The cellphone glove
posted January 3rd 2005 11:33AM
So the idea is that using a cellphone in the wintertime sucks because you have to take your hand all out and get it
cold when you make your call — trust us, we know, New York gets a might bit nippy this time o' year. The solution?
Build a glove with a zipper in the thumb so you can remove one of your twiddlers to dial. We're not going to knock on
how if gloves are too cumbersome to dial they're probably to cumbersome to grasp the tiny thumb-zipper, or that the
creators must have not yet heard of a little thing we like to call voice-activated dialing. We're just going to remind
you of a few people who might actually get some real use out of this thing: our fair friends, the
cellphone
distance throwers.
P.S. Is it just us, or does that thumb in the picture look totally severed?
P.S.S. We were curious so we filled out the survey on the bottom of the product page. Yes, an overwhelming majority
(42%) think this idea has no merit.
[Via textually]
Back in my callow youth I read all sorts of odd magazines (not that kind, well only for the articles) and I remember something like this being marketed to snipers and hunters, except there was a tiny hole to put your index finger out through so you could shoot.
I have a pair of photographers gloves somewhere (I havn't needed them since I moved to CA). The thumb is attatched on one side with velcro and can be folded back (and a velcro dot keeps it out of the way). It is actually a mitten and the finger part does the same deal.
I didn't really use them for a cell phone (I have a bluetooth headset and voice dial, I mean I am a geek!).
It does work very well for cameras though (I have one of those many-button SLR deals, and I tend to have to fiddle with two buttons and two dials to make a picture...I'm odd like that).
It also works well for PDAs.
It would probbably work well for an iPod, but I have one of the old ones with the real buttons for FF and REW, so I havn't needed ot test that.
The guy in the picture is doing the my-thumb-is-severed trick that used to be my favorite, when I was five. He's just using a slightly more modern technique.
How is 42% an overwhelming majority?
I could see it as an overwhelming minority, or a majority of the minority, etc.
Oh yeah, that idea sucks.
42% is an overwhelming majority? Who does your statistical analysis, the Bush Whitehouse? We'll call 42% a solid plurality.
It's the majority because there are 4 choices on the survey.
It may be a surprise, but mobile phones do more today than simply place calls. Some places in the world (China, Philippines-if-I-can-spell-it) use a mobile primarily for SMS. Seeing a Philippino type out an SMS at 60 wpm is a sight to behold.
Ignoring your mobile in the winter is ignoring your social life. Powering-off is, well, unthinkable.
Cameron's right. These look a bit like shooting gloves that are common amongst hunters and military/police forces. Most of those use "cut fingers" that can be pulled back to reveal fingertips for control at the frigid moment just before death.
Also, just for reference, P.S. stands for Post Script, so you would say "P.P.S" for Post Post Script and not "P.S.S.".
Then, technically, that would be a plurality.
You know, he's right. It is PPS. What a wierd thing. Er, wierd thing, I think.
Beware!
It IS a severed thumb from a Chinese prisoner.
What they don't tell you is that IT rides outboard of the glove and freezes while connected to a device that reads your nerve impulses for dialing.
You can, of course buy a small "thumb mitten" to keep the thumb warm, but it hampers dialing, so you buy this mini glove see...
These gloves would be perfect for controlling my iPod in cold weather. Because of the track-pad-like controls on the iPod, you can't navigate through the menus unless there is some skin contacting the buttons. Even the ipod wired remote is almost impossible to use with bulky gloves. I've actually resorted to using the tip of my nose a couple times already. I can't imagine what the guy in the car next to me was thinking while I was doing that. What a great marketing opportunity for this company! Heck I'm surprised Apple hasn't come out with this already. They already have iPod socks, now they need iPod gloves.
What's the big deal? I've got a set of mittens that the finger portion folds back to reveal your fingers in a glove where the fingers are open from the knuckle.