Smartphones? - Forget the phone and go to tablets

I am sure you all know that language is very important. It is therefore important to consider, how we should name different things and objects.

Petri Sajari, a reporter on the financial pages of Helsingin Sanomat, interviews professor Jukka Manner from the Aalto University who points out that we should really use the name "nettikännykkä" (Internet phone) instead of the word smartphone.

I was searching for a word for these new devices already six years ago and came up with the word verkotin (networking device) in a comment published in the Talouselämä magazine (27/2005 p 27). Six years ago I had dropped out the word "phone", but as you can see change is not easy. Letting go of the past is not easy. Why should we stick to the word "phone" - after all it could be called " a personal digital assistant", or "an Internet tablet".

Economists and especially game theorist use the term "utility", with which they mean the value of e.g. a product to the user. What is important to understand is that this "utility" depends on, what the person already owns. For example I already have a cheap mobile phone, worth 20-30 Euros, but good for calling. When searching for a new smartphone, I have no "utility" for the voice service because I already have the service. Hence the first requirement I drop out is voice. I recently bought an Internet tablet for 285 Euro´s.

Helsingin Sanomat, in its article, goes around shops searching for a suitable smartphone. They find out that smartphones are priced between 179 and 675 Euros. The salesmen in different shops recommend different samrtphones. The reporter can not really make sense on what he needs and argues that consumers in general are in a similar position - maybe so.

The reporter however does not understand that he should drop of the word "phone". He could get a great tablet for 300 Euro and a good enough phone for 50 Euro, so why pay 675 Euro for the combination?

Maybe, because the utility is in the fact that you can show others that you are in a position to pay 675.