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Well, I'm sure they're only a few OS updates away from "convincing" people that their old smartphone is really the problem. The only reason I ever upgraded fro

Well, I'm sure they're only a few OS updates away from "convincing" people that their old smartphone is really the problem. The only reason I ever upgraded from the 4S is because iOS updates made opening my text messages (and every other transition) take 2-3 seconds. I only got an iPhone because I was going to do some app development, but eventually lost interest, partially because Xcode and the byzantine Apple certificate process made me hate life. I, personally, think smart phones peaked with the Palm Pre and WebOS. I honestly can't think of a feature I've seen in the last 5-8 years that has impressed me at all, maybe LTE?... the only things that have improved mildly are some specific apps and none of them seem like they should even need faster CPU or more RAM if OS updates included optimizations rather than bloat. But, perpetual growth economy! So you better believe that if they can't innovate a new killer feature to convince people to upgrade they'll be "innovating" a new killer usability degradation to do it instead.

frankydp 9y ago
I would also suggest that more performance in a phone is actually counter to the primary "killer" feature for all phones, which is battery life.
- imtringued 9y ago
  I'm not sure that's true. The faster CPUs are usually also more power efficient. The phone manufacturers use the increased efficiency to make the batteries smaller and reduce the overall size of the phone. Speculation: smaller battery = higher depth of discharge = faster degradation
  - MrMember 9y ago
    My first smartphone was a Motorola Droid. It was painfully slow and had horrendous battery life. Each successive phone I've owned since has steadily improved both usability and battery life. My current phone has twice the battery capacity of my original Droid but lasts much more than twice as long. A decade of efficiency improvements in both hardware and software has made a huge difference.
rimliu 9y ago
I can name a few that impressed me: TouchID, AR, FaceID.
- Overtonwindow 9y ago
  I think the evolution to a touch screen and all the derivatives from that has been the greatest innovation. TohchID, yes, but also the camera, GPS, and the micro engineering have really impressed me.
- gooseus 9y ago
  I still use a passcode... I think true authentication should come from my conscious awareness, rather than the mere presence of some biological characteristics. Haven't actually found any AR use cases that has been compelling, didn't get into the Pokemon Go craze and in the mapping world I think I would trade any AR capability for compass functionality that could actually tell which way my phone was oriented without endless calibration and movement.
  - chrstphrknwtn 9y ago
    I 100% agree on the Touch ID point; storing a key in my mind is more secure than just requiring a part of body to be in some spatial relationship to the device. I'm surprised that people believe Touch/FaceID are secure in any real sense.
    - gurkendoktor 9y ago
      I hate entering passwords in public spaces because it would be trivial to record what my fingers are doing. It's a trade-off, and there are situations where TouchID is less insecure.
    - rhinoceraptor 9y ago
      Of course touch/face ID are not nation-state (or even talented hacker) secure, that was never the point. They are secure for the case where someone steals or finds your phone. The only people who used passcodes before biometrics in smartphones were either security conscious tech people, or they were forced to use it on their work phone.
banderman 9y ago
Built in camera and video capture has improved an incredible amount. I think the value this provides to people with modern "phones" is pretty significant.
- oldcynic 9y ago
  So why can't someone innovate on form factor a little? Ever thinner candy bars cannot be the ultimate destination in ergonomics. Someone offer me a thicker smart phone with a great camera, xenon flash (like Sony Ericsson once did with feature phones) and removable battery. With the amount of improvement to smartphone lenses a few more mm of case would maybe even allow a zoom. If I don't like some of the experiments? That's rather the point.
  - mrguyorama 9y ago
    Or, heaven forbid, A slightly larger battery!
  - brokenmachine 9y ago
    I'm still stuck on a 5-year old Galaxy Note 3 because it has a removable battery. The Note 4 was the last one to have a removable battery. Eventually I'll have to give up and buy a new phone but literally nothing is released with a removable battery these days. I don't care if my phone is 2mm thicker, I want the ability to replace the battery because it is a consumable item that will need replacement. No company seems to want my $1k for a new phone.
  - maneesh 9y ago
    Why don't you build it? As a consumer electronics company founder, I've noticed it's so easy to say "the other guys are idiots why don't they offer me what I want exactly." It's because hardware is hard. So if you want something made exactly your way, why don't you just build it? It's never been easier than now to build a hardware product. And the software here is majority open source.
pcurve 9y ago
I was with you until you said "I, personally, think smart phones peaked with the Palm Pre and WebOS" lol I think it peaked couple years ago. When they started moving home and touch buttons to make room for edge to edge display and sacrifice 16x9 for no good reason, I knew we were done. I have one plus 3t and it was super upgrade from galaxy s4 (which I still use). But other phones available don't seem like much of upgrade. My dell 9200 just kicked the bucket after 12 years but it ran just fine. My current machine is 5 year old i5 3570k and feels brand new with SSD. Barring hardware failure, I can see myself using this until gubmint starts sending me social security checks.
Angostura 9y ago
Useful features in the past 5-8 years? Vastly improved cameras TouchID ApplePay ARkit
- gooseus 9y ago
  I'm not a photographer, when I take pictures it's for functional purposes like saving a food menu, hours of operation, or some other text that is too much of a pain to copy as text. Any other photos have been of adequate quality for me for awhile, I don't instagram or snap. As I mentioned in another comment, I don't use TouchID because I prefer my passcode as it requires my conscious awareness, not just the presence of my finger... see the guy who had his wife unlock his phone while he was passed out. I'm surprised there aren't more cases of people being roofied or blackjacked in order to steal all their phone data. ApplePay... why? I need my debit/credit card on me at all time anyways and they never fail me when I've been away from a charging station for more than a few hours. I also mentioned AR in my other comment, nobody has impressed me with an AR app... the only one I know that used it was Pokemon Go and nobody has told me about any other killer AR apps, but yes, I'm sure they're coming... and when they do and someone comes to tell me about them, I'll look them dead in the eyes and tell them to GET OFF MY LAWN!

frankydp 9y ago

I would also suggest that more performance in a phone is actually counter to the primary "killer" feature for all phones, which is battery life.

imtringued 9y ago
I'm not sure that's true. The faster CPUs are usually also more power efficient. The phone manufacturers use the increased efficiency to make the batteries smaller and reduce the overall size of the phone. Speculation: smaller battery = higher depth of discharge = faster degradation
- MrMember 9y ago
  My first smartphone was a Motorola Droid. It was painfully slow and had horrendous battery life. Each successive phone I've owned since has steadily improved both usability and battery life. My current phone has twice the battery capacity of my original Droid but lasts much more than twice as long. A decade of efficiency improvements in both hardware and software has made a huge difference.

rimliu 9y ago

I can name a few that impressed me: TouchID, AR, FaceID.

Overtonwindow 9y ago
I think the evolution to a touch screen and all the derivatives from that has been the greatest innovation. TohchID, yes, but also the camera, GPS, and the micro engineering have really impressed me.
gooseus 9y ago
I still use a passcode... I think true authentication should come from my conscious awareness, rather than the mere presence of some biological characteristics. Haven't actually found any AR use cases that has been compelling, didn't get into the Pokemon Go craze and in the mapping world I think I would trade any AR capability for compass functionality that could actually tell which way my phone was oriented without endless calibration and movement.
- chrstphrknwtn 9y ago
  I 100% agree on the Touch ID point; storing a key in my mind is more secure than just requiring a part of body to be in some spatial relationship to the device. I'm surprised that people believe Touch/FaceID are secure in any real sense.
  - gurkendoktor 9y ago
    I hate entering passwords in public spaces because it would be trivial to record what my fingers are doing. It's a trade-off, and there are situations where TouchID is less insecure.
  - rhinoceraptor 9y ago
    Of course touch/face ID are not nation-state (or even talented hacker) secure, that was never the point. They are secure for the case where someone steals or finds your phone. The only people who used passcodes before biometrics in smartphones were either security conscious tech people, or they were forced to use it on their work phone.

banderman 9y ago

Built in camera and video capture has improved an incredible amount. I think the value this provides to people with modern "phones" is pretty significant.

oldcynic 9y ago
So why can't someone innovate on form factor a little? Ever thinner candy bars cannot be the ultimate destination in ergonomics. Someone offer me a thicker smart phone with a great camera, xenon flash (like Sony Ericsson once did with feature phones) and removable battery. With the amount of improvement to smartphone lenses a few more mm of case would maybe even allow a zoom. If I don't like some of the experiments? That's rather the point.
- mrguyorama 9y ago
  Or, heaven forbid, A slightly larger battery!
- brokenmachine 9y ago
  I'm still stuck on a 5-year old Galaxy Note 3 because it has a removable battery. The Note 4 was the last one to have a removable battery. Eventually I'll have to give up and buy a new phone but literally nothing is released with a removable battery these days. I don't care if my phone is 2mm thicker, I want the ability to replace the battery because it is a consumable item that will need replacement. No company seems to want my $1k for a new phone.
- maneesh 9y ago
  Why don't you build it? As a consumer electronics company founder, I've noticed it's so easy to say "the other guys are idiots why don't they offer me what I want exactly." It's because hardware is hard. So if you want something made exactly your way, why don't you just build it? It's never been easier than now to build a hardware product. And the software here is majority open source.

pcurve 9y ago

I was with you until you said "I, personally, think smart phones peaked with the Palm Pre and WebOS" lol I think it peaked couple years ago. When they started moving home and touch buttons to make room for edge to edge display and sacrifice 16x9 for no good reason, I knew we were done. I have one plus 3t and it was super upgrade from galaxy s4 (which I still use). But other phones available don't seem like much of upgrade. My dell 9200 just kicked the bucket after 12 years but it ran just fine. My current machine is 5 year old i5 3570k and feels brand new with SSD. Barring hardware failure, I can see myself using this until gubmint starts sending me social security checks.

Angostura 9y ago

Useful features in the past 5-8 years? Vastly improved cameras TouchID ApplePay ARkit

gooseus 9y ago
I'm not a photographer, when I take pictures it's for functional purposes like saving a food menu, hours of operation, or some other text that is too much of a pain to copy as text. Any other photos have been of adequate quality for me for awhile, I don't instagram or snap. As I mentioned in another comment, I don't use TouchID because I prefer my passcode as it requires my conscious awareness, not just the presence of my finger... see the guy who had his wife unlock his phone while he was passed out. I'm surprised there aren't more cases of people being roofied or blackjacked in order to steal all their phone data. ApplePay... why? I need my debit/credit card on me at all time anyways and they never fail me when I've been away from a charging station for more than a few hours. I also mentioned AR in my other comment, nobody has impressed me with an AR app... the only one I know that used it was Pokemon Go and nobody has told me about any other killer AR apps, but yes, I'm sure they're coming... and when they do and someone comes to tell me about them, I'll look them dead in the eyes and tell them to GET OFF MY LAWN!