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Huh? Is this thread full of Nokia/Microsoft PR people? Seriously. How does this not look like every other modern Android, WP7, iPhone rip off? - Black minim

Huh? Is this thread full of Nokia/Microsoft PR people? Seriously. How does this not look like every other modern Android, WP7, iPhone rip off? - Black minimalist screen ✓ - Horizontal speaker port ✓ - Buttons on the bottom ✓ - Cheap plastic case ✓ I don't think this phone could look more generic. Is this the state of the art in phone design outside of Cupertino? Are people's expectations really this low? I really don't get the appeal of this device from a hardware perspective. The software may be a different story, but the hardware looks is pretty boring.

flyosity 16y ago
I'm not sure how much hardware design has to do with a phone's success anymore. After the iPhone came out, every manufacturer now makes phones that are 90% screen. How close are we to hardware design where the bezel around the screen is 1mm and the whole device is only a few millimeters thick? Won't every phone basically look the same with the OS and user experience the only differentiators? Isn't that pretty much happening already?
- stcredzero 16y ago
  Not anymore than watches all looked the same and accuracy, features, and water resistance were the only differentiators.
  - flyosity 16y ago
    I don't think that's a valid comparison. All watches tell time, but how they tell time varies greatly. I own an automatic Panerai watch (http://cl.ly/4YkQ http://cl.ly/4YkQ) and it looks completely different from watches that Urwerk (http://cl.ly/4XvZ http://cl.ly/4XvZ) or Richard Mille (http://cl.ly/4XZR http://cl.ly/4XZR) make. Comparing how different those three watches look with the visual differences between, say, an iPhone 4 and a Nexus S and it's night and day. The Nexus S and iPhone 4 are about the same size, same thickness, same dimensions/proportions in width/height, about the same size screen, and the screen takes up about the same size % of the phone face.
- jonhohle 16y ago
  > After the iPhone came out, every manufacturer now makes phones that are 90% screen. That's the problem. Everyone is copying Apple. Most cars are just four wheels, an engine, some seats, and a steering wheel, but between Lamborghini, Ferrari, Königsegg, Maserati, etc. there is a ton of variation and very iconic design unique to each brand. The only company _designing_ phone hardware right now is Apple, and the only two companies designing phone software are Apple and Microsoft. For a piece of phone hardware to elicit the responses in this thread it should do something more than copy Apple's design from 4 years ago.
stcredzero 16y ago
The iPhone 4 hardware is just pleasurable to hold. It's a slab of magic glass with this Bauhaus designed edge. Just handling it almost makes me smile. That said, there's more fundamental value in the software, how well that software performs the functionality I want to use, and how well the battery, touch interface, and other hardware support that functionality. "Shiny and makes me smile" in the end is just a nice adjunct to "does what I need and helps me make money." Apple has both. That's a hard combination to beat in the short term. In the long term, the latter is the foundation.
macco 16y ago
Actually i think it own of the rare phones that does not look like a iphone clone and looks gorgeus. As I said before, Nokia is the only phone company that has design on level with Apple - what is really hard by the way
- jonhohle 16y ago
  The front half of the phone, besides the bottom row of buttons and lazier curves around the edges is almost an exact clone of every iPhone made. Where is Nokia's influence on this design? Edit: Put another way: the Nokia N8 is distinctly a Nokia product and would never be confused with an Apple product from any angle. I consider that a handsome phone and something exciting and fresh. On the other hand, something that looks like an iPhone seems lazy and unimaginative from a company that has done much better.

flyosity 16y ago

I'm not sure how much hardware design has to do with a phone's success anymore. After the iPhone came out, every manufacturer now makes phones that are 90% screen. How close are we to hardware design where the bezel around the screen is 1mm and the whole device is only a few millimeters thick? Won't every phone basically look the same with the OS and user experience the only differentiators? Isn't that pretty much happening already?

stcredzero 16y ago
Not anymore than watches all looked the same and accuracy, features, and water resistance were the only differentiators.
- flyosity 16y ago
  I don't think that's a valid comparison. All watches tell time, but how they tell time varies greatly. I own an automatic Panerai watch (http://cl.ly/4YkQ http://cl.ly/4YkQ) and it looks completely different from watches that Urwerk (http://cl.ly/4XvZ http://cl.ly/4XvZ) or Richard Mille (http://cl.ly/4XZR http://cl.ly/4XZR) make. Comparing how different those three watches look with the visual differences between, say, an iPhone 4 and a Nexus S and it's night and day. The Nexus S and iPhone 4 are about the same size, same thickness, same dimensions/proportions in width/height, about the same size screen, and the screen takes up about the same size % of the phone face.
jonhohle 16y ago
> After the iPhone came out, every manufacturer now makes phones that are 90% screen. That's the problem. Everyone is copying Apple. Most cars are just four wheels, an engine, some seats, and a steering wheel, but between Lamborghini, Ferrari, Königsegg, Maserati, etc. there is a ton of variation and very iconic design unique to each brand. The only company _designing_ phone hardware right now is Apple, and the only two companies designing phone software are Apple and Microsoft. For a piece of phone hardware to elicit the responses in this thread it should do something more than copy Apple's design from 4 years ago.

stcredzero 16y ago

The iPhone 4 hardware is just pleasurable to hold. It's a slab of magic glass with this Bauhaus designed edge. Just handling it almost makes me smile. That said, there's more fundamental value in the software, how well that software performs the functionality I want to use, and how well the battery, touch interface, and other hardware support that functionality. "Shiny and makes me smile" in the end is just a nice adjunct to "does what I need and helps me make money." Apple has both. That's a hard combination to beat in the short term. In the long term, the latter is the foundation.

macco 16y ago

Actually i think it own of the rare phones that does not look like a iphone clone and looks gorgeus. As I said before, Nokia is the only phone company that has design on level with Apple - what is really hard by the way

jonhohle 16y ago
The front half of the phone, besides the bottom row of buttons and lazier curves around the edges is almost an exact clone of every iPhone made. Where is Nokia's influence on this design? Edit: Put another way: the Nokia N8 is distinctly a Nokia product and would never be confused with an Apple product from any angle. I consider that a handsome phone and something exciting and fresh. On the other hand, something that looks like an iPhone seems lazy and unimaginative from a company that has done much better.