20 ms·

Reminds me of how mobile phones used to be huge and then they did everything possible to make them smaller until they were way too small and had to double back

Reminds me of how mobile phones used to be huge and then they did everything possible to make them smaller until they were way too small and had to double back a bit. Now the same thing is happening with thickness.

dgzl 7y ago
Couldn't we just call this a natural way of refining the product?
Wowfunhappy 7y ago
> Reminds me of how mobile phones used to be huge and then they did everything possible to make them smaller until they were way too small and had to double back a bit. Is this accurate? I was reading reviews of the Game Boy Micro a few years ago (written when the Game Boy Micro was released in the early 2000s). Many described the product as "as small as a cell phone". I found this funny—it's significantly smaller than smartphones today—including the original iPhone, by the way, which wasn't small when it came out. I'd say the trend has been towards larger phones as we've begun to use them more and more. If you use something most of your day, you don't mind so much if takes up more pocket space. You may be right in terms of thickness, although I think it's too early to call that a trend.
- izzydata 7y ago
  I believe it to be accurate. If you look at the trend of phone sizes from the first mobile phones up to about 2008 they were only getting smaller. If the trend kept going you could easily create a mobile phone today that is way too small for all practicality. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f7/35/1d/f7351d374bbbb01da3391bc79c2761f2.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f7/35/1d/f7351d374bbbb01da339...
  - Wowfunhappy 7y ago
    I think it's really important to separate dumb phones from smartphones (and possibly both from "feature phones"). That phone from 2000 is a perfectly reasonable size for a device that only makes calls, and in fact, it would be nice if it were smaller. Blackberries were never that small, and weren't trending downwards in a significant way.
  - Dunedan 7y ago
    Well, the trend kept going. Nowadays you can get pretty small feature phone, like the following one I just picked randomly from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/L8star-Bluetooth-Headset-Earphone-Support/dp/B07KP82TMB https://www.amazon.com/L8star-Bluetooth-Headset-Earphone-Sup...
bobajeff 7y ago
That makes it sound like they went too small and decided that was a mistake. What really happened was Smartphones came out. Which required a certain size just to support the UI. Then Tablets came out to bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops. So people could start using them for watching YouTube/Netflix or reading e-books. Then the Phablet came out. Which was a bridge between the phone and the tablet. So you could still watch movies and stuff but still fit the thing in your pocket.
tannhaeuser 7y ago
What era of mobiles do you have in mind? From my PoV, (smart) phones are getting bigger and bigger up until they cease to become all that mobile. It's why I bought an iPhone classic (not iPhone X) just the other week after a decade of Android phones.
- reaperducer 7y ago
  What era of mobiles do you have in mind Probably in the early 2000's when small equaled good. My wife had an LG phone that was so small it fit in the palm of my hand with my fingers closed. Sony sold a phone so small that it had a boom mic that swung down a couple of inches to pick up your voice. I had a SonyEricsson t68i that was 4" x 1¾" x ¾": https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_t68i-325.php https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_t68i-325.php
- kgwgk 7y ago
  https://www.zdnet.com/product/panasonic-gd55/ https://www.zdnet.com/product/panasonic-gd55/
mikestew 7y ago
(EDIT: in re-reading your comment, I see that you're just trying to illustrate a point, and I'm going all pedantic. Apologies.) I currently own a phone so small that it doesn't even have a keyboard[0]. When they get the thing to fit in my ear, then I'll start to worry that they're getting too small. I'm being just a bit facetious, but in seriousness if voice-controlled AI can improve a bit, size might cease to be an issue. [0] Apple Watch, and the only thing keeping from just ditching the phone is a. battery life b. Apple's use case they designed for is not "ditch the phone".

dgzl 7y ago

Couldn't we just call this a natural way of refining the product?

Wowfunhappy 7y ago

> Reminds me of how mobile phones used to be huge and then they did everything possible to make them smaller until they were way too small and had to double back a bit. Is this accurate? I was reading reviews of the Game Boy Micro a few years ago (written when the Game Boy Micro was released in the early 2000s). Many described the product as "as small as a cell phone". I found this funny—it's significantly smaller than smartphones today—including the original iPhone, by the way, which wasn't small when it came out. I'd say the trend has been towards larger phones as we've begun to use them more and more. If you use something most of your day, you don't mind so much if takes up more pocket space. You may be right in terms of thickness, although I think it's too early to call that a trend.

izzydata 7y ago
I believe it to be accurate. If you look at the trend of phone sizes from the first mobile phones up to about 2008 they were only getting smaller. If the trend kept going you could easily create a mobile phone today that is way too small for all practicality. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f7/35/1d/f7351d374bbbb01da3391bc79c2761f2.jpg https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f7/35/1d/f7351d374bbbb01da339...
- Wowfunhappy 7y ago
  I think it's really important to separate dumb phones from smartphones (and possibly both from "feature phones"). That phone from 2000 is a perfectly reasonable size for a device that only makes calls, and in fact, it would be nice if it were smaller. Blackberries were never that small, and weren't trending downwards in a significant way.
- Dunedan 7y ago
  Well, the trend kept going. Nowadays you can get pretty small feature phone, like the following one I just picked randomly from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/L8star-Bluetooth-Headset-Earphone-Support/dp/B07KP82TMB https://www.amazon.com/L8star-Bluetooth-Headset-Earphone-Sup...

bobajeff 7y ago

That makes it sound like they went too small and decided that was a mistake. What really happened was Smartphones came out. Which required a certain size just to support the UI. Then Tablets came out to bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops. So people could start using them for watching YouTube/Netflix or reading e-books. Then the Phablet came out. Which was a bridge between the phone and the tablet. So you could still watch movies and stuff but still fit the thing in your pocket.

tannhaeuser 7y ago

What era of mobiles do you have in mind? From my PoV, (smart) phones are getting bigger and bigger up until they cease to become all that mobile. It's why I bought an iPhone classic (not iPhone X) just the other week after a decade of Android phones.

reaperducer 7y ago
What era of mobiles do you have in mind Probably in the early 2000's when small equaled good. My wife had an LG phone that was so small it fit in the palm of my hand with my fingers closed. Sony sold a phone so small that it had a boom mic that swung down a couple of inches to pick up your voice. I had a SonyEricsson t68i that was 4" x 1¾" x ¾": https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_t68i-325.php https://www.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_t68i-325.php
kgwgk 7y ago
https://www.zdnet.com/product/panasonic-gd55/ https://www.zdnet.com/product/panasonic-gd55/

mikestew 7y ago

(EDIT: in re-reading your comment, I see that you're just trying to illustrate a point, and I'm going all pedantic. Apologies.) I currently own a phone so small that it doesn't even have a keyboard[0]. When they get the thing to fit in my ear, then I'll start to worry that they're getting too small. I'm being just a bit facetious, but in seriousness if voice-controlled AI can improve a bit, size might cease to be an issue. [0] Apple Watch, and the only thing keeping from just ditching the phone is a. battery life b. Apple's use case they designed for is not "ditch the phone".