I have written about the lack of Mac software to effectively manage the setting of my Sony Ericsson phone before. And it is no secret that I am very much looking forward to the day Apple introduces its own version of a phone (just to have to wait another 12 months until it’ll be available in Europe). However, unless Google Labs comes to the rescue with its own solution to an everyman’s problem, like they have done before eg with the Browser Sync extension for Firefox, Apple might be able to sweep the market with one tiny feature which I am surprised nobody has yet addressed.
I believe it was on the first Gillmor Gang I ever listened to when Seth Godin was a guest and complained about being available 24/7 via cell phone and the trouble with switching it off because there actually might be an important call coming in.
I thought it back then and I’ll say it now: Give me a decent interface to control my address book. Don’t let me use the wimpy cell phone screen but a browser window. Let me define groups and specific settings for these groups.
And this is where Apple comes in. They already have a very powerful address book app. If they take as much car on syncing contacts as they do with the sync between iPod and iTunes it’ll be yet another anchor to lure more users to Apple.
Imagine to leave work, click a button and all of a sudden all contacts in group “work” are automatically sent to your voice mail. Calls from the group “VIP” get announced with vibration. Everything handled with easy pull-down menues or check-boxes.
That’ll be the day.
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