Show and Tell

Talking pictures
A new Android  app called Thrutu lets the user share images, video, location and contacts with the person on the end of the line without hanging up.

Via YouTube and VentureBeat

Available for free Android Market, Thrutu has 5 buttons that mean during a call you can take and send a photo, send one from your gallery, find each other on a map, share your contacts and prod the other person's phone to make it shake. 

The last one is probably quite effective if you're angry but can't shout because you're in the library or at church or something like that, instead you could make the other person's phone embody your rage.

Via Android Market

I have been thinking about multifunctional devices overtaking monofunctional devices recently and Thrutu, as an app that increases what you can do during a call, seems to be evidence of this shift. The device that can only do one thing such as the traditional alarm clock is on its way out as technology is developed that can perform an increasing number of tasks. 

This could also apply to ereaders in comparison to paperbacks. The draw of ereaders is that you can chose and change the content they contain whereas the content of a paperback is permanent. 

I find this a bit of a shame as monofunctional devices such as toasters, torches and alarm clocks have a certain charm to them. They have one definite purpose and were built to do it well, they have a fixed function and a fixed place in daily life.

Monofunctional devices know their place

Via StraightShooters

For example, I will only use a toaster in the morning to make toast. I will not think about the toaster at any other time of day or associate it with anything other than making toast.

Let's pretend this is my phone

Via TechDigest 

I will use my phone throughout the day for lots of different reasons for lots of different things, such as texting, making videos, making very important calls, accessing maps, playing games and so on. I do not associate  it with one single task or moment in the day, it is something I use all the time. 

I am interested in whether both objects as well as devices that aren't multifunctional will eventually become redundant. I would also like to see how Thrutu impacts on mobile behaviour and whether other apps will follow where it leads.

Let me know what you think.

Vashti