Merging Media and the Market

New media and its applications are revolutionizing the way we communicate and do business.  I was reading a blog this week about gadgets that were killed by the advent of the cell phone.  Some of the top items on the list were: pagers, alarm clocks, wrist watches, and cameras.  It’s also predicted that the next high tech gadget that will see its demise via the evolving cell phone is the laptop. 

Thinking about my incredible, inedible, cell phone – I can’t believe I even consider it a phone.  A phone by definition allows you to have a verbal conversation with another person.  But these days I’m doing less talking on my cell phone and more of everything else.  As such, I’ve created my own list of items that my cell phone has replaced in my life. 

Pen Memory.  Why waste my time with pen memory when I can just save the content to my cell phone.  If I misplace my pen drive it takes me twenty minutes to track it down the little sucker and I don’t have time to waste.  Saving copies on my cell phone, which is fully capable of handling Microsoft Office, is so much easier.  Who needs pen memory these days?

Camcorder.  I never even owned a camcorder and since my cell phone has this capability, I probably never will.

Address Books.  I think I still have one of these from back in the good old days….somewhere.  But address books are now a waste of my time since my cell phone alphabetizes entries for me, reminds me of birthdays and anniversaries, hot syncs with my computer.

Photo Albums.  I take pictures with my cell phone, and that’s where they sit.  I’m not a scrap-booking kind of girl, or even one that will put pictures in a photo album.  As such, my cell phone also takes care of this task for me.

Board Games.  Monopoly, Battleship, Solitaire, and your other favorite board game. Yes we own them but my husband and I just play these games together on our cell phones when we’re bored.  It so much easier to play on our cell phones than to get out the actual game. 

Voice Recorders.  Once again, why buy a separate gadget when most cell phones have this feature available.  Unless you need to record hours and hours and hours of content, or need a copy of the conversation for business records, your personal cell phone can easily accomplish this feat.

TV’s.  My digital cable went out at the beginning of the presidential debates and in the middle of a Packer’s game.  Was I mad? Of course, I was mad.  So I picked up my cell phone to call friends and vent, and realized that I could tune into live broadcasts via Sprint TV. Problem solved.  Who needs cable any how?

Not only have cell phones replaced all of these gadgets, along with many others, but also you can back up the content of your cell phone.  So if your cell is lost or broken, it’s not like you lost your photos, contacts, video or games.  The added security that cell phones bring to the gadgets it’s replacing is refreshing: making it easy for consumers to leave these once loved items in their past.  What other gadgets have been replaced by your cell phone?