Over a century after the first telephone was invented, communication technology has evolved far beyond anything that Alexander Graham Bell could ever fathom. 

Today the average student’s cell phone holds more features than most Swiss Army knives.  Phones no longer merely make calls.  Professors can use their phones to schedule meetings and organize their weekly tasks; students walking to class can plug in their earphones and listen to music. Thrifty shoppers can scan the barcodes of products to search and compare prices.

 ”I can connect my computer to the Internet when I plug my phone into it,” Johnathon Kirk, a freshman in computer science, said. “When you’re on a train and you don’t have Wi-Fi, it comes in handy.  It’s definitely the part I use the most.” 

Of course there are many reasons for someone to want a phone capable of serving so many purposes, but such communication prowess also has its downsides.

“I find [my Blackberry] annoying because it makes me too accessible,” Gini Gregg, a senior in business administration and international studies, said. 

For some, the smaller size of a cell phone inhibits the ability to perform tasks that one could do much more easily on a laptop.

“Certainly in mobile platforms, productivity software is something that phones lack,” Greg Byrd said. Byrd is the director of the Center for Efficient, Scalable and Reliable Computing. “Of course the screens and keyboards are too small.  Companies would benefit from improving productivity software.”

Despite the quick and headstrong progression of cell phone technology, there are still many areas that can be improved upon.

“I would like more standardization of applications,” Kirk said.  “There should be more standardized applications so that any App can sync with any phone.  Phones should also be more computer-driven, and [able to] interact with computers like how the iPhone syncs with iTunes.” 

A number of these setbacks can also be attributed to the ambition of cell phone makers to turn the cell phone into a modern day computer.

“Today’s cell phone platform is looking to take the place of the laptop,” Byrd said. “There is more demand for high performance for lower power.”

Programming today’s smartphones is not just limited to the hands of corporations.  Any users with the proper training and knowledge could create their own program or platform from their bedroom.

“Android has changed things a bit,” Byrd said. “The user is more open to control what goes in the phone.”

Surprisingly, platforms and programs that were designed for phones are finding uses in other systems as well. The University provides courses that allow students to develop software for tomorrow using the phone platforms of today.

“We have 400 and 500 level courses in embedded systems that develop software in things that aren’t computers,” Byrd said. “They are low cost and low constrained by power and energy.  They’ve been using the Android platform.”

Students also have the opportunity to show off their skills and develop the next big software that will perhaps one day make them the next Mark Zuckerberg.

“This month we’re having a contest called the Extreme Computer Design Competition,” Byrd said. “It starts from now and ends on May 3.  Today was the last day for entry.”

Ultimately, even inhibited phone users will find more practical uses for their advanced phones.

“It’s nice to use cell phones to check emails and find out about lass minute class cancelations,” Gregg said.