An old phone with a cracked screen is the new “new iPhone” the only way to one up some with this is to have either an eink screen OR pull out a blackberry or flip phone that somehow still does modern apps in some janky way.

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@futurebird My preferred form factor for a phone is something like the iPhone SE, so as a man, no, that does not appeal to me. No idea about other men.

Lew Perin

@futurebird How many years can Apple let go by before they grit their teeth and release a new reasonable-sized phone? They can’t ignore so many customers forever.

A Flock of Beagles

@futurebird have there really been many improvements to phones in the last ten years, other than just having more RAM and CPU? i don't think so.

in the early days of Android, i thought it was pretty cool and liked the idea of being able to access my desktop from my phone in an ssh app, or move files around using FTP or SMB instead of needing a cable plugged in. but it has been a pretty uninspiring journey from "wow cool game" to "ok now the games are all shit, the apps mostly all do the same things, and sometimes i will just stare at my phone trying to feel inspired to do something with it that isn't being a phone."

Michael Santaly

@futurebird I would love some kind of mini option

myrmepropagandist

@babelcarp

I will never be caught dead with a phablet not now not ever.

Glitzersachen

@babelcarp @futurebird

Apple can, though,

myrmepropagandist

@burnitdown

MACROPHOTOGRAPHY

that is it really

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@futurebird honestly I’m going to hold onto my SE 2022 until they release some new thing that’s relatively small with a home button and touch id or until this one dies completely. Just zero interest in the direction Apple has been heading with phone design.

Dave Wilburn :donor:

@futurebird

I think Apple and some other handset manufacturers (same with recent Pixel designs) are so invested in their own unvalidated assumptions about good design and consumer needs that they just keep plowing forward under inertia.

In practice, anyone walking around with a ~$1k cellphone without a protective case is insane, and the cases end up filling out the space such that any practical or aesthetic benefit from thinness disappears.

We'd all be happier with slightly thicker devices with better batteries and resistance to damage, but we're cursed with this uncomfortably-thin-with-a-bump nonsense instead until we figure out how to convince tech bros to go outside and touch grass.

myrmepropagandist

@DaveMWilburn

I never use a case. It makes the phone too wide to hold and I drop it more. I kind of hate cases. Especially with how wide phones have become.

Nazo

@babelcarp @futurebird Thing is, on the Android side I see it too and OEMs there have a LOT more freedom. The fact that so few are at all reasonably sized and almost all are internally junk says that the market itself really is — overall — just buying large phones.

And I absolutely abhor that this is true.

My best phone ever at its time was the Sony Xperia Z3 Compact. Very premium hardware inside for its time. A good fast CPU, enough RAM, etc etc. I later got a Z5 Compact which was almost as good with better hardware, but not as durable and slightly worse side grips.

These things fit IN my hand, not AROUND my hand as is the popular trend. And they were really mostly intended for the Japanese market. Sad thing is, SONY seems to have phased out doing compact models.

Lor 🦕

@geist @futurebird

Apparently!

I worked for Motorola and for a lonnnnnng time used Moto phones. NEVER cracked a screen. They took drop testing seriously. Got a iPhone and within a year, cracked the screen.

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@nazokiyoubinbou @babelcarp @futurebird

It’s not just phones: cars are getting bigger and uglier and heavier and WORSE with every new model. What used to be big cars are now the size of busses, medium cars are the size of tractors and small cars the size of big cars.

Dave Wilburn :donor:

@futurebird

It's super weird that they've hyperfocused on decreasing the Z-axis while bloating the X- and Y-axes, and another example of their obsession with unvalidated assumptions about user needs. Everyone wants a mini, but they keep pushing phablets that don't fit in our hands or our pockets.

myrmepropagandist

@DaveMWilburn

I could go for a tall skinny phone. Like a paint stick. very chic

Nazo

@OneInterestingFact @babelcarp @futurebird Yeah, this trend started in vehicles about 2004 or so and it has driven me crazy since. It's becoming a serious problem too. Those giant vehicles literally make it impossible for smaller vehicles to have protections against them. Plus they block more view (you've probably seen the images that show the angle of view of most American pickups/SUVs now and how whole entire children can be standing there and just simply not seen within that range...)

All I can figure is it comes from "supersizing" in general where people are led to believe that larger is always automatically better and usually the maker and/or seller gets a higher profit margin by getting people to think this way.

Ollie Boermans

@babelcarp @futurebird kills me imagining how sleek an iPhone could be if they decided to _reduce_ the power appetite of iOS rather than cramming in more glass effects and machine learning.

James Gilbert

@futurebird Brilliantly niche requirements! I think the 17 has the exact same ultra wide camera as the 17 Pro, which is the one it uses for macro. Their screens are the same, and tougher than the previous generation. The 17 doesn't take RAW photos, if that's important.

LionelB

@futurebird @jgrg

I wanted the macro for invertebrates generally, so I ended up with an Honor.

James Gilbert

@futurebird Can you take some ants to the Apple Store to test it?

Chebucto Regional Softball Club

An old phone with a cracked screen is the new “new iPhone” the only way to one up some with this is to have either an eink screen OR pull out a blackberry or flip phone that somehow still does modern apps in some janky way.