I did the shopping thing only the other way, I took picks of the Day-After Thanksgiving items I wanted to purchase and then deleted the photo as I put the item in my cart. I suppose this could also be done with specifics like mentioned before (I have boughten the wrong product before and gotten the "You don't ever listen to me" speech more than once..ie (I usually hear her it's just that sometimes I don't care)).

dwhicks01

I think all guys have picked up the wrong item at the store for their girl. Taking pictures with a cell phone and shooting them over to her is the solution!

I also use my phone to take prices of price labels on shelves when something is wrung up incorrectly. This is an attempt to speed up the process, so that the cashier doesn't have to romp through the store to find where I got the product from. And while this is incredibly sound in theory, it never works; they always insist on checking themselves anyways... ah well.

glass

I use my cameraphone constantly to record information to help me remember:

- parking space ticket numbers and the shuttle name at the airport before I go on a trip

- when I am in a foreign country such as France or Japan I take pictures of the route between the hotel and the office. Especially in the subways

- subway and metro maps

- when grocery shopping, I take pictures of my favorite products

- when shopping for décor, I will print these and use the pics to visualize when I get home.

I have a system where I send the MMS to my personal email or my qipit account. Then I sort by the email address or tag and I have the information I need right there.

chametner

@fuzzymuffins:
We had a similar situation in Home Depot while shopping for materials to make a physics project in school...only we were using a video camera...and when they gave us our talking to, we were all wearing carpenter's belts, toting caulking guns and wearing those bright orange buckets on our heads. Security concerns indeed.

HenryRayker

a year ago i took pictures at a home depot of products we were considering .... my gf wasn't able to make the trip. i thought it easy to share with her items i liked.

well sure enough an employee came over and asked what i'm doing. "you can't take pictures because of security issues".

just beware that in this idiotic paranoid post 9/11 world, there are some people that may 'freak' when they see you taking pictures inside a store. you could be reprimanded as i was, or stopped by a curious security guard... or worse.

thanks patriot act!

fuzzymuffins

I used my camera phone when we took a several week trip to Europe a few months back and had to park in airport parking. I snapped a picture of the car and the location and then emailed to myself and my husband.

I also use the camera phone to let my husband know were I am (library, store, etc.). It's like leaving a note but more fun.

My husband also takes pictures en route home so that I know when to pick him up. I can gauge how far away he is based on the landmarks in the background.

The sending of pictures has worked out very well for us because where we live the telephone reception is HORRIBLE so it is hard to make calls. The camera phone has saved us many times.

@glass: I also take pictures and send them to my husband to make sure I am getting the right thing. Cool idea on taking pics of the prices to save time.

@fuzzymuffins: I always feel like the store managers are going to stop me and say something but so far they haven't. I think part of that is that shopping with my toddler, I am deemed less of a security risk.

RunnerGirl

@fuzzymuffins:
Were you in the Osama Bin Lumber department?

Lazarus

@HenryRayker:

It's not National Security, but rather corporate security. Lowe's and Home Depot constantly monitor each other by sending "shoppers" to check out prices and products in the same market. Then they match or beat prices. It's more of a retail espionage concern. The real "shoppers" wouldn't be so conspicuous as to dress the construction part or carry a camera though.

balloondoggle

in addition to the parking garage idea originally posted, when going to the casinos i usually take a picture of what it looks like on the way out of the elevator as the views usually look the same off everyone...this way its easier to spot the difference

cave12man

Used mine after a fender bender - took photos of the damage to both cars and used that when reviewing with the car insurance company and questioning the other person's claim...

I use a lot at work for capturing the notes/diagrams on a whiteboard - much quicker than manually copying it.

jamgramet

Mark another down for shopping! I only use mine for tech shopping though -- things that have varying features and prices. Go to one tech store, photograph the item I'm interested in followed immediately by a close-up of the tag that has the price and feature list. Do this for everything I'm considering. Go to the next tech store, do the same. Repeat repeat repeat.

Eventually I'll forget the specifics of what I'd seen before, and end up making my decision based on the photos!

TomFrost

I always take a picture of the SUV in the next space since it's easier to see from a distance...

Seriously, I saw an article a few years ago on the process Disney World uses to help visiters find their cars in a sea of white rental cars. It was quite ingenious.

aeronaut

I MMSed my sister a landmark or two to find her way to my new house. She wasn't enthusiastic about reading a map while she was driving and the trip was very straight forward, so it helped her out when she instantly knew she had to "take a right when you see this sign".

@Lazarus:

Aaaaaaaaaaack... You should be punished.

JennifARGH

I am a ham radio operator. Somehow, as a result of this, I never have any trouble finding my car, even when it is parked behind an SUV.

kc2idf

I don't own a car, but when I rent one I take pics of any slight scratches, as well as the license plate of the car (date/time stamp on photos) before I leave the parking lot.

The parking one I've been doing for a long time - especially helpful since I don't have the same car twice! Also really handy in places that have a parking lot roughly the size of New England.

Clothes shopping, if I'm trying to match accessories or separates to existing clothes - take a picture of the existing with me.

Other shopping - if I'm out and I see something that might go on my list of things to buy, I jot it down in my notebook but also take a picture of the item, with the price tag and item number in the picture. (Recent example: an armoire at Staples that looks like it should fit into my office at home ... but didn't.)

craftygirl

Well i have used my cellphone to take pictures inside a store, thanks to a clever tip from a clever teacher... You use it as if you were going to call somebody or as if you are texting (just remember to turn off the ducky sound of the click lol).

This way i was able to report the pricing on Windows Vista and Office 2007 different versions just to illustrate how inflated prices are... (By the way this happened on a local Office Depot).

The same thing goes for tactics on determining pricing of your competitors, you send "shoppers" to do the same to some supermarkets and then you have not only their prices but can estimate the transportation costs (from a consumer viewpoint it would help determine better prices overall).

whiskey

I can totally see this getting my cell phone confiscated by the FBI and then getting placed on the no-fly list and other numerous "watch" lists until I'm 70 or dead, whichever comes first.

yooper1019

I used my cellphone to take a picture of the back of my theater system. I was trying to hook up a receiver, xbox, ps2, nintendo gamecube (this was pre-wii), dvd player, and dvr to my projector and just couldn't get everything to work. I brought my phone to the audio store and they were able to set me right up.

I've also used my phone while clothes shopping - I can't be trusted to pick my own clothes, so I'll send a picture of myself in the potential new duds to a friend for a second opinion.

juliegomoll

I was working late (not that late) at the office, and my wife called - she didn't believe I was there. I snapped a photo of my office PC monitor with the taskbar time clock in the lower-right hand corner of the screen,and sent it to her. No further explanations required, then--or since.

summitaal

@craftygirl: You beat me to it. I also take pictures of dings and dents on a car rental before I drive it away from the airport. Just in case.

GroovyMojo

As an old geezer, I was amused by your phrase "grain pictures." I suspect you meant "grainy," which means you may be old enough to remember film photos which were called "grainy" because the clumping of the silver grains made them look that way. This was seen when the photos were "blown up" too high and/or when high speed film was used.

Or maybe you're a younger person who saw "grainy" somewhere.

LaneLester

@LaneLester: Yes to the typo, and semi-yes to the intention. To me, cell phone shots (esp. under-lit shots) always look "noisy" or "grainy."

Kevin Purdy

Or, should you be blessed with Telenav on your phone, bookmark the car's location and GPS your way back to it. Chicks dig that kind of thing.

Transient

I was playing hide-and-seek and took a picture around the corner of an above-ground pool to see what was goin' down.

I thought that was pretty clever.

chasema

I am in japan and the subway system is pretty complicated... so i get directions online with my computer then take a photo of it so i can use it on my travels... it's convenient and quicker than re-typing it

dalethedino

I snap pics to use as a re-assembly guide.
One example - replacing a phone jack. (have you seen how many wires are inside those things?!)
I don't dare unplug anything from the back of the TV without first taking a pic.
And anything I disassemble. Nothing ever looks the same putting it back together, as it did when taking it apart.

onegroovychic

I use my cell to take photo's of price tags.

Let's say I see something that seems to be a good deal - so when I get home, I can go and research if it is indeed a good buy or not.

For example, most recently I saw a camcorder advertised at $500 off. So I take a picture of the price tag, now I know what brand and model it is, and I can look for reviews as well as compare the price to other retailers when I get home.

joshxiv

usually i just memorize where it is, but if i happen to forget it (which is rare) i just walk through the the area i think it could be first clicking my car key clicker locking unlocking and go towards the honking of my car.

AlanIn4D

I work in academia and there is always a bunch of announcements on bulletin boards (electronic or paper) about talks, events, that I would like to attend. Since, I dont remember the details, and I dont have a pen with me, I take a picture with my cellphone and then when I go to the office I use the picture to put the event details on my calendar.

I do the same with club flyers, party flyers, etc.

sotos