Nextel service, his workers can communicate with one another instantly, and because push-to-talk calls travel entirely over Nextel's network, the company says its service is more reliable than regular cellular service. Because the teams work outdoors all day, often on roofs, many phones are dropped or broken; Mr. Sheinwald bought the cheapest versions and insured them.

More expensive models, including the i305, are rain-resistant and meet military standards for shock and vibration.

ALTHOUGH Mr. Sheinwald's team uses its phones primarily for work, many consumers expect a little whimsy from their phones. Most models include calculators, calendars and speed-dial functions. Increasingly, they also include games, personalized ring tones and cameras.

But intriguing as those features are, will the average person really use many of them? Probably not. Besides, they drain batteries, and too many demands on the computer chips inside a phone can sometimes weaken reception.

The best way to find out if the extras are right for you, and whether a phone gets good reception where you live, is to take advantage of a 15- or 30-day trial period. That would have saved Ellen Anderson a headache. When Ms. Anderson, 49, of Austin, Tex., upgraded her plan with Cingular, she was told that her old Nokia phone would not work with the new service because Cingular was switching to a different network technology. So, reluctantly, she bought a Nokia 6340i and soon found that, for her needs, it had a weak signal and poor sound. She asked Cingular if she could pay extra for a Motorola T720, but was told, apparently in error, that she could not upgrade her phone because her contract had just started.

\"I didn't want to change my plan; I just wanted a better phone,\" Ms. Anderson said.

Cingular says its policy is to always sell customers new handsets if they ask for them.

Out of desperation, she bought a used Motorola model on eBay, and an employee at a Cingular shop programmed it for her.

Ms. Anderson says she regrets not having returned the Nokia phone during the trial period but, like many other people, she was busy and assumed that the phone's fickleness would correct itself over time. \"I kept thinking it'll get better,\" she said.

Fortunately, most phones work just fine. But it does pay to take nothing for granted.