A Japanese telecom has introduced a cell-phone that does bone-conduction to transmit audio through your skull. You are supposed to hold it up to your head so you can hear the phone vibrating through the bones of your skull. Gee, just what I always wanted! One catch though -- they say it works best if you "plug both ears" while you use it. So how are you supposed to hold it to your head and plug both ears at the same time? Maybe if you use the thing enough you grow a third arm? Of course there's another wonderful feature of this phone -- the act of putting it against your skull also angles the antenna right into your brain. Hmm. Nice! And then there's the issue of being able to listen to bone-conducted audio, but not speak -- so the damn thing is only good for voicemail review. Excuse me but why is this any better than an earphone? Isn't an earphone a little less obtrusive than walking around with your cell phone stuck to your forehead??? Maybe we need a special new World Court for prosecuting bad industrial designers?
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