Mobiles have taken over the world and soon we would be doing their bidding. The only issue is they do not have the power to last more than a day. On one hand they are almost as powerful as the low class laptops, with almost all the apps from productivity to games present along with features such as location monitoring and spatial understanding, phones have come a long way indeed.
Before smartphones came into the picture, the accessories were limited as well. The most important one was an earplug and second to that came the Bluetooth ear piece.
In fact, I barely remember any other item. 8 GB memory cards were sufficient unless you were a music junkie. That sums up the accessories that were essential. Everything else was frivolous and could be done without.
Indeed, I never even kept a Bluetooth set and thus never bought an accessory for any feature phone. Though the feature phones themselves were no slouch either.
Cut to today, my Android phone has-
- Screen Guard.
- Case.
- Ear plugs.
- Car charger.
- Portable charger.
- Auxiliary cable.
- Portable Chargers (planned).
If you notice, it is the bare minimum and revolves around either protecting the phone or keeping it alive. Besides these, there are hundreds of different products that revolve around the ecosystem. My Nexus has inbuilt 16 GB (and no card slot) and thus I have no need for external memory card though I could use one as I have filled the 16 GB.
Now, one can fill the phone with so many things from songs, videos to picture taken from the now good cameras (of higher MP thus bigger size) and of course, the apps. Apps nowadays are over 1 GB sometimes (gaming ones especially) and you can fill your phone so easily with them. Many of them are free as well- Asphalt 8, Deer Hunter etc.
Here, I have taken just one example of myself, but I have seen this all around me. A case for example has become a defacto to the extent that people buy it along with the phone itself most of the time. So is a memory card.
Car charger is also gaining prominence as the battery issue is increasing. You have to remember that when smartphones (Android and iOS) initially came 3G was barely here. This meant most phones were working on 2G network which was less battery consuming. With 3G gaining prominence most phones have shifted to 3G networks which consume battery with a renewed err… energy. Suddenly phones have stopped lasting a whole day. Add to that the long commute times and voila! We have a match made in heaven.
Also, with curated playlists in mobiles, why would I take the effort of creating playlist for my car stereo? It is far simpler to play the songs in my phone in the car as well. I know I am perhaps the only one new to this but better late than never.
Lastly, portable chargers have really become dime a dozen. Companies have launched products ranging starting under Rs. 1000. Some have capacity to charge your phone once; others can do it twice or even thrice. A few I saw in the market are even carrying a torch with them. Most are really easy to carry and in winters, a coat or a jacket pocket will suffice. This could be my next purchase, as I see a real use of this!
I still do not use a Bluetooth set which might be an essential part of some of you people.
What do you think? Has our spending on accessories increased after smartphones? Has the importance of accessories increased after smartphones came into picture?
In your collage of mobile devices, there is one showing a red colored object stuck to the back of a grey iPhone looking device. What is the red colored object?