4 ms·
"The RAZR was the first phone to recognize that cellphones [...] were on the tipping point to becoming fashion accessories" Meanwhile, Siemens bet (and lost) a
by usrusr 8y ago
"The RAZR was the first phone to recognize that cellphones [...] were on the tipping point to becoming fashion accessories"
Meanwhile, Siemens bet (and lost) a whole sub-brand of absurd design experiments on the idea of phones becoming fashion accessories. Xelibri had all the boldness and cluelessness of a teenager getting killed climbing up a power line pole to impress the girls. Xelibri were truly "phones that should not have existed", a monument to organizational bad judgement. (The 5 and 7 models were kind of cool though, but those were absolute outliers in the lineup)
- sorokod 8y agoOh look who has got a Xelibri https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=39LvqbPPpys# https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=39LvqbPPpys# Edit: I was sure that it is sasha baron kohen in the video. It isn't him apparently but the video is still great.
- ctdonath 8y agoDon't forget the monumental flop of the Microsoft Kin. $500,000,000 on development, only 500 sold.
- buckminster 8y agoSo you could get a million dollars worth of phone for a few hundred. Bargain!
- giobox 8y agoA little unfair to compare the Kin as failure purely on fashion accessory grounds? The device had some seriously ahead of its time cloud features, a few of which would still be interesting even today. Arguably its closest spiritual sibling was the Danger line of phones (Microsoft acquired Danger and had them work on the Kin) and those sold respectably. I think there are many complex factors in the Kin’s failure (not the least of which was that Microsoft themselves weren’t really 100% behind the platform), but I personally wouldn’t put fashion near the top of the list. The kin hardware was serviceable at the time, but certainly wasn’t nearly as compromised by fashion concerns as some of the ridiculous Siemens Xelibri models were. The Xelibri 6 is frankly hilarious, and almost in a league of its own for bad fashion phone design.
- ctdonath 8y agoKin did have an unusual shape, at a time that such a shape worked (?) as a fashion move. Not saying Kin was the worst, but it certainly warrants an honorable mention.
- ctdonath 8y agoFinally had a chance to look up Siemens Xelibri. Oh my. When your phone reminds one of contraceptive packaging, you're doing it wrong.