Philosophy

The varieties of phones

It is like looking into the cabin of a locomotive. We see handles all looking more or less alike. (Naturally, since they are all supposed to be handled.) But one is the handle of a crank which can be moved continuously (it regulates the opening of a valve); another is the handle of a switch, which has only a brake-lever, the harder one pulls on it, the harder it brakes; a fourth, the handle of a pump: it has an effect only so long as it is moved to and fro. -- Ludwig Wittgenstein, talking about words, in the Philosophical Investigations..

There are traditional land-line phones, land-line phones with caller-id, and cell phones. They all look alike. But my unanswered call to a traditional phone leaves no trace. If I choose not to leave a message, the recipient doesn't know that I called. If the recipient has caller-id, however, my call leaves a record. And, if the recipient phone is a cell phone, the missed call generates a beep. The recipient has to consciously decide not to return my call. This means that it is a much bigger deal to call a cell phone than to call any sort of traditional phone, and a bigger deal to call a traditional phone with caller-id than one that keeps no such record. How does this matter? Suppose I am trying to get a speaker for an event. I call Jones, get his cell phone, then try Smith, get Smith, ask Smith to speak. I am certain to have to explain to Jones why I called, telling him that he was the first choice in a hierarchy that then went on to Smith. Or I make up some story, and thereby tell Jones that I have something to hide, if Jones is good at detecting lies.

To put it more generally, when I call a phone that keeps a record of my call, I am giving far more information than I gave when I called a traditional phone. And, when I call a cell phone, I am asking a question that I am not asking with any other phone device: is this person willing to call me back. These odd little facts change seriously the place of phone devices in communication strategy.