What happened to regular-sized, lightweight phones with batteries that used to last a week? Where did they disappear altogether?
I mean mobile phones today are one of the best technologies a common person has access to. Please don't get me wrong. It runs on multi-core processors, has a camera that can rival many DSLRs on the market, a screen big enough to enjoy a movie together, a gadget you can make payments with, run console-quality games, connect to GPS satellites, connect to the internet 24-7, run AI simulations? The last one is maybe probably, I don't know. And yes, you can make a phone call too. I love all the hardware that power today's smartphones and the capabilities that come with it.
Great! But then, why am I having a hard time getting a new phone?
Let's start with the screen size. I have a problem with large screen sizes of today's phones. But then people are buying phones with huge screens like anything. So maybe people do like huge screens. Or maybe they are being conditioned into liking it. Imagine a kid born in the last decade (2010 folks). She would have grown up seeing everyone (including celebrities) carry phones with huge screens. I guess she would naturally expect her phone to have a big screen too.
On a memory trip, if you remember, the first iPhone came out in 2008. It had a 3.5-inch screen. Such a beauty it was, sigh! I still miss it. It's not even 12 years as of this writing. And screen sizes have almost doubled in these years.
Anyway, back to my rant. So, where was I? Yes, screens. Humongous screens. Maybe it is just me but I don't want to walk around carrying phones with such huge screens. It's just inconvenient for me. I can't carry it in my pockets anymore! In fact, if it was me, I would love to shrink screen sizes. Do something google glass style. Maybe something a little less nerdy looking. Maybe project the display on the eye's natural lens. I don't know. Do something smart. Anything but keep increasing screen sizes. I know I'm getting all fantasy. But hey, what's fantasy today is gonna be a reality someday.
The next complaint I got is with today's phone batteries. I understand that you need huge batteries to power those large screens. And they are bound to get bigger. And yet, today's phone lasts a day or a day and a half if you're lucky. Compare that to the 5-day battery of the Nokia phones from the early 2000-s. I mean, given the technological advancements we've had, shouldn't we have had a month-long battery on phones by now? How about 2 weeks? Too much I ask you say? How about we settle for just a week-long battery then?
Also, the bigger batteries mean that the phones are getting heavier too. I mean it's bound to. But this one I don't mind so much if you can give me a small-sized phone with all the things I said before.
Finally, what happened to aesthetics? The camera bulge on the backside, really? Also, I don't need 4 cameras on the backside of my phone guys. Just one is good enough, thank you very much. If anything, make the flashlight ten times more powerful. And the current ongoing saga with the selfie camera design - the notch, the eyedrop the punch hole and the pop-up camera is just too much for me. If you wanna get hi-tech, how about just embedding the camera under the touchscreen? How about that? Dreaming again, huh? You may say I'm a dreamer ...
One might say that given enough money, anything is available. So no, please don't make me break the bank buying a new phone. Have you noticed the price tags for some of the high-end phones in the market today? A price like that is just not gonna cut it for me. I'm just a common person. With a common man's bank account. So I would not buy a phone if I'd have to sell a kidney to get one.
Anyway, enough for today. Let me wrap this post with a call for help to all the mobile giants out there - Apple, Google, Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, BBK electronics. And also a challenge if I may throw one. I hope you'll help me to find a smartphone that I like. Not just force me to choose one reluctantly. Ciao!
I mean mobile phones today are one of the best technologies a common person has access to. Please don't get me wrong. It runs on multi-core processors, has a camera that can rival many DSLRs on the market, a screen big enough to enjoy a movie together, a gadget you can make payments with, run console-quality games, connect to GPS satellites, connect to the internet 24-7, run AI simulations? The last one is maybe probably, I don't know. And yes, you can make a phone call too. I love all the hardware that power today's smartphones and the capabilities that come with it.
Great! But then, why am I having a hard time getting a new phone?
Let's start with the screen size. I have a problem with large screen sizes of today's phones. But then people are buying phones with huge screens like anything. So maybe people do like huge screens. Or maybe they are being conditioned into liking it. Imagine a kid born in the last decade (2010 folks). She would have grown up seeing everyone (including celebrities) carry phones with huge screens. I guess she would naturally expect her phone to have a big screen too.
On a memory trip, if you remember, the first iPhone came out in 2008. It had a 3.5-inch screen. Such a beauty it was, sigh! I still miss it. It's not even 12 years as of this writing. And screen sizes have almost doubled in these years.
Anyway, back to my rant. So, where was I? Yes, screens. Humongous screens. Maybe it is just me but I don't want to walk around carrying phones with such huge screens. It's just inconvenient for me. I can't carry it in my pockets anymore! In fact, if it was me, I would love to shrink screen sizes. Do something google glass style. Maybe something a little less nerdy looking. Maybe project the display on the eye's natural lens. I don't know. Do something smart. Anything but keep increasing screen sizes. I know I'm getting all fantasy. But hey, what's fantasy today is gonna be a reality someday.
The next complaint I got is with today's phone batteries. I understand that you need huge batteries to power those large screens. And they are bound to get bigger. And yet, today's phone lasts a day or a day and a half if you're lucky. Compare that to the 5-day battery of the Nokia phones from the early 2000-s. I mean, given the technological advancements we've had, shouldn't we have had a month-long battery on phones by now? How about 2 weeks? Too much I ask you say? How about we settle for just a week-long battery then?
Also, the bigger batteries mean that the phones are getting heavier too. I mean it's bound to. But this one I don't mind so much if you can give me a small-sized phone with all the things I said before.
Finally, what happened to aesthetics? The camera bulge on the backside, really? Also, I don't need 4 cameras on the backside of my phone guys. Just one is good enough, thank you very much. If anything, make the flashlight ten times more powerful. And the current ongoing saga with the selfie camera design - the notch, the eyedrop the punch hole and the pop-up camera is just too much for me. If you wanna get hi-tech, how about just embedding the camera under the touchscreen? How about that? Dreaming again, huh? You may say I'm a dreamer ...
One might say that given enough money, anything is available. So no, please don't make me break the bank buying a new phone. Have you noticed the price tags for some of the high-end phones in the market today? A price like that is just not gonna cut it for me. I'm just a common person. With a common man's bank account. So I would not buy a phone if I'd have to sell a kidney to get one.
Anyway, enough for today. Let me wrap this post with a call for help to all the mobile giants out there - Apple, Google, Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, BBK electronics. And also a challenge if I may throw one. I hope you'll help me to find a smartphone that I like. Not just force me to choose one reluctantly. Ciao!
