Got paid for a focus group last night...

[SweetBearCub]

I responded to an ad on Craigslist about a month ago regarding a paid focus group for users of smart devices.

After a couple of lengthy telephone surveys and journal detailing a week of typical usage, I was invited to a focus group in an upscale area of San Francisco with 5 other people.

After I arrived, they plied us with free food and drink and then we were directed to a room where we seated in front of a large section of 2-way mirrors. While no names were mentioned, we were told that our focus group would be observed for what might be the genesis of future smart mobile technologies.

We discussed what we liked about our current phones, what we dis-liked, asked we chose these phones over over others on the market, and a large portion of the 2 hours was spent discussing what we wanted to see in 5 years if technology were not an obstacle.

Along with one other member of the group, I played the power user angle. My position was that a phone that retails for $550 should be MUCH more powerful. For example, it should have a solid state drive in it that can store a few hundred gigabytes, not 8. Or someone with a PSP that costs about one quarter of the price can do much better gaming. I also lamented about the serious lack of RAM. I specifically mentioned that a phone like the Titan should 256MB of program memory, instead of 64MB.

When we were done, the best part came - We each got paid $225 in cash!

I hope that some of what we discussed becomes reality!

[bakntyme]

I hope they did not listen to you...5 years from now I hope your demand for 256MB of memory looks like a joke...and I also hope they do not decide to not allow gaming unless they can make it the best handheld gaming device on the market; not allow TV unless it is the best TV on the market; not include a camera unless it is better than other cameras on the market; etc., etc...your comment about the PSP implies that you expect that your TELECOMMUNICATIONS device should be better at any allowed application than devices that are devoted to those other applications. Maybe instead we can hope for the best TELECOMMUNICATIONS device, with serviceable other added functions.

[SweetBearCub]

From where I sit, the phone portion of my device is good enough. I can keep months of searchable call log entries and cross reference them as needed, as well as any notes I entered on those calls.

My opinions of what I value in a Pocket PC type phone were not fully shared by the other 4 participants, however they had different ideas, such as enhanced GPS services for a reasonable cost and a phone that had a much larger screen via a mechanism that worked like the Sidekick, to name a few.

Further, this focus group was targeted specifically to techies, as the companies need fresh ideas beyond what has been done already.

Fear not though, as we did express concern as a group that regardless of whatever gee whiz bang things a phone of 5 years hence might do, that it still be a spentacular PHONE first.

[ls3mach]

I too hope the don't put too much stock in what was said. The fact that you "played" the part of a power user sucks not only for the people doing the research, but also for us power users. We don't pretend to overload our devices we do. I don't want gigs of storage on my phone. I want a standardized storage medium that is removable. IE huge SD cards. I want better battery life. I charge twice a day. I want a device that doesn't lock up. I cannot think of a time when my free Nokia wouldn't answer a call. I want voice and data to function simultaniously. A decent camera would be nice, but I don't think anyone serious about photography is trying to convert to using their phone.

Things a sweet phone would do, need to be thing that another device which is currently cheaper can do. GPS, graphing calculator, mp3, video playback that type of stuff. I think it is ridiculious that you are mad a PSP is better at gaming than your $600 phone. Stupid digital camera takes better pictures than my phone.

A few other things that I would be more ram and a faster processor. The ability to "dock" and use the phone as a PC. Just drop it in the cradle and now you can hook a mouse, keyboard, monitor, and speakers to it. I wouldn't be mad I can't play WoW, but it would be nice to browse the net and get some work done. I would even be ok with the current OS to run. That is the type of things I want to see in 5 years.

[ls3mach]

I don't want to seem like a complete dick, but I feel you have done this community as a whole a great injustice. We are all pissed that the phones are sold with features that some time never get actived. We are mad because BT doesn't work. I want to see the phones work with the features advertised out of the box.

Gigs of storage is great, but not if your SD card can't be read without restarting the phone. Complete pain in the ass if you are on a call with a client and your documents are unavailable. Solid state drive? I guess I am not sure how much different that is to NAND or Flash memory.

I want to see less carrier customizations. I don't use their pay services so stop preinstalling them everytime I reload my device. Put them on there from factory, then give me the option to install them or not the next time. I want to see GSM and CDMA either come together or be disbanded. 4G NTT Docomo type stuff is what I want. I want R-UIM cards for my CDMA devices. I hate that Verizon and Sprint get to choose the devices. GSM isn't that way. Once again voice and data at the same time.

I hope the only thing you mentioned wasn't gaming and more memory. If that is all that happens in the next 5 years, I say we form a coup and hunt you down and pelt you with our phones.

[SweetBearCub]

In reading the responses thus far, I am disappointed. You may not want the same things that I want in a smart device, but that's fine. To all the naysayers out there, take note that companies do market research all the time. I was informed that the focus group I did last night was also being held at several other locations in other states. In other words, if you don't agree with my views, go find a focus group and tell them! The ad for the group I attended was up for 2 months, plenty of time for more people to participate.v In fact, they wanted 6 more people, but they told us that we were the only ones that passed the surveys and that had finished our journals.

As a side note, at this moment I am streaming an online radio station, I have PIE open with 7 tabs (Thanks PIE+!), Outlook is open with a message I'm composing, and I'm fielding phone calls with attending notes that go with them. Plus I have WMWiFiRouter sharing out some BW to a friend. Is this considered to be abnormal usage?

I bought a PocketPC to function as a replacement for a laptop, iPod, phone, WiFi sniffer, and organizer. It's not quite good enough yet to replace all of those things yet, but it is tantalizingly close.

[SweetBearCub]

Of course I am not happy with my phone's flaws, and I did make them known. Gaming and more memory were not my only ideas, heavens no. I did make it known that whatever my phone of the future might do, that it needed to do those functions very well, and that there needed to be a responsive mechanism in place to deal with any flaws that might be discovered. I also recall advocating for an open OS that could fully customized, without carrier restrictions. After all, I paid a premium for a flagship phone, not a crippled Moto V710 or Samsung A900M.

[Touch999]

Originally Posted by bakntyme

I hope they did not listen to you...5 years from now I hope your demand for 256MB of memory looks like a joke...and I also hope they do not decide to not allow gaming unless they can make it the best handheld gaming device on the market; not allow TV unless it is the best TV on the market; not include a camera unless it is better than other cameras on the market; etc., etc...your comment about the PSP implies that you expect that your TELECOMMUNICATIONS device should be better at any allowed application than devices that are devoted to those other applications. Maybe instead we can hope for the best TELECOMMUNICATIONS device, with serviceable other added functions.

LOL! Ya, thats what i thought. If they add 256 ram in 5 years and not more... I am blaming you.

[schettj]

It was google. Don't worry, they already have holographic memory technology (256 terabits in a spec of dust)

They just need to find some way of spending all their googledollars.

I'm joking about some of the above, but not all of it

[Touch999]

Actually, there has been great strives in the memory field. Theres a new memory chip that runs on light. Meaning that there is no more silicon boards with trazes running everywhere. Instead theres a clear glass like material that lights runs on it just like fiber optic does. Pretty incredible.