COMMENT: Dire tones of picture phones

By Stewart Mitchell

Posted on 3 Mar 2003 at 12:01

Which idiot bought the first camera phone? They must have felt like a complete bozo trying to find someone to send pictures to, just like the owner of the first telephone - all connected up, no-one to phone. Yes, I know you can send pictures to email addresses, but that's not how it's advertised.

Putting my cards on the table early on, I fall into the category of those that use - and will continue to use - a mobile phone as, er, a phone that's mobile. I don't do text (first date or otherwise) and WAP remains an inconvenience. Yet finally, the mobile phone has something new and significant to offer, something that could change society as much as the move away from payphones.

The camera phone is a major advance in terms of social change, more so than any other development since we severed the necessity for copper wires. Couples could now ask partners to prove they're 'working late', muggers could be captured on camera (if they left the phone behind) and parents could monitor their children's movements.

And there are countless practical uses for this technology. Workers on the move, from doctors to tree surgeons and estate agents, would find the ability to send images back to base for consultation invaluable. Even giving directions would be easier. 'When you see this [picture of cow in tree], turn left' - a great benefit for those bereft of descriptive ability.

Then there are the fun uses. Sending a picture of yourself in Cancun (sand between toes, margarita in hand) back to the office on a wet Monday morning in February might be cruel, but it would be satisfying. This is what technology is all about - making your mates feel inferior. And how long before the first 'guess whose bum' competition is played out in a pub on a Friday night?

Companies are already advertising video goals to your phone, so you don't need to describe the action to your friend - so much for the art of conversation; apparently it's no longer good to talk.

But beneath the fun and games advertised by Beckham, Agassi and other stars, the camera phone has some sinister implications for the way we live, and could come back to haunt the carriers and manufacturers that are constantly trying to force more PC functionality onto your handset.

Carrying a camera everywhere - as you do with a mobile phone - means people are suddenly wary about allowing mobile phones in public areas. Health clubs up and down the country are considering new rules after a club member in Edinburgh complained another member had photographed him in the changing area, albeit as a joke.

If you have a camera phone and go to a gym, you might be asked to turn your phone off and put it at the bottom of your bag. This policy could spread to any area where personal or corporate privacy is an issue. As a potential customer being given a tour of a research and development centre, you may be asked not to carry a camera phone. Greek airports, children's parks and swimming pools could become phone-free environments, because people may not be able to distinguish camera phones from normal mobiles.

Are you still going to want to carry such a phone if you have to turn it off or put it at the bottom of a bag twice a day? The additional functionality actually makes the phone less useful than older models. It's all a bit far-fetched, but the phone companies and authorities are taking the threat seriously.

O2 says it will immobilise any phones used inappropriately, whatever that means. But the problem is it will be very difficult to work out how the phones are being used, as the data transfer is more difficult to intercept and reconstruct than email, for example. And this fact has police chiefs worried - they're concerned paedophiles will have a new and invisible way to send illicit material.