Foldable phones are coming

[8ball]

And this whole 'they're going to be too fragile' argument seems pretty flawed too (even though you don't know anything about the hardiness of thee new foldable screens). People will always break screens. Some gadgets are more fragile than others and you have to treat them accordingly or stick them in a case. It's that simple.

These are just basic engineering principles.
We'll have to see how well the challenges have been overcome, but the touch screen material needs to be a lot softer than the types of glass in current phones. Maybe less prone to catastrophic failures like shattering, but more abrasion prone.

As for sticking it in acase, I wonder how thick that will make the things. The case will need more hinges etc.

These screens are going to be great for all sorts of wearable devices, though, if they can be made cheap enough.

 

[skyscraper101]

I had a Motorola Razr once. That was a folding phone. I don’t remember any problems at all with the folding element. Nor do I remember it being anything other than a massively popular folding phone like loads of other folding flip phones.

I think you’re just inventing a problem here before it has even emerged.

 

[8ball]

I had a Motorola Razr once’s that was a folding phone. I don’t remember any problems at all with the folding element. Nor do I remember it being anything other than a massively popular phone like loads of other folding flip phones.

I think you’re just inventing a problem here before it has even emerged.

You win the internet!

 

[NoXion]

I had a Motorola Razr once. That was a folding phone. I don’t remember any problems at all with the folding element. Nor do I remember it being anything other than a massively popular folding phone like loads of other folding flip phones.

I think you’re just inventing a problem here before it has even emerged.

The Razr also doesn't have a hinge in the middle of it's non-flexible screen. You're not comparing like with like.

 

[skyscraper101]

The Razr also doesn't have a hinge in the middle of it's non-flexible screen. You're not comparing like with like.

I was being flippant

But the point stands. You know as much as I do about how durable these folding screens will be. I’ll just reserve judgement til I’ve seen them in the real world.

 

[NoXion]

I was being flippant

But the point stands. You know as much as I do about how durable these folding screens will be. I’ll just reserve judgement til I’ve seen them in the real world.

Actually, I do know something. There's even a video. Looks like shit to me.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Actually, I do know something. There's even a video. Looks like shit to me.

Xiaomi's prototype looks a lot better but I still think it's a gimmick.
The first thing most people do when they buy a new phone is buy a case to protect it. I don't see how it will be possible to protect these foldy things, and I reckon that once people have broken their third or fourth Pholdie®, the novelty will soon wear off.

 

[skyscraper101]

Actually, I do know something. There's even a video. Looks like shit to me.

You’re judging the whole folding phone concept based on one early to market small name brand which barely anybody owns. Ok.

 

[8ball]

Xiaomi's prototype looks a lot better but I still think it's a gimmick.
The first thing most people do when they buy a new phone is buy a case to protect it. I don't see how it will be possible to protect these foldy things, and I reckon that once people have broken their third or fourth Pholdie®, the novelty will soon wear off.

They could make cases, but the bulk added would be very considerable.

I think it’s wear at the point of the fold that is going to be difficult.

Engineering-wise it might be just as easy to make a foldable with two
to-edge screens that fit *really* flush.

 

[skyscraper101]

Samsung must be pretty confident in the durability of the screens now that they have debuted their rolling TV screens and all.

 

[Saul Goodman]

Samsung must be pretty confident in the durability of the screens now that they have debuted their rolling TV screens and all.

People don't tend to drop their TVs on a concrete floor very often.

 

[skyscraper101]

I’m not sure what it is about these phones which have screens that can literally bend in half which causes some people to believe they are such a bad idea when compared to regular phones which people also routinely smash.

 

[editor]

Actually, I do know something. There's even a video. Looks like shit to me.

And this is what the first mobile phone looked like. Pretty shit, eh?

 

[fishfinger]

And this is what the first mobile phone looked like. Pretty shit, eh?

pfft!

Prototype carphone:

 

[NoXion]

I’m not sure what it is about these phones which have screens that can literally bend in half which causes some people to believe they are such a bad idea when compared to regular phones which people also routinely smash.

You know you can break a wire coathanger if you bend it enough times, yes? These bendy screens are a solid lump, with no hinges. Plastics don't tend to fare much better than metals in my experience.

Material fatigue + dropped/jostled/sat on N amount of times = broken device.

And this is what the first mobile phone looked like. Pretty shit, eh?

Doesn't look bad to me, to be perfectly honest. Sure, it's big and heavy and it's battery probably doesn't last very long, but if that's the first mobile then people back then wouldn't have had much choice - it was either using that or using a landline. Whatever design flaws it may have had would have been obviated by that lack of choice.

On the other hand, these days mobile devices are a mature technology, to the point where more and more people are choosing to hold on to their old smartphones instead of splashing out the grand or so it costs to upgrade to the latest model. Growth in the smartphone market is hence slowing and budget manufacturers are starting to catch up.

This foldy phone shit reeks of desperation from the premium sector of the market.

 

[editor]

You know you can break a wire coathanger if you bend it enough times, yes? These bendy screens are a solid lump, with no hinges. Plastics don't tend to fare much better than metals in my experience.

Material fatigue + dropped/jostled/sat on N amount of times = broken device.



Doesn't look bad to me, to be perfectly honest. Sure, it's big and heavy and it's battery probably doesn't last very long, but if that's the first mobile then people back then wouldn't have had much choice - it was either using that or using a landline. Whatever design flaws it may have had would have been obviated by that lack of choice.

On the other hand, these days mobile devices are a mature technology, to the point where more and more people are choosing to hold on to their old smartphones instead of splashing out the grand or so it costs to upgrade to the latest model. Growth in the smartphone market is hence slowing and budget manufacturers are starting to catch up.

This foldy phone shit reeks of desperation from the premium sector of the market.

So it's not for you. So you keep saying.

But I think that if it works as planned, it's an exciting and useful development that shitloads of people will be happy to pay up for (once the price comes down, just like it did for the first mobile phones).

 

[NoXion]

So it's not for you. So you keep saying.

But I think that if it works as planned, it's an exciting and useful development that shitloads of people will be happy to pay up for (once the price comes down, just like it did for the first mobile phones).

The point is that the first mobile phones offered something genuinely new, innovative and useful at the time they were introduced. They were the difference between having to find a landline telephone, and having a telephone with you at all times.

These days even subsistence farmers in developing countries have mobile phones. It's going to take more than a bendy screen to match that kind of impact.

 

[editor]

The point is that the first mobile phones offered something genuinely new, innovative and useful at the time they were introduced. They were the difference between having to find a landline telephone, and having a telephone with you at all times.

These days even subsistence farmers in developing countries have mobile phones. It's going to take more than a bendy screen to match that kind of impact.

Where has anyone, anywhere suggested that a folding smartphone will have anything even remotely approaching that kind of impact?

Nowhere, that's where.

It's an incremental and useful development for users who - like me - would like to have access to a larger screen without employing Hammertime pants or being compelled to invest in a new bag and a secondary gadget.

 

[NoXion]

Where has anyone, anywhere suggested that a folding smartphone will have anything even remotely approaching that kind of impact?

Nowhere, that's where.

It's an incremental and useful development for users who - like me - would like to have access to a larger screen without employing Hammertime pants or being compelled to invest in a new bag and a secondary gadget.

It's gimmicky overpriced junk aimed at hipster tech-bro gentrifier scumbags in California and it will flop, metaphorically as well as literally. £10 to the server fund says this foldy phone shit will a curiosity in three years.

 

[8ball]

It's gimmicky overpriced junk aimed at hipster tech-bro gentrifier scumbags in California and it will flop, metaphorically as well as literally. £10 to the server fund says this foldy phone shit will a curiosity in three years.

Always be careful to define the terms of the bet. I think there are a lot of good applications of flexible touchscreens (it’s the “touch” bit that makes it tricky - flexible high-res screens are a lot easier).

 

[editor]

Always be careful to define the terms of the bet. I think there are a lot of good applications of flexible touchscreens (it’s the “touch” bit that makes it tricky - flexible high-res screens are a lot easier).

Samsung have already had a monster hit with the curved screen edges of the Galaxy phones. I can't see why a folding development of that wouldn't prove popular with some users subject to the obvious caveats.

 

[NoXion]

Always be careful to define the terms of the bet. I think there are a lot of good applications of flexible touchscreens (it’s the “touch” bit that makes it tricky - flexible high-res screens are a lot easier).

I would expect some kind of semi-flexible interface to come along at some point, for certain niche applications, but phones go through a lot of abuse, and I think foldy phones will fail because of that.

 

[8ball]

Samsung have already had a monster hit with the curved screen edges of the Galaxy phones. I can't see why a folding development of that wouldn't prove popular with some users subject to the obvious caveats.

A curved rigid screen is a very different beast to a foldable screen, and I think it is more than just the form factor that made that product a success.

I think there might be far more revolutionary gizmos on the horizon which will make this a more restricted application in its uses.

But will be interesting to see. I’ve been wrong before when calling this sort of thing, so you might well be saying “I told you so” in a few years.

 

[8ball]

I would expect some kind of semi-flexible interface to come along at some point, for certain niche applications, but phones go through a lot of abuse, and I think foldy phones will fail because of that.

Yeah, that’s my feeling at this time too. Embedded screens in mountaineering equipment showing Sp02, HR etc. Scuba, firefighting and mining gear...

 

[editor]

A curved rigid screen is a very different beast to a foldable screen, and I think it is more than just the form factor that made that product a success.

I think there might be far more revolutionary gizmos on the horizon which will make this a more restricted application in its uses.

But will be interesting to see. I’ve been wrong before when calling this sort of thing, so you might well be saying “I told you so” in a few years.

Prototype bendy screens have been around for a while - this dates back all the way to 2013



Mind you, I would have happy with Microsoft's Courier from a decade ago!

 

[8ball]

You seem to be confusing curved with flexible.

 

[keybored]

You know you can break a wire coathanger if you bend it enough times, yes?

If there were demand for a coat-hanger that could fold into a pocket-size and if some people were daft enough to pay for it then I'm sure it would have been done.

 

[8ball]

If there were demand for a coat-hanger that could fold into a pocket-size and if some people were daft enough to pay for it then I'm sure it would have been done.

I think you need to apply to Dragons’ Den.

 

[editor]

You seem to be confusing curved with flexible.

So witty. Hilarious! The point being: screens that could flex all over t'shop were out there six years ago. Flexible bendy screens were the stuff of dreams six years before that. Go on. You can work it out, wiseguy!

 

[8ball]

So witty. Hilarious! The point being: screens that could flex all over t'shop were out there six years ago. Flexible bendy screens were the stuff of dreams six years before that. Go on. You can work it out, wiseguy!

Ok, I’m convinced - I’ll be getting one right after I’ve paid for my GPS watch that runs off body heat.