Would People Let You Take Their Picture for Your Address Book?
For the past few days, I’ve been trying out the LG KF750 Secret. As a full-featured cell phone, the Secret allows users to assign pictures to contacts in their address book—whether an customized avatar that’s similar to Yahoo’s, a pre-existing image, or a small image to be taken right there and then with the phone’s integrated camera.
The last option is particularly interesting to me, because I’ve never known of anyone who has made full use of it. That’s quite understandable, because it is a bit awkward asking a new contact “Hey, can I take a picture of you for my address book?”
An Experiment
In any case, that’s what I exactly plan to do. Every time I get someone’s number, I’ll ask them if I can take a photo for my contact list. I’ll be keeping track of my new contacts’ reactions, whether it be apathy, amusement, or simple regret that they decided to interact with me in the first place.
I’ll probably also have a hard time getting address book pictures from my existing contacts, for the same awkwardness mentioned above. Again, I will also keep track the reactions of my friends (or soon-to-be former friends).
Why do this in the first place? Well, I’m not really good with names to begin with; my current address book is half-full of forgotten contacts, because there are no visuals to link to the names and the numbers. Through this experiment, I hope to fully stock my address book with photos and never forget the name of someone ever again. At the same time, I’ll acquire a general idea of how open people are to having their picture taken for a phone’s address book. Stay tuned for my results!
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POSTED IN: Cellphones, Lifestyle
3 opinions for Would People Let You Take Their Picture for Your Address Book?
Douglas Karr
Jun 22, 2008 at 9:30 am
I use Plaxo’s Outlook Plugin and love the fact that any of my contact’s photos are displayed in the details on the email. It’s very handy - especially when you know a lot of people! Sometimes folks email me like I’m their best friend but I don’t remember their name… but a photo really helps!
The Address Book Picture Experiment: Update 1
Jun 24, 2008 at 6:33 am
[…] here’s my first update on what’s happened with my Address Book Picture Experiment. So far I’ve had 5 people agree to have their picture for my cell phone’s address book, […]
Rico
Jun 24, 2008 at 6:45 am
Douglas: Exactly! I hope to extend this ability to remember people onto my phone, so that it can be with me all the time! :)
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