The Pocket Phone- Cell Phones

[Ephraim Tutt]

Dial??? Dick Tracy never dialled! He just spoke into it and Go Go Gomez miraculously answered.

Must have been voice recognition software! No wonder Mumbles didn't have one!

 

[Max Flash]

[QUOTE="Skeet" McD]

A search for "iphone case leather" brought up these folks--in Turkey!--who make a great product with what I think is a very traditional and chaste styling, even for a man. It was the global economy writ small: I had no idea where the company was when I ordered (from the Northeastern US); within 12 hours of my order, it was shipped from Istanbul...6 hours later, in Frankfurt, but held up there for unknown reasons; 12 hours later, it was in the East Midlands, UK...and the next day, it was sitting on my doorstep. They make similar cases for other phones and handheld devices. Someone else here might like the styling as much as I did:

http://www.beyzacases.com/cat-side-sr.cfm

"Skeet"[/QUOTE]

I have several Beyza cases and they are fantastic, stylish and long-lasting. They deliver anywhere in the world in a day or too, and are constantly updating their range with new designs.

I use a couple of belt holsters when wearing a suit. I figure under the jacket they are not noticeable and stop the line of my suit being pulled out of shape. When not wearing a jacket, I carry my phone and BlackBerry or slip them in my pockets.

 

[Sean1982]

A phone should be kept in one's briefcase, so as not to ruin your suit. It should also be on a low ringer, or silent if possible, to be discret and not offensive to others.

 

[avedwards]

My left inside pocket is always nearly empty as anything in it would distort my suit due to the pocket square. My wallet occupies my right inside pocket. Therefore my phone occupies my right side pocket as that doesn't distort the suit but acutally helps it counter-balance the weight of my wallet.

 

[avedwards]

A phone should be kept in one's briefcase, so as not to ruin your suit. It should also be on a low ringer, or silent if possible, to be discret and not offensive to others.

A few years ago I would agree with you, however these days phones are so light and thin that they don't ruin the suit. I agree that they should be quiet though, unless one is outside where slightly louder ringtones can help to be heard. That said, my ringtone imitates the noise of an old telephone and is therefore a lot more sensible than some.

 

[matei]

I would agree with the other posters, that a mobile should be either in one's briefcase/satchel or in a pocket.

I used to keep my mobile in my... ahem... "manbag", however I've since switched to an iPhone, which is so slim that it fits in my pocket without creating an unsightly bulge.

The fancy holsters that some wear look a bit strange, they're not my cup of tea. I think holsters are best left for sidearms rather than phones, but that is just my personal opinion.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Thinner the better. I tend to keep it in my shirt pocket. Yes, I like shirt pockets... they go out of style now and again yet I'd be lost without one.

If not the shirt, the vest.

If I fear it falling out it goes in my right rear pocket.

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

Good to see you can be both practical and stylish Matt.

I'm a shirt pocket guy myself.

 

[HatRak]

First post . . .

From a long-time lurker, new to the forum:

I'm reminded of Carson Kressley's comment that phones are not accouterments, a sentiment with which I agree. To me, phones are tools and, when well-dressed, gentlemen do not wear their tools. Well-dressed gentlemen carpenters excepted . . .

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

From a long-time lurker, new to the forum:

I'm reminded of Carson Kressley's comment that phones are not accouterments, a sentiment with which I agree. To me, phones are tools and, when well-dressed, gentlemen do not wear their tools. Well-dressed gentlemen carpenters excepted . . .

Welcome to the Lounge HatRak.
I'm really not sure at what point accoutrements (forgive the British spelling) become tools. Why is a phone a tool and a watch an accoutrement? Cufflinks and tie pins are functional objects and could be defined as tools, yet none of us would view them in such banal terms.
I suppose the answer lies in the fact that for generations, watches, cufflinks etc have been designed as much as pieces of personal jewellery as functional objects. This cannot be said of phones.
Time may yet change this, of course.

 

[Boxytheboxed]

I find that my phone is most accessible in my pants pocket, so I leave it there. I find that those holsters look ridiculous.

 

[Matt Deckard]

With carpenters you refer to point to point walkie talkie devices. With the Cell phone you are now talking about an accouterment. Like an Umbrella or a monocle, the cell phone has surpassed the tool purpose into fashion and within time it will be style, and perhaps if it becomes small enough, it will become a tool again. Right now it is an accessory as interesting as the pipe.


Cell phone = Accouterment
As of now!

 

[Ephraim Tutt]

Come now Matt. It may be an accessory, but there's nothing interesting about mass produced bits of noisy plastic with buttons.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

With the Cell phone you are now talking about an accouterment. Like an Umbrella or a monocle, the cell phone has surpassed the tool purpose into fashion and within time it will be style, and perhaps if it becomes small enough, it will become a tool again. Right now it is an accessory as interesting as the pipe.


Cell phone = Accouterment
As of now!

Agreed. After all, cell phones are more than just a communication device--they can echo your personal style. To use your example, the pipe; there after many different styles to choose from and many different materials, including plastic.

As far as an accouterment again I agree as it is an accessory item of clothing or equipment

 

[Edward]

They can make them now. However, the big concern is that it'll be unusable with the buttons being too small to accurately dial.

Prior to the arrival of 3g services and other features that actually made a larger screen etc more desirable, the trend in the mobile market as to make the handsets smaller and smaller (as beautifully parodied in Zoolander). This came to a head with phones like the Nokia 8310. Thing was, there's only so small they could get before they became too fiddly for use, especially by men, the male of the human species tending to have larger hands. The sort of functionality that is available nowadays, as opposed to ten years ago, makes a larger phone desirable again.

I've had eight or ten handsets across the years. Only ever paid for one, the rest being whatever freebie I could get as a network loyalty bonus. My original Ericcson (pre Sony!) was like half a brick, though back in 99 it was tres chic and bijou. I've had all the rest - the soapbar/ candy bar type, as introduced by Nokia with their design classic 3210, the first mass market handset to lack an external aeriel, the clamshell (A nice, if in some respects functionally limited, Motorola V600 (I think that was the model...), and now the 'credit card' shape. My current phone is a Samsung Pixon. This is really an iPhone ompetitor, and for me it blew the iPhone out of the water - available without switching networks (a deal breaker for me), free, and in some respects techincally superior (e.g. it has an 8MP camera, as opposed to the iPhone's 2MP, a step down from my previous handset's 3MP. I gather the iPhone is up to 5MP now...). A key feature of this phone for me is its wide and slim shape, making it fit much more netly into a pocket of any sort than the older soapbar designs.

Mostly I carry my phone in either a jacket or shirt pocket. I've never been one for carrying it in my bag, as I'd miss far too many calls that way, either through the phone lying in a bag in another room, being left at home in the bag I wasn't carrying that day, or simply because I did not get to it in time. This is a factor for me in that my mobile is my primary phone (absent it being the most cost effective way to have home internet, I would not have a landline at home at all). My first handsets, bulky things, were carried in those plastic and leatherette covers that had a built in belt clip. I soon grew tired of those as they effectively doubled the tactile size of the phone. For a few months I had a little belt pouch that did the job, but that went when I changed handsets. As they became less obtrusive, the need for anything other than a pocket disappeared.

I did, for a long time, quite fancy a detective-style shoulder holster for the mobile, but thought better of it. Being a] Irish, and b] living in London where the Metropolitan Police have shot a number of folks over the years in incidents like the guy up in Hackney that was carrying a table leg, or more recently the deMenzes execution, it never seemed like a clever idea! Now that I usually have a pocket to spare (on these very rare occasions I am forced by excessive heat to leave home without a jacket, I now wear a short-sleeved shirt with a pocket), there is no need for anything else in which to accomodate my handset.

Wearing a Bluetooth headset all the time is not a look for which I care, however, having used one at home, they are tremendously convenient if one wants to do something else while on the phone, and saves considerable armache if you are the type to spend two hours at a time on the phone. As this is my primary means of regular conversation with a lot of friends in Scotland and back in the old country, this is a bonus for me. It's only a matter of time before some clever soul develops a functional Bluetooth headset in a steampunk design, nice brass body. That would help the aesthtic.

I'm really not sure at what point accoutrements (forgive the British spelling)

French, shurely?

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Now see....-at- work I used to use a holster. But thats sort of a special situation.

I work on a -floor- that is the size of a football field. With about 300 or so cubicles in it...i walk around it often as part of my task load. Having the phone holstered while I do so means I can answer work calls faster, help people, etc.....and my phone was not a small thing, being camera-less for the industry I work in...so pockets didn't really suit either.


Now they have given me a blackberry, and its a holsterless case, forcing me to carry it in my hand, or a pocket. Bleh....am on the lookout for a new holster that i actually like.

My personal phone, stays hidden most of the time.

 

[Edward]

Now see....-at- work I used to use a holster. But thats sort of a special situation.

I work on a -floor- that is the size of a football field. With about 300 or so cubicles in it...i walk around it often as part of my task load. Having the phone holstered while I do so means I can answer work calls faster, help people, etc.....and my phone was not a small thing, being camera-less for the industry I work in...so pockets didn't really suit either.


Now they have given me a blackberry, and its a holsterless case, forcing me to carry it in my hand, or a pocket. Bleh....am on the lookout for a new holster that i actually like.

My personal phone, stays hidden most of the time.

Makes sense. Actually - depending on workplace dress code - I should have thought this could be more of an issue for the ladies, given that women's clothing, especially that of vintage design, tends to be somewhat less accomodating in terms of pockets etc. I should have thought that you won't have too much of a problem with finding a suitable holster for the Blackberry - one of the biggest plusses, I always find, of going with a big market leading brand is that there is a much wider range of third party accessories from which to choose.

Actually, one of the nicest accessories ever I saw was a small steel case, very reminiscent of a 30s cigaretted case, designed to be just wide and deep enough to fit an ipod, with enough extra length to accomodate the earbuds. Unfortunately the US based company would only sell to US based customers, or US military worldwide. I imagine that this would have suited the iPhone also. Of course, this would still leave the need to find somewhere to put it - pocket, bag, etc...

Slightly fftopic: , but I can't believe that the mobile telephone has been a reality for about three decades now, and still noone has produced a licensed, screen-accurate copy of Kirk's communicator that is also a fully functioning mobile.

 

[Feraud]

Keep the phone out of sight in a pocket.





[QUOTE="Skeet" McD]A search for "iphone case leather" brought up these folks--in Turkey!--who make a great product with what I think is a very traditional and chaste styling, even for a man. It was the global economy writ small: I had no idea where the company was when I ordered (from the Northeastern US); within 12 hours of my order, it was shipped from Istanbul...6 hours later, in Frankfurt, but held up there for unknown reasons; 12 hours later, it was in the East Midlands, UK...and the next day, it was sitting on my doorstep. They make similar cases for other phones and handheld devices. Someone else here might like the styling as much as I did:

http://www.beyzacases.com/cat-side-sr.cfm

"Skeet"[/QUOTE]
Thanks for the link. I am very interested in their case.
Did yours add much bulk to the iphone?

 

[Spitfire]

Just don't wear a cellphone!
I value my persoanl freedom enough to keep the cellphone in my bag or briefcase. Closed. (The phone that is!)
If I want to call somebody, I turn it on. The rest of the time, it's closed.
I don't want to be available 24 hours a day.

 

["Skeet" McD]

Beyza Cases...

Thanks for the link. I am very interested in their case.
Did yours add much bulk to the iphone?

Cher Feraud,
Not at all. The leather is very thin, with just the right amount of stiffening/padding in the front panel to give it some presence. Oddly enough, just this morning my wife (who is now waiting for a Beyza case of her own!) said "it's amazing how much SMALLER your iPhone looks in that case!"

Additionally (and I assure you: I have no connection with the firm, which I didn't even know existed until a week and a half ago), the case fits the iPhone exactly: just snug enough, and how they get the "home" button to work so perfectly through the leather is beyond me! But it does.

Here are some pictures:
http://gallery.me.com/finiancircle#100014/DSCF4221
http://gallery.me.com/finiancircle#100014/DSCF4225&bgcolor=black
http://gallery.me.com/finiancircle#100014/DSCF4226&bgcolor=black
http://gallery.me.com/finiancircle#100014/DSCF4227&bgcolor=black

If you decide to purchase one, I doubt very much that you will be disappointed.

Cheers,
"Skeet"