My group’s project is on educating people about the different smart phones available to business users so that companies can better pick cell phones that they want to purchase in bulk. We have broken up the research into four parts: one for each member. The four parts are (1) operating systems and software, (2) hardware, (3) public opinion, and (4) support. I will be conducting research mainly related to part 1, operating systems and software.
My first task will be to get a listing of the popular cell phone operating systems for business phones. I already know of a few such as Windows Mobile, the iPhone, the BlackBerry, and the Android. There are a few other popular ones that I don’t know or remember.
For each cell phone operating system, I will go online and find several articles, including the technical operating system specifications from the phone manufacturer. These articles will discuss the features of the cell phone’s operating system and maybe even compare them to other cell phones. I will highlight important information which we can later cite in our white paper. In addition, I will try to get a general understanding of the operating systems so that we can describe those in the white paper.
Next, I will look into the different software applications and tools available for each phone. For example, the iPhone has many apps which have recently been featured in the news. I will get a list of the tasks which people consider important for phones to be able to perform and then tally up which phones have applications that allow you to do those tasks. For example, I will collect information about which phones can provide driving directions based on your current location.
My research will lead me to produce several interesting tables with check boxes. These tables will have the phones in the columns and the operating system and software features in the rows. We can use these tables in the white paper to help people pick out a phone that’s right for them based on what features they want and need.
Please incorporate the reading
You have provided a very good outline of your research plan here. However, please also incorporate information about how the TH reading for this week might help you accomplish your research goals (because this is a Reading Response). These responses are our main way to ensure that students are keeping up with the reading material.
Research...
I think that your plan of action in regards to splitting up the research into different subjects will make this project go faster as well as have a plethora of information and sources. It is good that you assigned different parts for research because if you just say hey everyone do research most of the time you will have overlapping information. I like the topic your group chose to do as well. I think that your specific part of the research will help some people decide on what type of phone they should get for their business phones or even their regular everyday phones because not many people think about the operating system before they buy but your information may help persuade them better.
Good idea
I like the idea of using a table to compare the different phones. It would make it very easy to quickly glance at the table and make a decision. You might also want to talk about syncing capabilities as well as service providers (since some smart phones might only be available from a certain carrier). I think that as phones become smarter and smarter more companies will be switching over to smart phones as a way to reduce the number of gadgets that workers need to carry (and probably lose, break, etc.). Another thing to investigate would be the "ruggedness" of a phone as some environments that people need to work in can be quite cellphone unfriendly.
Andy
Research plan
I think the way you are dividing up the research for this project is a very good way to do it. It seems like it breaks it into very manageable parts for each of you, and that will make it much less daunting of a task. I think you have a good topic for your paper and the way you say you are going to present the information makes it seem like it will be very easy for the people making the decisions to look at a glance and see which phones have all the features and capabilities that they are looking for in a phone. I think the table you described is a very effective way of showing this information and will be much more effective then trying to describe all the features of each phone individually.
Patrick Griffin
pgriffin@purdue.edu