Do you wear your Bluetooth headset? Have you ever used your Bluetooth function for anything more than the one novelty ringtone mandatory for anyone who`s just acquired a new cellphone? Does the confounded thing actually remain attached to your ear despite the oddly shaped hooking grasper?
If you have been successful at any of the above, I`d like to meet you so I can further research exactly what the Swiss army knife gadget with a flashy light is for.
My headset resides in the little inner zipper compartment of what was once my daily carry-all handbag. It had a short life, the poor thing. Once I discovered its daily demand for my cellphone charger, and it`s eagerness to unhook itself from my lobes, it quickly got the shaft.
Also, I never quite got the hang of "voice dialling". Speech recognition has a long way to go. If you happen to be in a perky mood and your tone of voice is so when you set it up, then there`s no way you can voice dial in afternoon traffic after a long day at the office and a box of cigarettes.
Quite a pretentious, status-related gadget it is. But the practicality... well, not so much.
Bhavna Singh, junior journalist, ITWeb
I have, admittedly, observed my device`s relatives either precariously perched on the ears of stiff-necked passing motorists or on frantic trolley-wielding women in the mall. The trick though, is finding someone who actually converses on it. It looks nifty, yes, but is it simply the new ear adornment? Is it even charged?
It was time for research. Keeping a beady eye on fellow 'trafficers` on the N1 after work on a Monday afternoon was my scout location of choice.
Plenty of balancing acts on shoulders were observed, everyone trying to keep some or the other ever-shrinking device aimed at an ear and at least the corner of a jaw simultaneously. There was the doubtless click of clamshells every time a police vehicle was spotted combing the emergency lane but not a Bluetooth device in sight.
I have done it before, gotten settled into the driver`s seat, attached my doohickey, ready to drive. It rings, I grapple for the button, then the poor sod on the other side complains that they can hear the other traffic and the radio and I sound like I`m exploring the bottom of a pit toilet. Quite a pretentious, status-related gadget it is. But the practicality... well, not so much.
I remember a time when the selling point of most mobiles was "free Bluetooth hands-free". If not, the yuppie generation was willing to fork out more than a few hundred rands to purchase one anyway.
My own took three shop assistants two days to acquire a signal to connect to my handset, until one suggested I commandeer a Nokia appendage for my Motorola. No thanks, I`ll figure it out eventually, though it might have been easier to use a bunny aerial. That`s what techno-savvy younger brothers are for. He had it going lickety-split.
Maybe it will be useful someday, if advertisers have their way and try to sell me everything over the airwaves, whether I like it or not. I`ll be sure to keep it handy, just in case!
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