There's a display case right next to my desk with about 20 portable cellular phones in it of all sizes and generations.  For some reason I actually tossed a box (okay, I properly recycled it) about 10 years ago containing roughly another 20.  Both of those boxes combined – about 40 total portable phones – represent most of the cellular phones I've used in the last 25 years or so.  (This doesn't count the numerous "car phones" I had before portables were even available.)

Needless to say I've probably owned and used more cell phones than most other people because of my career in the industry.  Yet, I'm still waiting for the phone that does it all.  Oh, sure, I've got an iPhone and it does a hell of a lot – browsing, calendar syncing with my desktop computer, plays music and podcasts… shoot, it even lets me watch videos on YouTube.  But it still doesn't do all the things that I want a cell phone to do.  Cell phone manufacturers, you see, are still thinking like phone manufacturers and not like consumer device makers. 

Here's what I mean: There are, for all practical purposes, three things that I – and pretty much everyone else I talk to about this – will always take when I leave the house: cell phone, keys and wallet.  My keys and wallet can't replace my cell phone, but my cell phone can – and damn well should – replace my wallet and keys.  That, and a whole lot more.  
In Japan cell phone users are already using their phones to wave over a sensor at a turnstile to enter the subway or commuter train; how much more development would it take to embed a small chip that has the same functionality as those keychain credit card tags that replace the actual cards they represent?  Not much, I assure you.  I want my phone to be my wallet: I want to be able to wave it over a terminal at the grocery store, a subway/ferry/bus, at a newsstand when I pick up a pack of gum or a magazine or buy something from a vending machine, pay for parking in a properly-equipped lot, whatever – and have the bills show up on my credit card bill.

Please – cellular carriers take note – I do NOT want all of these items appearing on my cell phone bill… you are my phone provider, not my credit card provider.  If I choose to change cellular carriers down the line I'd like to be able to simply move my credit card information to the new phone's chip.  Work with the credit card companies, if you please, and get them to pay you a small percentage of their transaction fee but let them do the billing and collection; your bills are confusing enough without adding a $1.95 charge for a pack of gum and a newspaper.  

And, while we're at it, let's also have the phone serve as an "EZPass" or "Speedpass" for toll roads.  I mean, if we're already putting the chip in it let's get some real functionality out of it. 

So that's the wallet portion, now what about the keys?  Just about every phone on the planet has Bluetooth – why can't I have my phone coded to open and start my car in the same way that you can encode your garage door opener into the button that's built into the console of your car?  And what about the house?  Do I really still need to carry a key, for Pete's sake?  I mean, how old are keys, anyway?  Why can't my phone also serve as the key to my house with a simple Bluetooth connection to an electronic locking device. 

Oh, yeah, one more thing – why do I have a separate remote control for my TV (not to mention another one for my DVR, satellite box, DVD player, etc.) - my phone already has a keypad and color display... why can't I use it to control all of my other electronic devices?  I don't want to start thinking outside the box - I want to CONTROL the box. 

Sure, I can hear all the naysayers whining about power failures, lost phones, fidgety connections and all that.  To them I say this: Give me the option to do what I want.  You want to keep your chiropractor happy by carrying a 4-pound, 6-inch wallet in your back pocket, that's fine by me.  You want to haul around so many keys that you look like a NYC building superintendent – suit yourself.  But I don’t and would respectfully suggest that you don't deny me the option if I want to use my phone for something other than talking or texting. 

And to those who are shaking their heads in horror about the thought of a phone being lost and all of your data, keys, credit card info and everything else being illegally utilized by some dirtbag, spare me.  Along with all of these add-on services I want one final service called "Brick It" that will turn the phone into a paperweight by going to a web site or making a phone call and using a combination ID and password. 

Cell phones do vastly more now than they did just five years ago, and are quantum leaps beyond what they were doing just 10 years ago – but it's still not enough for me.  I want the manufacturers – and the carriers – to start pushing the envelope and make this device more than just a glorified walkie-talkie.  Let's empty our pockets of wallets, change, keys, credit cards and everything else except the occasional handkerchief and have our phones handle the details.