OK. So we don’t see 200+ lb women gracing the cover of Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue. We don’t see a Yugo on the cover of Hot Rod. How many would take Matthew Mcconaughey over Jack Black (I wouldn’t take either, but you know what I’m talking about)?

We live in a world where sometimes form overtakes function. So when it comes to personal tech gadgets, we might just view it the same way. It doesn’t matter if the ugly device will do more for you than the sleek looking one. We purchase items on impulse. So do we accept because of looks even if the functionality is not there?
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I have to admit. I bought a Motorola Razr  on looks back in 2005. It cost me $250 to buy the looks. Nevermind that I hated any type of folding phone. Nevermind the fact I didn’t like the flat buttons. Nevermind the fact it really didn’t have as good a signal as it’s Nokia predecessor. It was a fashion statement.

When I purchased the HTC 8125, I decided to go back to functionality. I was able to use the phone as a personal computer. I had the Mobile Word and Excel, I could get my Exchange mail and I could even connect to other network computers in case I needed to troubleshoot.

Rubicon Consulting asked the question to iPhone users, what model of phone did they have before the iPhone. 24% said they had a Motorola RAZR, while 34% had another form of smart phone. According to American Technology Research, 25 percent were willing to cancel their accounts and pay the fees to switch to the iPhone. They also cited that the other time this happened; it was in 2004 when the Motorola RAZR came out.

Impulse buying is something every product manufacturer relies on. That one thing that makes the item pretty enough to make the consumer act like a moth to flame. The product sells itself and sometimes it’s on looks alone; Who cares what groups like Consumer Reports say?

Eventually the glamour of owning the item fades and either the consumer sits down and thinks about the purchases, or just gets drawn to the newest, brightest flame. If the item turns to be a solid, functional product, then the consumer might just stick with it. Of course, if the item is too problematic, then people will abandon it as quickly as possible; Even pay the fees to get something that will look good and function well.

I am not saying the iPhone is not functional. I really hope with the new features Steve Jobs mentioned back in March that this phone will be more than functional to all consumers: including the corporate ones. It does help to have that thin, sleek design to make the people want it more.

Looks can be everything to an item. A cool new item gives us a sense of being on the cutting edge. Adding a sleek design makes us feel special. Statistics can back up these ideals in what we find appealing. But one thing is for sure - We will always see young, slender models on the Swimsuit issue, Mustangs on the car issue and Matthew Mcconaughey with his shirt off by the beach (or if you’re like me, you would rather see someone like Kate Beckinsale).

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Today I was perusing the news and so far everything I have seen and heard is over the iPhone 2.0. Within the next few hours we are going to be sitting at the edge of our seats listening to Steve Jobs give a keynote at the World Wide Developers Conference in San Francisco, CA. What will he talk about? Will it be the iPhone? Will we all be wowed or disappointed?

The truth is…. I don’t care. Yes, this is a great phone with a lot of innovation and ingenuity. Yes, it can do a plethora of things that my current phone might or might not do. But what is the big turn-on with this device? It’s not a magic genie that will grant you 3 wishes.

There are 5 million iPhones out there right now. That is not even 1% of the cell phone population. At $400 a pop, I suppose that’s a good reason why it’s not there.

The iPhone 2.0 is not only expected to have new features like 3G, but also - according to MacRumors - will be accompanied by a $200 rebate, making the new version of the iPhone only $199. It will be a more affordable price and possible to saturate the market.

To put the iPhone into 10% of the populations’ hands would be a major coup. That would mean over 50 million iPhones in the wild. For Apple to do this, however, they would have to abandon the AT&T contract and open the phone up to most - if not all - cell carriers. Why? Well, if Apple wants to convince Corporate America to buy in, they will have to give them the choice of who they can get it from.

One of the new projects Steve Jobs already announced in a previous town hall meeting is to add functionality so the iPhone can be incorporated and used by Corporate. This is a big step for Apple seeing as they shut down their “Corporate Division” a long time ago. Even Business Week points out Apple doesn’t have any Corporate sales people.

Still, not all corporations have contracts with AT&T. Switching to a $200 phone with 3G might change a few contracts, but not enough to hit that 10% mark. Opening up the market to other carriers will.

According to Yahoo Shopping, the iPhone is the most popular phone. However, the #2 phone - the Nokia N85 - has sold twice as many phones. I couldn’t find a statistic on it, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blackberry Pearl is also ahead in phone sales than Apple. Why is that?

There are other fish that can be fried at the WWDC anyway. OS X 10.6 is one thing. The itablet is another. Apple might introduce a new “AppleTV”. Heck, even the iToilet might get some exposure.

The most interesting thing that I see is Jobs and WWDC getting free publicityof the event. Heck, I bet there are even a good amount of IT professionals that don’t know what WWDC stands for.

For the last couple months people have been yammering on about the new phone. Waiting in anticipation over the keynote, and eventual announcement. There are some that have even jumped the gun and posted “Hearsay” and false photos and information.

After all, according to Google Trends, what is the top Internet search right now? Well, it’s Leon Powe. But WWDC is 11th and 13th, and iPhone is 21, 33, 53 and probably a bunch of other spots. Still, many news sites and Blogs including this one are giving Steve Jobs the media push. Can’t say as much for the N85. Don’t even see that in the top 100 searches.

I still don’t care if it’s announced. If they do, that is nice. If they don’t I think I’ll laugh at those who made a big deal out of it and move on. In fact, now that I think about it, it might be in Apples interest NOT to talk about iPhone 2.0? Why? Could you imagine the press they would get if Jobs doesn’t mention one word on the iPhone?

I guess we’ll find out in a few hours.

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10 years ago I walked into the local dealer and picked up my first cell phone. I believe it was a Nokia 920. My work cell was a Motorola Clam Shell, then I believe a Nokia 720. I then got a 5100 series, followed by a 6300 series. 2 years ago I purchased the Razr3, and now I have an HTC 8125.

5 cell phones in 10 years. Throughout those times I have called, texted, surfed and played the occasional game of Bubble breaker. My phone has been by my side all this time. So has my wallet and keys. But which one would I want the most if I had to choose one?

IDC and Nortel Networks did a study to find out what is more important – your cell phone or your wallet. 38 percent of over 2000 people polled wanted their cell phone. 30 percent went for the wallet, while the remainder went for something else.

It’s interesting that a little thing like a phone can make you decide that you can leave things like your wallet at home. I could never do that. I would feel naked without my wallet. Then again, I would feel naked without the cell phone or my keys.

We seem to value the things that work easiest for us. Then again, I used to have a watch on my wrist and a ring on my finger (no, not a wedding band – just a regular ring). 15 years ago I went along with my life without a cell phone. Could I ever give it up now? How about my wallet or keys?
The interesting thing is, yes. I could give up my wallet. After all, what IS in my wallet? We’ll start with the most important thing. Money. I can always carry a money clip or just stick the bills in my front pocket.
My ID, Debit and Credit cards make up the majority of my wallet. But ya know, in a few years I wouldn’t be surprised if those would both be on my cell phone in some way shape or form. Think about it – a scan able ID via infrared? A scan on the Credit card reader, in which you punch in a couple numbers into the phone and you just bought something?

Even business cards can be scanned into your address book. Why have a piece of paper when you can have your phone take care of it for you?
Now keys are important, right? Not really. I rarely use my keys to enter my car or house. If you equip your car and house with keypads, you just punch in a number and boom. Your car is unlocked and started, and your house is locked or unlocked. There are even some public restrooms in Finland that will open with a text message.

Keys, shmees. Don’t need those archaic things. All I need is a cell phone and a good battery.

Reality is, cell phones do a lot more than call a person. Some cell phones can even access the internet, VPN into your home computer and let you work. Internet maps, Videos, MP3’s and whatever else you can think of.
Some have played with the idea of embedding your cell in your arm, or behind your ear. Battery technology has told us we can charge a certain type of battery just by holding it to our skin. Could you imagine having this technology as a part of you – working off human power?

There are some that oppose the cell, though. Even some people that are 100% techies. They want nothing to do with a cell phone – they would rather have the land line and use payphones : that is, if you can find one.
Technically, my phone matches a Pentium 233 mHz machine from back in 1997. Newer models have 600 mHz processors, 192 MB of RAM and 4 GB of storage. It’s a long cry from the first “Brick Phones”, but as we evolve, so does our technology.

Maybe someday we won’t need keys. Maybe someday we won’t need wallets. Maybe even someday we won’t need cell phones. But for now, I’ll take all three, thank you.

Thanks for listening. My name is Jeffrey Powers for Geekazine dot co…. Oh wait, almost forgot my cell phone.

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• Watch Out for iPodestrians and iPodrivers.
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Ten years ago. What were we doing? Where were we going? I know I was working in a Call center on a popular accounting package that is now owned by Microsoft. I was living on the East Side of Madison, WI and I had just switched over from my 56k modem to a broadband connection (768 kbps, I believe) on my Pentium 75mHz machine. I also got my first Cell Phone. Let’s take a look back on where we were 10 years ago and see how that has changed….

First, let’s ponder at 1998 in a whole to get a sense of reminisce - My favorite football team (Packers) got beat by the Broncos. Bill Clinton was in office and falling under all sorts of scandals. El Nino creates a humungous winter storm. California bans smoking in Bars and Restaurants. Larry Flynt was in legal battles with Jarry Falwell. Viagra was given the OK by the FDA. Phil Hartman commits suicide, Charlton Heston becomes president of the NRA, Geri Hallwell left the Spice Girls and George Michael was arrested for lude conduct.

Michael Jordan played his last game as a Bull. The Detroit Redwings take the Stanley Cup. The Yankees defeated the Padres in the World Series. Unabomber” Theodore Kaczynski pleads guilty. The Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act was passed. Pro Wrestler Jesse Ventura becomes Governor of Minnesota. Exxon buys Mobil, creating Exxon-Mobil. America takes action on Iraq. Finally, we experienced a “Leap Second” on Dec 31^st.

OK, wayback machine lubed up? Let’s talk about Geek in 1998.

Apple iMac - Apple computer announced the iMac: a G3 processor in a Egg shaped case with a CRT monitor. The iMac introduced the USB port. iMac brought along “Case clones” with emachines.

We saw the first XML documents - I remember going to class and learning XML tagging. It was in its infancy, and I remember hearing many people say how XML was not going to be adopted. Silly bunnies.

Google - Google is Founded by Larry Page and Sergey Brin. They fast become the biggest search engine and long time rival of Yahoo.

The Digital Revolution - Sky Digital launched in the UK. 2 Satellites sending signal to the Sky Digibox.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act - Also known as DRM, it states that Digital versions fall under the same copyright standards as their counterparts.

US vs. Microsoft: Antitrust - 20 States file and antitrust case against Bill Gates and Microsoft. The process ended on Nov. 5^th, 1999 and it found that Microsoft was indeed committed monopolization.  

Windows 98 - The next OS after the successful Windows 95, it came out to a lot of upset consumers. Later, Windows98, Second Edition, stabilized the OS and people were somewhat happy again.

Hate Crime - The first Cyberspace Hate Crime is tried. A college dropout was convicted of the crime.

Dreamcast - Sega launches what would be it’s last console in the Dreamcast in Japan. The system didn’t do so well even though some thought it was better than the Nintendo 64 and Sony Playstation. It did start a underground Dreamcast following after it was discontinued.

Other Game Systems - Neo Geo Pocket and Game Boy Color.

Acquisitions & Mergers - American Online purchases Netscape Communications for $4.2 Billion. Compaq buys DEC. MCI and Worldcom join forces to be MCI WorldCom.

Space - The Galileo probe sent back data indicating Jupiters’ moon Europa has a liquid ocean covered by ice.  The Clemintine probe found enough water to support a human colony.  John Glenn went back into space with the Space Shuttle Discovery. He was 77.

Electronic Ticketing - American Airlines offers Electronic Ticketing for the first time. They implemented it in all 44 countries that they flew to.

No Pagers for a day - The Galaxy IV communications satellite breaks down. This brought down almost 90% of the worlds pagers without service. At that time, only

Cell Phones and such - Nokia 5120, Motorola MicroTAC 650, Ericsson GF 788e, Blackberry 850, AT&T introduced a flat-rate plan for local and long distance. The Patent for a Hands Free set was issued. Ericsson creates the first Snap on Wireless Data/Fax Modem. Opera started developing a Mobile device platform.

Video Games - Apocalypse, Area 51, Army Men, A Bug’s Life, ChessMaster, Clue, Forsaken, GuitarFreaks (early versions of Guitar Hero?), Half-Life, Heretic II, Marvel vs. Capcom, Morpheus, Off Road Challenge, Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six, Resident Evil 2, Riven and Wario Land II - Just to name a few.

Next Week we’ll dive into Tech from 5 years ago.

*Every Monday, the 5 minute show at 5min.geekazine.com outlines “This Week in Tech History”. Check out the podcast.

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• This Week in Tech History 6-23-08
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