Re:Flip Phones: Gen Z has a new ‘vintage’ technology to obse...
by throwaheyy on Sunday January 15, 2023 @04:10PM
(#34393443)
I think those “consumer itches” probably stemmed from 1990s American action movies in which the original of this style of phone (Motorola MicroTac I think?) seems to be almost universally used.
Re:Flip Phones: Gen Z has a new ‘vintage’ technology to obse...
by cf100clunk on Sunday January 15, 2023 @04:13PM
(#34393480)
Agreed, those Motorolas set the pace in North America. It is quaint to watch TV shows or movies in which a character goes through the motions:
1. pull buzzing phone from pocket, purse, etc.
2. extend antenna
3. flip cover open (the really cool ones had a spring loaded cover opener activated by a side button)
4. optional: look at the display before answering
Re:Flip Phones: Gen Z has a new ‘vintage’ technology to obse...
by 082349872349872 on Sunday January 15, 2023 @04:55PM
(#34393948)
I'd blame Star Trek (1966-1969)
https://intl.startrek.com/sites/default/files/styles/content...
Re:Flip Phones: Gen Z has a new ‘vintage’ technology to obse...
by piaste on Monday January 16, 2023 @06:26AM
(#34399552)
It is because Americans are notoriously rude and violent. They need a device that they can physically slam in the other person's face when ending an angry and stressful phone call - also known, in their language, as "a phone call".
/s but with a grain of truth I think: the physical action of closing a flip phone is satisfying, and the sharp noise made when closing it down one-handed comes across a little rude in more reserved cultures, but perfectly acceptable to the more boisterous Americans.
I think that also applies to parts of the world in which the ''candy bar'' form factor like the Nokia 3310 is still quite popular.
North Americans have seemed to have a need for the flip form factor for decades. In the early 1990s Nokia sold an AMPS model called the 139 into the North American market, which was just a candy bar phone fitted with a flip cover for the keypad and a genuine imitation dummy placebo extendable antenna. Focus groups told them that they need to scratch those consumer itches. Today there is potentially a modern Nokia 139DL model that may soon fill a similar niche.