Over at Things I Wish My Phone Did, I’ve started accepting other people’s idea submissions for new cartoons.
The first one I used was from David Herrold, pictured above. Thanks, David!
Sure, Things I Wish My Phone Did started life out as a small side project on behalf of my client, Line2, bit something tells me that it could be something much bigger, something much more interactive. There are a lot of people out there with strong ideas and opinions about “What a phone could be”.
All new ideas– both for new cartoons and ideas for where take the website– gratefully received. Just ping me on Twitter, preferably using the #ThingsIWishMyPhoneDid hashtag. This could be huge. Thanks!
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water: Another cartoon for hackthephonecompany.com.
Something deliciously wrong about hipsters who get overly attached to their iPhones– or to any Apple product in general. A rich vein for any cartoonist etc.
But for iPhone users, AT&T is pretty much a monopoly again, with their exclusive deal with Apple.
AT&T, Verizon, Orange, T-Mobile, Vodaphone, it really doesn’t matter. They’re generally expensive, they’re restrictive, often the service sucks, so you’re always trying to bypass what they have on offer– trying to hack your way around it.
Line2 with their VoIP service, is trying to do the same.
We all are.
Click on the link (or click here) and see what we’ve done. There’s just a fun cartoon right now–
It’s a start. We’re hoping to make this the start of something bigger. Much bigger. We want to “hack” the phone company. So do you. So does everybody else.
[PS: Here’s a link to what NYT Tech writer, David Pogue, has to say about Line2.]
Now, of course, most blogs are one-person operations. Which means that successful blogs are often run by restless, outward-bound people in a hurry. And a lot of bloggers either have day jobs or passionate sidelines. I think that’s a good thing, even when they fail. It’s frustrating for me to hear, “stick to your blogging,” when people criticize a project created by a blogger – because it’s part of the blogging, part of the learning, part of what’s unfolding. I’d rather read a book that’s informed by the activities (not the reporting) of the writer, and I’d rather read a blog that’s based on the successes (and failures) of the blogger.
Which brings us to Hugh MacLeod and his work for Microsoft. Some critics think he’s selling out. I don’t. I think he’s having a huge impact on an organization –from the outside– at the same time that he demonstrates how just about any large organization can rethink its role in the world. And he’s doing it in front of all of us, without a net.
On Friday I was talking to Peter Sisson, gapingvoid’s new client, the guy behind Toktumi and Line2.
We were talking about “The Cocktail Party Rule”- what’s true at cocktail parties is also true in marketing i.e. If you want to be boring, talk about yourself. If you want to be interesting, talk about something else.
Luckily, Peter concurs…
The way I see it, a product is an “Idea Amplifier”. You have an idea about something– phones or whatever– and you build a product as an expression of that idea.
For example, Zappos’ central idea is not really about shoes per se, it’s about company culture and customer service– “Delivering Happiness”, as its CEO, Tony Hsieh calls it.
Similarly, with Line2 the central idea is not about an iPhone app, it’s about, and I’m quoting Peter here, “What phones could be”.
And what can a phone be? I’m curious to find out. I think we all are.
“The Apple/Google Voice fiasco just got more interesting. Toktumi, a startup that lets small businesses build office-caliber phone systems with their mobile phones and computers, just had its application Line2 approved by Apple — nearly three months after it was originally submitted. The powerful service allows business employees to assign two phone numbers to their iPhone: one that they can give to family and friends, and another that can be given to business contacts, with features that allow for call filtering and a professional-grade voicemail system. But it’s also notable for its many similarities to Google Voice, an application that Apple has kept out of the App Store for months now.
“The story so far: late last July, Apple abruptly pulled all third party Google Voice applications from the App Store, explaining that they somehow were duplicating the iPhone’s native functionality. Later that day, we broke the news that Google’s official Google Voice client had been barred from the App Store, sparking a media storm and a FCC inquiry into Apple’s rationale for the ban.”
It’s basically a second line for your phone– your iPhone, in particular.
I’ve never been much of a VoIP geek, so why did I get involved?
It was a simple little factoid that got my interest:
The Line2 service costs $14.95 per month. Not a huge amount, but costly enough when you consider that Google Voice is free. Line2 has a first month trial offer, which allows you to try it out for free. After that, they start charging. Fair enough.
So how many people start signing on at $14.95, once their free trial expires? Five percent? Ten percent? That’s what I was guessing…
Nope. Thirty percent.
Thirty percent! I thought that was huge. They must be doing something right etc.
The second reason is purely intellectual. As many bloggers have been spouting on for a while now (including me), we are in the early days of the largest communication revolution in the history of the planet. VOIP is in the forefront of this revolution, so getting involved should give me a front row seat. And we cartoonists need interesting stuff to keep our brains occupied etc.
I have no idea where this is going; I’m just along for the ride. Hopefully a Smarter Conversation will come out of it in the end. Watch this space. Rock on.
gapingvoid has landed itself a new client. 
![[Download printable version here.]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/phone-1009-09j1.jpg){kind=link}
![[Download printable version here.]](http://gapingvoid.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/phone-1009-06j11.jpg){kind=link}