Flexible gadgets: fad or progress?
In their attempts to sell an unnecessary new smartphone model, companies are ready to do anything. Every few months, another presentation of the revolutionary gadget takes place. Yes, recently, all the changes were quite predictable: more RAM, better camera, updated design. However, 2019 was marked by interesting new products: several companies introduced gadgets with folding screens. The developers made statements in such cases about a technological breakthrough and a new era of smartphones. However, only the market could put everything in its place. Toward the end of the year, smartphones and tablets with flexible screens began to go on sale.
Collectibles
There are many examples of unsuccessful products in the history of technology companies. Business giants were so keen on their own ideas that the result of the experiments was a strange and very expensive equipment that was not in consumer demand.
When gadgets with fading displays were first introduced to the public, analysts and ordinary skeptics wondered: does anyone really need this?
Samsung became the pioneer again, the first to release futuristic gadgets in free swimming. Devices from the Galaxy Fold line can already be bought and until the end of 2019 they will be available worldwide.
So far, we can judge technology mainly from reviews made by bloggers and journalists. This is not surprising: Galaxy Fold devices are much more expensive than their most expensive competitors. But buying the latest iPhone model, you know exactly what you get: a powerful and reliable gadget with an excellent camera that will last for many years (or until you get bored). Give a few thousand dollars, albeit for a revolutionary, but still a pig in a poke, while few users want.
It makes no sense to talk about Galaxy Fold devices in familiar terms: in terms of memory and camera power, they are not inferior to the closest competitors. Of interest is not the diagonal of the external screen, but the ability to deploy the device to gain access to the huge internal display.
The idea is so incompatible with our idea of smartphones that the reviews often recall the sci-fi series “World of the Wild West”. In it, the amusement park staff manages the androids using folding tablets with huge screens.
It is unclear whether Samsung employees were inspired by the impressive picture, or the creators of the series caught the idea that was in the air. It remains to answer the question: does an ordinary person really need a device with two screens - familiar and super-large? Will he find a place in everyday life and in his coat pocket? After all, mobile devices must be primarily mobile, otherwise their whole meaning is lost. Read more |