Analogies and complicated mobile devices
See “Waiting for the Lego approach to mobile devices” (Database, page 7)By Jon Fernquest
Today’s article is about innovative mobile devices (or gadgets). Analogy is used as a tool to dream-up new devices.
Some people prefer plain devices with only one feature. Other people prefer lots of add-ons. My mobile phone is only a phone, but my friend’s mobile phone is also a camera, a music player, and a personal organizer. You can use mind maps like the one on this page to help you design new devices. When you shopped for a mobile phone in the past, what kinds of add-ons did you seen? What kinds of add-ons would you like to see in the future? Make a list of possible mobile phone add-ons and then categorize them as useful or useless.
An analogy compares two things by showing how they are similar. Analogies are used in some vocabulary tests like the GRE exam. When we see an analogy in the GRE test like:
dictionary : book :: PC : computer
We read this as "dictionary is to book as PC is to computer" or “dictionary is related to book as PC is related to computer”. These things are connected by the “is a kind of” relation. Another controversial example: the government is a kind of business. There are two analogies used in today’s article:
1. The Swiss Army knife analogy for complicated devices with many features
2. The Lego analogy for devices you can build-to-order
The largest Swiss Army knife you can buy has 50 tools (See Victorinox Swiss Champ XLT 53504). The electronic dictionary in my mind map has many features so it is similar to a Swiss Army knife. If a mobile phone was really like Lego, features would snap onto the phone like Lego. Personally, I know I would lose them. Would you?
Vocabulary (in discussion above)
plain – simple style, no extra featurespersonal organizer – a small book to help you organize your daily business and life with a calendar for appointments and meetings, a telephone book, and a place for notes.
the GRE exam – the standardized test used for admissions to graduate school (MA, PhD) in the United States (See Wikipedia:GRE; Also see GRE analogy example questions).
a mind map – a tree diagram for linking ideas with words (See Wikipedia:Mind_Mapping).
Vocabulary (in article)
between the lines – read between the lines, read for implied meaning not just the literal meaningLego – plastic toy bricks that children build things from like buildings (See Wikipedia:Lego)
Lego approach – can be combined together easily in many ways
fixated on – think about something to an extreme or excessive degree
pocket knife - a small knife with blades that fold into its handle so you can carry it in your pocket
Swiss Army knife - a famous kind of red pocket knife with many other small tools like a screwdriver, corkscrew, can opener, scissors, saw, toothpick, magnifying glass, pliers, awl, or file. (See Wikipedia:SwissArmyKnife)
dubbing – giving a new name to something
add-ons – extra features that you add to a device like a mobile phone
obscure – hard to find, known by only a few people
analogy – show that two things are similar (See Wikipedia:Analogy, note that this wikipedia article is difficult)
apt – suitable, right for the situation
bottle of red – bottle of red wine
swiveling – turning around to face a new direction (like a camera on a tripod)
ditto – also, what was said before is true for this also
GPS chip – Global Positioning System chip, a small computer that uses satellite signals to find the where it is on the map (See Wikipedia:Global_positioning)
cork screw – tool used to remove cork from wine bottle
my trusty red blade – my Swiss Army Knife that I can rely on to do useful things when I need it
toting – carrying
hype – exaggerated praise about something new and different
vapourware – software that a company announces before it exists (usually implies the announcement was deceptive and too optimistic about “completion date, feature set, or even feasibility.” (From: Wikipedia:Vapourware)
saturated – filled completely
on the cards – in the cards, likely or certain of happening
film trailer – the advertisements for a new film that are shown before a movie begins (See Wikipedia:Trailer)
game trailers – a short advertisements for new games like a film trailer
Skype – a program for making free telephone calls over the internet (See: Wikipedia:Skype)
foray into – start to involve yourself in a new and unfamiliar activity
file synchronization – making sure that two places have the same files, if a change is made to a file at place x than the file at place y is updated with this change (See Wikipedia:File_Synchronization)
synch with – file synchronization between the device and computer
throw in – include
pick and choose – select very carefully
scenario – one way that a situation might develop
Dell-like approach – Dell computer is famous for its build-to-order approach (see next word)
build-to-order – after someone orders with special features, the product is built with these features
be onto a winner – have found a successful idea