Technology

At this point we have practical real world foldable devices. Maybe it is different for other people but I very rarely encounter them in the real world. I cannot help but feel that the feature is essentially a gimmick:

• The fold out screen is a secondary function. The device is invariably expected to be fully usable in folded state. This means that everything has to be usable without this secondary functionality.
• The fold out screen feature is always going to be more expensive, complex, and more prone to failure than a candy bar device with a single screen

The result is going to be that this will be a luxury or novelty feature without a compelling use case that absolutely requires it, perhaps similar to convertible touch screen laptops that can be used as an etsatz tablet.

The tech for having screens that aren’t just flat squares is cool, opening up more possibilities for wrist wear, vr etc, but I don’t know anyone that wants this in a phone - seems like a solution in search of a problem.

Every time I look at the demo devices in a shop like media market or Saturn selling foldables, the screens of most devices are damaged. There are always cracks, discolorations or some kind of screen damage to these devices. If brand new demo pieces can't last a few weeks, why would I bother to buy one, knowing it won't last the usual 3 years of smartphone use?

Foldables are just an expensive compromise between phones and tablets. For the same amount of money you can buy both, a phone and a tablet, which will last a lot longer.

Budy, all I want is a linux phone without a bunch of proprietary, binary blobs that aren't supported after 2 years, and a thick, replaceable battery that lasts me 3-5 days on average with daily usage.

With the amount of money they are dumping into these gimmicks, they could instead be significantly changing the market by improving ARM or RISC-V linux and making highly portable computers that fit in your pocket and that you can just plug into a screen where you go. They could merge the mobile gaming market with that of the desktop and console market that way for example. One unified OS with the same APIs and frameworks and whole host of native programming languages.

They could rival laptop manufacturers with their low-power, portable devices. Or even enter the OS market that way by providing a linux distro that they can sell and maintain.

I dunno... just anything but these damn foldables.

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

What a poorly written article that weirdly repeats itself I wonder if it was written by an AI.

All phones are foldable at least once

WHY

At the right price I'd definitely like a foldable. Certainly many people would prefer the smaller form factor at the right price/durability. The durability constraints are largely solved now, so the main concern is pricing.

I love my foldable phone. I'm never going to go back to non-folding phones. The convenience is incredible for reading; websites or books. Also, the dual app capabilities is super useful. I can have onenote open with a website open on the other side so I can take notes, etc.

I can only imagine them shrugging it off when it breaks saying you've folded and unfolded the item too many times. No thanks.

Fuck no.

I was thinking gimmick for a while, but my girlfriend has a ZFold now, and it's pretty awesome. I think folds are a natural next step. If they are still alive and kicking during my next upgrade I'll be getting one.

And I want my Nokia 3330 back, yet I have serious doubts I can ever get it and that it would be useful nowadays.

Until we get to the point where I can completely fold my phone into a ring around one of my wrists without it breaking, I don't see a need for a folding phone. It feels more like a gimmick to sell a device more than a useful feature, to me at least