Imagine you work as an assistant in a mobile phone shop. A mother comes into your shop wanting to buy a smart phone for her daughter. Her mother is not very “tech savvy” and needs some concepts and features explained. Below are some of her questions, do your best to provide meaningful answers in simple terms;
1. “My daughter insists that her phone be Wifi capable? What does this mean? Why does she need it?”
If you daughter's phone is Wifi capable, she will be able to use Wifi internet . She would need this because it will be much cheaper than using the phone company's internet.
2. The mother says “She wants the camera in the phone to be at least 5 Meg thingys, what does this mean? Does she need it?”
The mega pixels of a camera refers to the resolution, meaning the clearness of the image. The more mega pixels, the clearer the image, so, she would need this camera if she wants very clear photos, even though it may cost a little extra.
3. “My daughter wants a phone with a capacitive touch screen. They seem more expensive, what advantages do they offer over other types of touch screens?”
Capacitive touch screens only respond to materials which are conductive. This means that there will be no accidental commands made to the device when she is cleaning the screen, or putting the phone into her pocket. Other types of screens can be commanded by anything that touches it. This is a downside because the phone could accidentally be triggered to call someone without your knowledge.
4. “Are all phone as smart as one another? What is the smartest phone at the moment and why?”
No, not all phones are as smart as one another, and the smartest at the moment would have to be the iPhone 4 because it has a much faster data speed, phone calls connect faster and the phone can become a hot spot, meaning that it can provide internet for other devices.
5. “She wants to take lots of video and photos. How do I know which phone can store the most videos and photos?”
The phone which can store the most videos and photos will be the one with the most amount of gigabytes. More gigabytes means more storage for her videos and photos.
6. “She says she wants to be able to buys apps. What are apps? What sort of useful apps cold she access? What types of phones can buy and use apps?”
Apps is just short for applications. These can be games, books, tv guides, references..... the list goes on. These are all usefull in our everyday lives, from seeing when the next episode of Doctor Who is on, to doing research for assessments. iPhones and Android phones are compatible with apps.
