[prustrations] Smartphone = PDA+Phone?

Can how you use/see a smartphone tell how smart you really are?


I was on a plane once, seated a seat away from the aisle, and it was about time for take off. I had my Palm PDA on to use it for taking photos, but other than that I was ready for take off. Seatbelt fastened, tray table stowed, bags stored, and cellphone off. Suddenly a flight attendant passes by and says, "Sir, kindly turn off your cellphone." When I heard the FA, I thought he was talking to someone else. But then, he repeated his request, now at a slightly louder volume, but because he was facing me more directly. So I started to realize he was talking to me all along, but still I was so puzzled. I then told him, politely, "My cellphone is off already." His face became one of confusion as well, but at the same time I felt like he was thinking "this man is a stubborn SOB." Politely, as required by his job description, he asked, "how about that?," pointing to my Palm. Here we go. Of course, I told him, "this is not a cellphone." His face was still like, "Yeah right." Yeah right your F.A.! So again, with his on-the-job mask on, he politely said, "please turn it off nonetheless."

So yeah, maybe electronic devices should've been turned off. I forgot, and no one reminded. But they did remind to turn off cellphones - and nothing else. So anyway, I turned off my Palm to avoid further conflict, but from then I wondered how can I take photos during the flight (or at least during takeoff or landing).

Fast forward a few years later. I'm in front of my boss, and we were discussing some engineering stuff.  Then I needed to calculate something, and so I lifted out my smartphone and used its calculator function. My boss' face was like, "why the hell are you disrespecting me and using your phone while talking to me?" Oh. My. Boss. This is called a freakin' smartphone, people. That means it is used as a phone only 5% of the time. The other times, it's a calculator, calendar, address book, dictionary, note book, book reader, word processor, spreadsheet, and so on, and so essentially a computer in my palm. If I had a laptop, you wouldn't give me this reaction! Yeah, sure, this becomes a game machine, too. But will you punish me with your clouded judgment just because I opt not to bring any of those things (calculator, computer, etc.) and instead use just my handheld smartphone, for which it was also built for? Do you really want me to bring my calculator all the time? Or laptop? Or do you want me to still use a traditional, paper-based calendar and address book, just so they actually look like the calendar and address book you knew growing up? I already have a smartphone!

The previous story about the F.A. was forgiveable - from where they come from, they have probably never heard of a PDA. But for someone who has all other sorts of high-tech fancy gadgets, or at the very least knows what a smartphone is, to think that I am using a phone and therefore being disrespectful when in fact I am using a smartphone not as a phone... That just got to my nerves. And now it has made its way to this blog!!!

This all made me think now - a smartphone might be able to differentiate between...

the smart and the not-so-smart?
the young and the old?
the learned and the not-so-learned?
those who think and don't?

What else can they differentiate between?

For those who still don't get it, will you wake up already, people? PDAs were invented more than a decade ago, cellphones ages ago, and smartphones (i.e. PDA+phone) probably just a decade ago. Sure. But still. Live with it, will you!