Being the age I am, I’m just old enough to remember flip-phones.
A relatively simple concept that has been on my mind lately for reasons I’ll get to. Widely considered obsolete unless you just want a cheap phone to make calls etc., these phones featured a screen on one side, a keypad on the other, with a hinge joint between the two.
The reason that this device has been dragged back to the front of my brain in recent weeks is because I am reminded of them every time I see this:
To be clear: I’m aware that this foldable iphone is not the first foldable modern smartphone (I know Samsung released them years ago also).
But I’m also left wondering: what is the point? I think I can perfectly understand the use of flip phones as they were when they were popular, but foldable phones I just can’t see the benefit. As far as I can see, these foldable type of phones offer little to no benefit that you couldn’t get from, say a regular iPhone or Samsung phone, in terms of the consumer and how they are used in general life. I get that the hardware/software may be different, but that’s not going to be a factor in most people’s daily lives (you’re not going to care about the type of core, or the screen resolution when you make a phone call, etc.) It seems like it’s more of a gimmick from the companies making them to try and make more sales, but even if that’s the case, the product must have something unique to offer, so what is it about foldable phones that are so unique besides the gimmick of folding?
It is a gimmick. I think people just like the “wow” factor and ignore every other aspect of the phone. Some people complain about phones being too big now and so their justification is to get this phone and then… fold it.
From a practicality standpoint, makes no sense. Even more idiotic than the notch design phones had for a while. Screen protectors don’t make sense for that phone. Neither do cases. From an industrial design perspective… and what people seem to ignore is that phones are just small enough computers. Try opening one and take a look… all those parts are not meant to be folded. They will have a finite limit and it will eventually cause problems.
I would much rather just get an actual flip phone.