Mobile before PC

By Ian, on July 15th, 2010

Check out this forthcoming phone from Indian mobile manufacturer, Lava:

Notice anything unusual compared to the normal Nokia/Blackberry fare?

Answer below — but have a close look and a guess first…

10 points if you spotted it’s got an A-Z keyboard rather than QWERTY. “Who would do a stupid thing like that?” you might ask.

Well, you’d do it if you were creating mobiles for an audience that had never used a typewriter, let alone a PC, like ermm… the 500mn Indian users that still haven’t got a mobile but will probably get one in the next few years. (India already has half a billion mobile users, btw).

Remember, there’s nothing natural or clever about the QWERTY key arrangement. It was supposedly invented to stop users of manual typewriters from mashing up their striking bits (name?) if they became too proficient. Apparently, though, that’s an Urban Myth. Nonetheless, anyone who types will have become used to doing so with a QWERTY layout and find that layout most convenient and easy to get to grips with if they get a button-based mobile. That’s not going to be the case if you live in rural areas in India.

In developing countries, it’s very often mobile-first. Before PCs, or typewriters or televisions or any of the historical progression we’re conditioned by in the West. If it was the first time you ever saw a keyboard — and, quite possibly — you were learning to read at the same time as using your mobile, wouldn’t an A-Z layout work better for you?

Lava’s site is here. You’ll also notice a lot of dual-SIM phones. Different operators offer different rates depending on the type of call and time of day. The cost-conscious with no intention of taking on a contract could make good use of that sort of adaptability. In situations where very impoverished people are involved, then it also allows people — even different families — to share one mobile phone.

We make a lot of assumptions, don’t we, about what is ‘best’ for interfaces to hardware and software? Personally, I wouldn’t be surprised if there were more A-Z phones in the worldwide market than QWERTY phones before the end of next year.

(via Unwired View)