Mobile phone with lens accessory, spotted on Urumqi’s Zhongshan Dong Lu. Yes, a little detour in western China. And yes, its a tad cold.

With exception of headphones and headsets accessories that merely enhance the experience will not be carried over time – and are highly likely to end up forgotten in a drawer or bag. For technically minded (but not necessarily technically literate) consumers clamoring for a decent camera phone a separate lens may be a factor during the purchase process. Most accessories of this nature fail after the initial new-toy buzz has worn off.

This particular example is doubly problematic because it is difficult to carry the phone in a pocket or bag with the lens attached, and in the few contexts where a lens might feasibly be useful it’s doubtful whether the user would bother.