Smartphone

I have been asked why I don’t have a smartphone*. The short answer is I don’t need one. I was then told that I only said that because I don’t currently have a smartphone, and that I would realize the “need” if I have one. HUH? Not needing a smartphone doesn’t mean that I don’t want one. It’s just that there are many other things that I need and want to buy before I’ll even seriously think of buying a smartphone. Besides, my two-year-old not-so-smart mobile phone works just fine at the moment.

I know that a smartphone can do a lot of wonderful things. But that’s the thing—I don’t need my phone to do a lot of things, wonderful or otherwise. I just don’t like the idea of having a multitude of functions crammed into one handheld device. The idea is by having a smartphone that can take pictures, record movies and navigate you don’t need to have dedicated still and video cameras and GPS navigator. While convenient, you are also creating a situation where you have a single point of failure.

Perhaps it’s also worth noting that I don’t always carry my mobile around with me. At home and at work, for example, unless I’m expecting an important call my mobile phone is usually left in a drawer in silent mode. I don’t imagine it will be any different if I had a smartphone. On the other hand, there’s almost always a PC on in the house for getting onto the Internet. We also have a tablet.

So again and again we return to the question of need. I don’t need a smartphone at the moment. For that matter I doubt that I’ll ever really need a smartphone. Having said that, if my mobile phone were to die on me tomorrow and I have the extra cash, I just might buy one. But I’ll keep my compact camera, video camera and GPS navigator.

* My current mobile phone is a black Sony Ericsson Elm. Afi has one in pink.

Rolled Up Concrete

Not exactly new, but I have just came across this, Concrete Cloth, via Think Defence. It is basically canvas infused with cement. The material is stored and transported conveniently in rolls. When needed, it is simply unrolled, cut, nailed or stapled into shape, and sprayed with water. The concrete hardens to 80 percent strength in twenty-four hours.

The material is particularly very useful when you want to build and reinforce very quickly, like in emergency or disaster situations. The video above shows in passing Concrete Cloth used to reinforce a slope. There are also shelters that can be put up by just two people in one hour.

Of course, given the source I got it from, the flexibility of Concrete Cloth opens up some interesting military applications too.

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LINK: Concrete Canvas on YouTube.