Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Flashing (cell phones)

The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was delete. Cirt (talk) 00:34, 23 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Flashing (cell phones)

This article is directed towards flashing the memory of cell phones. Flash memory already has extensive information on flashing memory, and there is no need for an environment-specific article directly related to cell phones as the article details no notable differences or considerations that must be taken when flashing a cell phone, compared to other devices. If the article is intended to be directed towards techniques for programming of mobile devices in general, then the FOTA, OTA, and FUMO articles already cover these concepts, and most of which are standardized by OMA. Mojodaddy (talk) 19:38, 18 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Delete, wikipedia is not a howto compendium. --fvw * 20:20, 18 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Delete fails WP:NOT. twirligig^{Leave one! ⋄ Check me out!} 22:56, 18 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Comment – The argument that Flash memory already has extensive information on flashing memory is a bit lame: many owners of a cell phone may not be aware that this device involves flash memory (indeed, Wikipedia's Cell phone article does not mention flash memory, and Flash memory does not mention cell phones). Even if they do, they may not know that the term "flashing" is used by some for re-writing flash memory; the term is not even used in the Flash memory article. Cell phone users may also not be aware that their cell phone has firmware that can be updated or otherwise modified; I have looked through three cell phone user manuals, and nothing of the kind is mentioned. So if this article is deleted, then, when someone encounters the term "Cell phone flashing" and consults Wikipedia, they will not find their way to relevant information in the Flash memory article or anywhere else; they will only draw a blank. Finally, some aspects of cell phone flashing are specific to the operation of cell phones and are not covered by the purely technical information found at Flash memory; it is a bit like saying we don't need an article on Music since we already have Sound, or no article on Cremation since there is Incineration. The other articles mentioned are specific to "over-the-air" methods and also do not mention flashing. What is left then is the argument that the topic is not notable. With some 130,000 ghits, this also seems weak. 88.234.99.24 (talk) 00:14, 19 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
P.S. Would it help if the article is renamed to "Flashing (mobile telecommunications user equipment)"? :) 88.234.99.24 (talk) 00:31, 19 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Weak delete. The article's intro could be tweaked a little as to make this legitimate (then rewrite the body), but this seems to be a how-to article without references. Two strikes, so you're pretty much out. Timneu22 (talk) 02:59, 19 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]
Delete and redirect the link at the diambig for flashing to the relevant section at firmware. Any phone specific flash memory functions should be covered in the main article, these are too minor to warrant a seperate article. This way any confused phone user will still find the info. Wikipedia is not a how to guide for people who bought phones from manufacturers with poor instruction manuals.Yobmod (talk) 12:31, 22 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.