I just read about a new feature being introduced in some 2008 cars where the parent can hit one button ("time out" button?) and instantly mute all the A/V going on in the car and... get this... project their voice throughout the cabin!
As a parent, I have to tell you that this is an awesome feature. Its one of those that seems so obvious that you wonder what took them so long to come up with it, especially as it doesn't require any unique technology, just some innovative thought.
So on that note, I thought I'd throw two other, seemingly obvious and much needed inventions for anyone listening.
- Optimized Voicemail - right now, we only have two choices when our phones ring: answer it or let it go to voicemail. Actually, I have used a voicemail preview function on some phones that let you listen in on the recording voicemail and interrupt the caller mid-stream by accepting the call. But I'm talking about a different but much more common scenario here. I find that there are many times where I *really* want to answer the incoming call but I need a bit more time. Not hours, but minutes. What I want is a button that I can press that plays a different message, one that acknowledges the call and explains that I will available soon. Maybe there are two versions, one that asks to call back in 5 minutes and a second that says "I'll call you right back." I would use this all the time. We need more than two statuses (statums? stati?), more than "I'm here" and "I can't come to the phone right now because for all you know, I could have been abducted by aliens."
- The Hold is Over - how many times have you tried to massage out the crick in your neck from cradling the phone for eons at a time waiting for the customer representative to finally get around to your call in the queue? Would it be so hard to put the phone call in a "holding pattern" mode where the representative can wake you up when their ready to chat? This would actually make it tolerable to call tech support because you could continue with your life while on hold. It should be easy to have the person on the other end of the line press '1' to send a tone to your phone so that you can re-engage.
Like the "time out" button in the car, these seem like obvious features that would help a great many folks. I know I'd use them.
Do you have any ideas like this?
