Writer’s Tool: Hold The Phone or Don’t

A couple of days ago, one of my journalism buds tweeted about the difficulty of conducting an interview using his iPhone. Apparently his cheeks kept pressing buttons on the touch screen and was causing a disruption. I’m not an iPhone owner, but I have always wondered how anyone can conduct verbal business on the phone or any touch screen without disturbing the flow. It’s bad enough that one of my land line phones is an old school streamline, with a new school twist. The twist?  The flash button is in the receiver of the phone rather than in the cradle. So, with the slightest brush of my fat cheeks (they blow up when I’m smiling or laughing over the phone), my phone is disrupted or disconnected altogether.  I can’t imagine trying to hold it together while conducting business with a touch screen phone. Then again…

During one of my interviews a week ago, I had to go onto an emergency phone route. I used my mother’s iPhone. I held my breath, praying that my fat cheeks wouldn’t cause a disconnect in mid Q&A. It wasn’t until after the call, that I totally forgot about a tool (or new accessory) my mother got for her iPhone. It’s the Native Union Pop Phone Hand set. Basically, it’s phone receiver you plug into your smart phone.  This is sooo convienent for her as she does spend a lot of time on conference calls and so forth. It can be a discomfort to spend an ample amount of time on your phone conducting business when using the speaker feature isn’t an option (for privacy reasons). I know, I’ve been there on my lil ole Blackberry.

When my mother showed me the hand set, we tested it out. It’s actually VERY clear! You can just set the phone down and just go for it! The cool thing is, it comes in various colors. My mother has a red one and she treated a friend of hers to a hot pink one!  You can find them (or where I’ve seen them) at Macy’s or Nordstrom’s and they are reasonably priced. The ones at Nordstrom’s are only $20.

To be honest these receiver hand sets have been around for a while; probably over the past year. I caught wind of them after seeing a few celebrities with bling’d out ones, which I later learned were ridiculously priced in between $500 and over $1,000. Then again, I believe the ones I saw had real Swarovski Crystals.

I suggested the Native Union Pop set to my journalism bud. I’m not sure if he will go and get one, but he did think it was a neat idea. I know I plan to get one, once I get a new cell phone. This is soooo perfect for any writer that is taking notes in the middle of a conversation or just because!  If you have fat cheeks like me, this is a life saver.

Tagged: Blackberry, creative, iPhone, journalism, Native Union Pop Phone Hand Set, writing

Posted in: Writer's Tools