“Paul, I am concerned. What is up with wearing your phone around your neck?”
-Anonymous friend of Paul
Strange indeed. One of the first things that you might notice when you meet me is that I may be the first person you have seen who walks around with my smartphone connected to a camera strap. I get comments all the time from strangers. “That’s so cool” “Where did you get that” But I have yet to see anyone else adopt this very logical and utilitarian fashion accessory.
So how did I come to start this budding fashion trend? It really comes down to thinking about how to get the most out of technology and then let technology get out of your way. I love listening to podcasts on my phone and I used to carry it around in my shirt pocket so that I could hear them on the speaker. Of course, when I would bend over the phone would fall out of my pocket and I had a repulsive crack down the middle of my screen. The most obvious benefit of a camera strap phone is a course that you do not drop it. most people know the sinking feeling of cracking their cell phone screen. When you ride a one-wheel skateboard to work the likelihood that you will drop your phone is pretty high. When you have a cell phone necklace you get in the habit of dropping your phone all the time because it just safely swings.
This is probably the best part of having this accessory. It lets you put down your phone anytime you want instantly. When you need your phone it’s there and as soon as you’re done you can just drop it and engage with the rest of the world. It seems like most people have a tendency to take their phone out for one task and then get sucked into social media or games. There is nothing wrong with instagram or mindless games but no one likes the feeling of realizing that they just wasted an hour that they were going to spend doing something productive.
I want my phone to be available to me as quickly as possible. When I was a photographer, I walked around with a camera on my neck instead of keeping it in my bag so I could take a picture quickly. Now my cell phone is my primary camera and I use it for so much more than art. I use it to remember all kinds of things. The digital camera is an incredible tool for documenting and capturing information. From a movie poster to a for-sale sign to a list of phone numbers to even a measurement on a tape measure, taking a quick picture is the fastest way to make sure you do not lose the information you are seeing. Just grab it in a second and it syncs with Google photos where you can easily search for it by date or by content. (for example, search “signs”) Not to mention, cameras are pretty great for taking pictures of people, animals and sunsets all of which move much more quickly than a photographer might prefer.
The word wearable has become a buzz term in the tech industry these days. Everyone is buying in on smartwatches. I bought an Apple watch quite a few years ago and it is certainly a beautiful piece of equipment, however, it simply is nowhere close to as useful as a phone. The only difference is that it is not in your pocket. One distinct disadvantage of a watch is that they require both of your hands to operate. One hand must use the touch screen or buttons well the other one is doing nothing while you attend to your wrist. With your phone however, most tasks can be completed easily with one hand. So I sold my Apple watch and bought a camera strap. Why do I need something on my wrist that does a quarter of what my phone can do and cost just as much? So the only real advantage here is accessibility. When your phone is around your neck, you can grab in just as quickly as you can glance at your wrist.
So, what to many may see as an albatross, I know to be a useful and powerful tool at the ready. I guess I am weird. If you want to be weird too, I recommend the Moment case.