Why doesn't anyone make a cell phone with an antenna that sits flush
with the body of the phone? For some reason, they all have a
protruding stalk, sometimes with a retractable antenna that sits flush
with the top of the stalk. It's unclear to me why this can't be
retracted all the way into the phone so you can throw it around
without worrying that the little stalk will break off, which it
frequently does (the people at the Sprint PCS store tell me that
that's the part that breaks most often). This, I'd like an answer to,
if you have it. I don't,
however, need to hear that you agree with me, if you have no other
helpful suggestions. I know I'm right on this one, and it doesn't
really matter how many other people agree, because everyone
agrees.
Some excuses I've heard and my comments about them:
- People simply need that little stalk to recognize that it's a
phone, and not, say, a candy bar. This explanation was proferred by my
father, after accidentally breaking off the antenna on his cordless
(not cell) phone, only to find that it was... just a plastic stalk
with no antenna inside (shame on you, Uniden!). I find this idea
frightening but plausible.
- The antenna should be easily replaceable, and needs a tight
electrical contact that requires a screw, forcing the current design
to allow replacement without tools (i.e. so you have something outside
the case to grip when unscrewing). I say poppycock! I envision the
antenna essentially being the same design as a PalmPilot stylus, where
the antenna has a small cap on top and the rest retracts into the
tube, except with a latch of some kind (like a laptop catch latch or
an RJ-xx plug latch) to really keep it from coming out. And, if it
does come out, it's easily replaceable, right? As far as electrical
contact goes, I don't see any screws on cat5 Ethernet cables, but they
work just fine to hold the internet together.
Update!
Qualcomm has apparently decided I was right and the new Q-phone has an
integrated antenna. Huzzah!
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