If you’d like to know how Nokia’s future phones are going to look, check out the Nokia N9. Nokia head designer Marko Ahtisaari told the WSJ to expect more devices using the Polycarbonate material with inherent color. Mr. Ahtisaari and his team are also aiming to design in a way that allows users to keep their heads up again.

“When you look around at a restaurant in Helsinki, you’ll see couples having their heads down instead of having eye contact and being aware of the environment they’re in,” he told WSJ. “Designing for true mobility…makes it easier for people to have more eye contact and be aware of their environment, and is an example of what people would not explicitly ask for but love when they get it.”

An interesting argument from a reader says people in restaurants with their heads buried in their cell phones has nothing to do with the design of the phones, but everything to do with our addiction to the internet, email, Twitter, Facebook and all the other time wasters that are keeping us from our face to face relationships.

The reader adds that Marko is on a fool’s errand if he thinks he can “design” this phenomenon away. It is a social and interpersonal issue, not a design issue.

Customers can also expect more touch-and-type phones in the future like the Nokia E6 and C3. Mr. Ahtisaari says many people still want keyboards. Our phone experience will also be closely linked maps and location.

Do you think Nokia keep our heads up at restaurants or is it an addiction to the internet that will be difficult to fix?

photo: Rodrigo SEPÚLVEDA SCHULZ