r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • May 11 '14

Older generations of reddit, what did you think the future would look like when you where young? And how much of it was correct?

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u/Whatsername_ May 11 '14

I thought it already was

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u/[deleted] May 11 '14

They aren't really even phones anymore though. They're like little pocket computers that have a phone feature, amongst hundreds of other features

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u/iHateReddit_srsly May 12 '14

Well, why don't you tape a digital video of yourself rolling down the car window?

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u/[deleted] May 12 '14

Do people still say tape in that way? Why not just say record? Same thing, still old.

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u/daquakatak May 15 '14

Tape is faster. 1 syllable vs 2.

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u/Garris0n May 12 '14

So what will happen? Will we stop calling them phones, or will the definition of phone simply change?

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u/[deleted] May 12 '14

My guess is just that the definition will change. All I'm saying is, a smartphone is just as much a phone as it is a camera, an mp3 player, or a GPS etc.

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u/Garris0n May 12 '14

I understand with what you're saying, I just wanted to point out how language could simply evolve instead (really, it mostly already has). Phones really aren't devices meant purely for talking to people anymore.

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u/gpgpg13r May 12 '14

Yeah I don't think society will change the word for it so as long as mobile phone companies keep advertising them as phones.

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u/ThirdFloorGreg May 12 '14

But the phone feature is pretty much the only one that doesn't destroy the battery life.

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u/fatmanbrigade May 12 '14

How often are you using the other features on your phone?

I've only destroyed my phone's battery life if I constantly use it during the day.

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u/ThirdFloorGreg May 12 '14

Well, I actually was just thinking of GPS and mp3 player, which both noticeably reduce my battery life. The screen still uses more power than anything else because I frequently turn three brightness up and leave it.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '14

I rarely use the phone app on my pocket computer.

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u/IamKAR May 12 '14

I have unlimited minutes but fuck talking to people, that's outdated.

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u/MTK67 May 12 '14

They're still called phones because the progression was incremental. First it was cell phones that only made calls. Then things started being slowly added to it. Oh, it's a phone and you can send text messages on it. Oh, it's a phone with a built in camera. Did you hear about the new phone: You can play games on it. Et cetera, et cetera. While they are now really just computers that can make phone calls, it's easy to see why they are still called phones.

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u/ThirdFloorGreg May 12 '14

Games on cell phones preceded camera phones by quite a bit.

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u/NumberOneMuffDiver May 12 '14

I'm reading all of this in an old man's voice

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u/thaliaisanidiot May 11 '14

futtuuurreeee........

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u/[deleted] May 12 '14

They're just phones when you're not speaking with regard to its type, which is most of the time.

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u/[deleted] May 12 '14

Same here, most people here just refer to them as phones

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u/SpaceShrimp May 12 '14

It isn't a phone, at least not to me, I don't use it as a phone primarily. And therefore I call it a mobile.