Idea of the Day - A new idea each day. Some Don't Suck!

Our Latest Posts About: Texting

Automatic Shorthand Text Replacement

Tuesday, April 25, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

If an iPhone can substitute a Cake Emoji for the word "Cake", why not replace shorthand text with real words too?

I've never been a fan of texting. To me, it's a pain in the neck reading the screen and using a tiny keyboard to type. In fact, 99% of the texts I send are from my Mac, where I have the luxury of a full-sized keyboard. That said, regardless of whether I use my Mac or my iPhone, I never use shorthand text like "RU" in place of "Are You", because I think it looks sloppy.

While I completely understand that most of these shorthands started back in the time before smartphones, where people had to type messages using nothing more than a numeric keypad, I think it's pretty strange that people still use things like "CU L8R", instead of typing out "See You Later". It's... [More]

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Landline Text Forwarding

Saturday, March 18, 2017 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

We all know you can't send a text message to a landline phone. Here's a quick solution.

The inability to send and receive texts to landlines is a big problem. This means that about half the phones in the world are incapable of sending or receiving texts. The trouble is, when somebody gives you their number, you may not even realize it's a landline until you discover that your texts go unanswered.

To me, there's an easy alternative, "Landline Text Forwarding". This would be a simple feature for landline companies to offer. All they need to do is give people a way to forward any texts addressed to their landline to their mobile number. Once you receive the text, you could reply using your mobile number.

Safer Texting Buttons

Tuesday, November 29, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Texting while driving is unsafe. Here's how to make it safer.

We all know how unsafe it is to text and drive, yet it's hard to entirely avoid the distractions because although we can try to resist the urge to type replies while driving, it's hard to ignore reading messages as they arrive.

The solution is to make it easier for people to quickly switch from reading and writing texts to simply talking (hands free) on the phone. To make this happen, smartphone makers like Apple and Samsung can show TWO easy buttons on the lock screen when a text message comes in.

One button sends a reply to the sender that says "Call me".

The second button says "Call Now". It doesn't send a reply. It just dials back the person who sent the text.

In both cases, the driver doesn't need... [More]

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Driving Mode. An Option To Block Inbound Texts While Driving.

Sunday, April 17, 2016 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

There should be quick a way to temporarily block inbound texts while driving.

We all know how dangerous it is to send text messages while driving. Even people who don't send messages can be easily distracted if they receive a message while driving.

Most mobile devices already have a quick and easy way to enable "Airplane Mode", so device makers should add a button to disable texting too. After all, more people drive each day than fly.

It's surprising that there isn't already an option to disable texting anywhere in the settings menus on today's SmartPhones. Right now, the only way to disable texting is to turn the entire phone off or use Airplane Mode. While that seems like a simple solution, it also blocks you from using the GPS, and from making or receiving calls in the... [More]

Continue...Driving Mode. An Option To Block Inbound Texts While Driving....

Landline Texting

Saturday, December 19, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Why limit texting to mobile phones?

Landline phones haven't made any progress in nearly 30 years. I created a post a year ago in a post called Hey Phone Makers... Our Landline Phones Stink., where I vented about how far behind landline phones are compared to mobile phones. Today I'm focusing on one particular shortcoming... the lack of text messaging.

The lack of texting support for landlines can be a real pain in the neck.

People often make the mistake of trying to send a text to a landline.

It's pretty strange that nobody has introduced a landline phone that is capable of sending and receiving texts. It's not that complicated. Apple already makes it possible to send and receive texts on iPads, iPods... [More]

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Texting Alias

Saturday, November 21, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Keep your mobile number private.

I had two phone numbers back in the 80s, one was my beeper, the other was my cell phone. I gave my beeper number to everyone, but I rarely gave anyone the number for my cell phone. Clients left messages, and I called them back when I had the chance, using whatever phone I wanted. Cell phones cost about 75 cents per minute back then, so this was mainly a way to save money.

I still avoid giving out my mobile number, especially to companies that ask for it, not because of cost, but because it often leads to telemarketing calls.

The solution is for mobile companies to offer a Texting Alias, which is a unique address used just for texting. You can share the alias on business cards, web sites, etc. and you'll know for sure that you'll never g... [More]

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Speed Sensitive Texting Block (With Auto Response)

Friday, September 25, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

A split second distraction can cost you your life.

Most people know that it's unsafe to text while driving, but they don't realize it's just as unsafe to receive a text while driving as it is to send one. Regardless of how important a text may be, it's not worth risking your life for.

Resisting the urge to send text messages is pretty easy, but we don't have much choice about when a message comes in because most of the time the sender has no idea you are driving.

Although most smartphones have a Do Not Disturb option, very few people take the time to turn it on when they get in a car, especially since this would also block incoming calls. What SmartPhones need is a way to automatically block inbound texts whenever the phone is moving.

The key here is to turn off the ale... [More]

Continue...Speed Sensitive Texting Block (With Auto Response)...

Driving Mode Button. Block Texting With One Touch.

Friday, July 10, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

There needs to be an easy way to turn texting off with one button.

Its extremely dangerous to send text messages while driving a car. Even people who have no intention to send messages can be easily distracted if they receive a message while driving.

Countless lives have been destroyed because of texting, so there should be some method to disable texting while driving.

Most mobile devices already have a quick and easy way to enable "Airplane Mode", so device makers should add a button to disable texting too. After all, more people drive each day than fly.

It's surprising that there isn't an option to disable texting anywhere in the settings menus of any of the major smartphones on the market. This option should not be added, but it should be added someplace like... [More]

Continue...Driving Mode Button. Block Texting With One Touch....

Texting While Walking Is Dangerous

Saturday, April 25, 2015 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Everyone knows you shouldn't text and drive... Texting while walking is just as dangerous.

Recently I saw a guy walking down the street while he was crossing the street. While that doesn't sound surprising, you may be surprised to hear that each year nearly 10 percent of all Emergency Room visits are cell phone related, and a large number of those are from people who weren't driving a car. They were walking.

Injuries include everything from minor bumps and scratches caused by simply tripping, or bumping into people or objects, to more serious injuries or even death from falls or walking into traffic.

This only paints part of the picture, because when asked, most people will not admit that they were texting at the time of the accident. If you think of it, if a doctor aske... [More]

Continue...Texting While Walking Is Dangerous...

4 Cell Phone Parental Control Ideas Your Kids are Guaranteed to Hate.

Saturday, November 8, 2014 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

Your kids are going to hate these ideas. That's why you'll love them.

So, your kids want a cell phone. They told you that all their friends have one, and they are the only ones in the whole school without one. You've held out all this time with the usual speech.

"When I was a kid, nobody had a cell phone... We couldn't even call or text our friends when we had to walk 7 miles to get to school... And we liked it!"

To you, it's not just the money, a cell phone can be like opening Pandora's box, because today's phones are not just for making calls. I think a lot of parents would feel better if phone makers considered some of these Parental Control Ideas.

1. Camera Screening. All photos auto-shared to the parent's account.

When the first camera phones were relea... [More]

Continue...4 Cell Phone Parental Control Ideas Your Kids are Guaranteed to Hate....

Autocorrect Toggle Button.... OFF by Default.

Friday, November 7, 2014 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

I don't know about you. But I spend more time fixing autocorrect wrong guesses than I would fixing my own typos.

When Apple created iPhone, they knew people would take some time getting used to texting on a device without a keyboard, so they created autocorrect... typing on training wheels.

Now that people have gotten used to typing on a touchscreen, I think it's time Apple started phasing out autocorrect.

There is already an option "Settings" that lets you turn auto-correction off, but it's somewhat hidden and most people don't change it. I challenge anyone reading this right now to turn it off for one week. If you do, I bet you won't change it back.

With autocorrect turned off, you will still be able to see your spelling errors, so you can fix them, but at leas... [More]

Continue...Autocorrect Toggle Button.... OFF by Default....

Autocorrect Should Translate Text Slang into English... Because Kids Actually Think It's Correct Grammar

Saturday, October 4, 2014 1:00 AM By Joe Crescenzi

I don't know about you, but I HATE the way kids write. They come across to me as ignorant buffoons.

I understand why somebody would want to abbreviate as much as possible using an old touchtone dialing pad. I never felt the need to use texting on those kinds of phones, but I could understand why those who did used abbreviations.

Here's the problem. Many of today's kids use that ridiculous way of writing when they are using a full scale word processor, and even when they write on paper with a pen. Teachers are reporting that students often use TextSpeak / Text Slang when they do school work.

The problem is not just with excessive use of abbreviations with strange combinations of numbers and... [More]

Continue...Autocorrect Should Translate Text Slang into English... Because Kids Actually Think It's Correct Grammar ...

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* Note: The ideas on "Idea of the Day" were posted without any formal research into existing inventions.

In some cases, patents may already exist for these ideas, in other cases, there may not be any existing patents and you are free to develop and explore the viability of developing and patenting the ideas.

The authors make no claim that any of the ideas are safe, practical, or suitable for any particular purpose. You are responsible for the results of trying, developing, patenting or using any of the ideas on this site.

For some people, our ideas are just an interesting read, but our goal is to encourage you to take action. If you see an idea that you like, do something with it... Take action.

- Joe

Idea Of The Day. A new Idea Each Day. Some Don't Suck.

Our Latest Posts About: Texting

If an iPhone can substitute a Cake Emoji for the word "Cake", why not replace shorthand text with real words too?

We all know you can't send a text message to a landline phone. Here's a quick solution.

Texting while driving is unsafe. Here's how to make it safer.

There should be quick a way to temporarily block inbound texts while driving.

Why limit texting to mobile phones?

People often make the mistake of trying to send a text to a landline.

Keep your mobile number private.

A split second distraction can cost you your life.

There needs to be an easy way to turn texting off with one button.

Countless lives have been destroyed because of texting, so there should be some method to disable texting while driving.

Everyone knows you shouldn't text and drive... Texting while walking is just as dangerous.

Your kids are going to hate these ideas. That's why you'll love them.

1. Camera Screening. All photos auto-shared to the parent's account.

I don't know about you. But I spend more time fixing autocorrect wrong guesses than I would fixing my own typos.

Now that people have gotten used to typing on a touchscreen, I think it's time Apple started phasing out autocorrect.

I don't know about you, but I HATE the way kids write. They come across to me as ignorant buffoons.

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