Re:Samsung to Permanently Discontinue Galaxy Note 7 Smartphone
by willtim on Tuesday October 11, 2016 @03:05PM
(#12687539)
This. I just don't understand the thinness obsession. I was given an iPhone by my work recently and I am amazed how impractical it is. It's slippery to hold, difficult to pick up and just incredibly fragile. I was recommended to buy a case for it ASAP. There's basically no chance it will survive a drop. Personally I think the design is awful. It's the "emperor's new clothes".
Re:Samsung to Permanently Discontinue Galaxy Note 7 Smartphone
by Animats on Tuesday October 11, 2016 @03:30PM
(#12687743)
That's what's so amusing about this. The incredibly thin phones have to be put in incredibly bulky cases. A super-thin iPhone in a case is as bulky as my Cat B15 ruggedized smartphone, which will survive being run over by a truck and has a bigger battery.
There have been reports of ultrathin phones from several different brands bending and cracking in people's back pockets for years. Honestly I'm impressed that manufacturers lasted so long without a bunch of explosions, given the energy density of these fragile gadgets. I also don't quite see the point of anything thinner than 9-10 millimeters.
Lack of durability may have been more acceptable in an era of incredibly fast innovation on the hardware front (planned obsolescence, hurray!) but now that most flagship phones have comparable features, perhaps someone will begin to design phones that last more than a year or two. With replaceable batteries, of course.