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?

  • DagwoodIII@piefed.socialEnglish
    405·
    12 hours ago

    No point.

    We basically hit the ceiling with phones ten years ago.

    There’s no way to improve them without a massive shift in technology [think the shift from prop planes to jets]

    Now they have to come up with new gimmicks to convince people to upgrade.

    It’s like 1950’s Detroit putting bigger and bigger fins on cars that were basically the same as the 1930’s technology.

      • otp@sh.itjust.works
        1·
        4 hours ago

        It’s like oreos. These are the “double stuff” smartphones, haha.

        I like the idea that they’re called “double stuff” because they doubled the “stuff” in the middle, but couldn’t think of a better word to call it other than “stuff”