The New User Experience

 For over 120 years the telephone has been the standard instrument of voice communication. Over that period of time, the basic mode of operation has changed marginally, despite the many dramatic changes in related technologies. Today, the handset metaphor may be constraining innovation, more than it is helping. Although voice centric devices will likely always have an important role in communications, the physical desktop phone, distinct from the personal computer, has mostly outlived its usefulness. Yet, almost all softphones today are simple replacements for the desktop phone, mimicing them in every way. There are so many other possible modes of operation for voice communication, but, as the adage goes; when all you have is a hammer, everything begins to look like a nail.