2018-05-08

Smartphones Revisited

Smartphones Revisited

Janet got a Google Pixel 2 recently. It has an aluminum back, but the top inch is glass. I think that is for wireless battery charging or maybe an internal antenna. It wasn't long before the glass was broken and the paint was chipped to reveal the aluminum (due to impact against the floor). Why was this piece glass? Do people hate plastic so much that they would rather deal with broken glass than have a plastic piece on their phone? Does almost blue paint with aluminum spots look better than plastic? My current phone has a plastic back (Nexus 5X) that does its job and has survived repeated falls.

Group-think is the enemy of innovation and it abounds in smartphones - must make the bezel smaller, must get rid of the headphone jack, must round the edges, metal and glass - no plastic, must have an "intelligent" assistant, must have gesture shortcuts. I don't like any of these "must haves".

No matter how much you hype Gorilla Glass, for opaque surfaces, you can find a better thermoplastic.

I haven't figured out what is the big deal about paying via phone. It just doesn't seem that hard to take my credit card out of my wallet. Don't want to carry a wallet? What about your driver's license, passport card, health insurance card, cash for places that only take cash?

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