Wonder how they'll do with the multi-dimensional foldy phone in 2032

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Personally I apply that logic to everything except a house (so I hopefully can afford a house one day)

Sorry if it came across rude, didn't mean it like that

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No, thats fair. I struggle to figure out when so.eone is being confrontational even irl.

I think its a good standpoint to have, saving to buy is a good way to stay out of debt. The only downside is when it comes to buying a house, if you dont have a credit history, then you might fail the credit checks because theres no proof you can stick to repayments.

Things like phone contracts and bills help with that. It may even be worth getting a credit card to pay for groceries and then paying back the credit card with your wages each month just to build your credit score.

I dont use saving on phones. I use them on car and house repairs. On my kids clothes etc.

But you do you, and I'll do me. Im managing just fine and im not poor (at least not relative to other people in my circles) (obviously most people are poor, its all about perspective, but thats neither hear nor there)

argv minus one

@Mr_Dr_Oink

> I can comfortably manage emails, shopping, web browsing, lemmy, social media

Without a real keyboard? How? I find the experience of doing such things on a touchscreen infuriatingly slow and error-prone. That's why I'm using a desktop to write this post.

> Arguing against folding phones is almost the same as arguing against tablets.

That's not saying much. Tablets have been a flop.

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They've been putting super flexible screens in phones for years. They're usually just sandwiched in glass for protection.

That's how we got all those curved bezelless displays.

🇰 🌀 🇱 🇦 🇳 🇦 🇰 ℹ️

I'm just waiting for someone to make a shirt out of those so I can have sick ass animated designs.

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that's interesting! I didn't know that, thanks!

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If you don't keep a device for at least 5 years you have no real basis to talk about its issues though, like of course it's fine when it's basically brand new the whole time you have it

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Because my keyboard looks like this. It's fast enough, and if you learn how to use shortcuts, suggestions, and cursor control etc its easy in its own way.

Maybe you just dont spend enough time with touchscreens because of your clear disdane for them.

Tablets aren't a flop. Estimates say there are at least 1 billion users worldwide, and they have a lot of niche functionality not provided by laptops, as i have previously mentioned.

Regardless. You, a none foldable user who clearly thinks desktops/laptops are the best user experience and most functional, telling me, a foldable phone user who has both a desktop, and a laptop, and i work in IT on a laptop daily that my foldable is not a perfectly reasonable and legitimate user experience is a bit odd.

I have experience of both, you have experience of one (or so it seems based on your posts) and you are telling me i am wrong about my experience because you dont think it's possible. It's just a bit rich....

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Oh I want to open a scroll like that dramatically

argv minus one

@Mr_Dr_Oink

On the contrary, my disdain for touchscreens is a result of spending far too *much* time with them. A larger, foldable screen isn't going to solve that problem.

A phone with a real keyboard would solve that problem—I loved my Droid 3 and miss it terribly—but for reasons I absolutely cannot fathom, no phone manufacturer wants to make such a phone today.

I don't know what estimates you speak of, but I manage a website, and the monthly tablet users on it is basically zero.

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Sounds like you aren't the market for touch screen devices. Most people get on with them just fine.

A phone with a slide out keyboard with buttons so tiny that only a mouse could use them? Sorry to exaggerate a bit, but it's a 4 inch screen. That keyboard must be awkard. I guess a blackberry would have suited you, too?

The reason they dont make physical keyboards for phones much anymore is be ause they dont work well and people dont like them.

You manage a website? What's your monthly hit count? How many of those users have foldables? Can you rely on the user agent to identify a tablet? Or is it possible that they just appear the same as a phone? (it is) do you think your websites number of tablet users is representative of the overall global users?

I used google to determine the number of tablet users globally and averaged a number from multiple sources.

Tbh, it seems like your view is "if it doesn't line up with my preconceived ideas, then it must not be true"

Which isnt a great way to look at things.

argv minus one

@Mr_Dr_Oink

The Droid 3 keyboard's keys are larger than a touchscreen keyboard's. You push them with your thumbs. If you can handle a Game Boy/DS/Switch, you can handle that keyboard.

Never used a BlackBerry. Their keyboards seem smaller (i.e. harder to use) than the Droid's.

Does nobody like keyboards on phones? I don't remember anybody surveying me.

Pretty ironic that you think I shouldn't knock foldable phones before I try them, but you're knocking physical keyboards without trying them.

argv minus one

@Mr_Dr_Oink

Google Analytics reports how many people are using desktop, phone, or tablet on my site.

A Google search for “tablet vs phone vs desktop market share” yields similar results: tablet market share is very low (though not basically zero like on my site).

I could charitably call tablets a niche device, but seeing as convertible laptops do everything tablets do, have keyboards, and run non-toy operating systems, I don't see any reason to be charitable.

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Wheels are so boring! Why can't they just innovate?!

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are we gonna get into the more filds = better logic now?

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Ok, i assure you, the droid 3's keys are not larger than my foldables keys.
And if you push them with your thumbs, then they are not better than a touch screen keyboard for typing speed. They are also more than likely prone to as many errors as a touchscreen keyboard. Muscle memory will play a big role in how well they work for the individual.

Yes, people dont like physical keyboards on phones, or else there would be a market for them, and you would not be complaining about not being able to find any modern phones with physical keyboards. Clearly, they dont satisfy a need that enough people out there have. I think you need to accept that you are in a minority of people who like phones with physical keyboards. Incidentally, a minority smaller than the market share of tablets.

Fair enough, tablet market share is around 2% when compared to mobile and desktop/laptop. pretty low, but high enough that they are still being manufactured and sold.

As for the irony, i have used a phone with a slide out keyboard. It was a samsung from a long time ago, im struggling to remember its name, but it looked a lot like this one:

So i am sticking to that point.

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You keep calling android/ios a toy operating system. Your bias is showing.

Its not charitable to call tablets niche. It's accurate. The same goes for 2-in-1 "convertable" laptops.

Fact is, if you are arguing that a laptop that doubkes as a tablet is a good device then you are arguing that the need/want and use case for tablets is great enough that they are augmenting laptops into tablets to satisfy that need for consumers.

Going back to the original point. Foldables are good devices that cover a range of needs that are not met by regular phones. You dont need a laptop to do these things, and i can't put a laptop in my pocket and use it absolutely anywhere by just taking it out of my pocket and pressing the power button.

Your insistance on arguing that desktops and laptops are the only way to do anything is just wrong. That is proven by the market share. Desktops have about 35% and phones have about 60%

Its not even close.

argv minus one

Not even the same ballpark. Typing accuracy with the Droid 3 keyboard is comparable to desktop. Speed is less with only two fingers instead of ten, but its speed × accuracy is still vastly superior to that of a touchscreen keyboard.

Touchscreens have zero tactile feedback. It's a completely flat panel. Touch typing is impossible. Gesture typing is abysmally inaccurate. Hunt-and-peck is abysmally slow.

Yes, I would probably have liked your old Samsung. Looks pretty similar to my Droid 3.

argv minus one

No, my desire for autonomy is showing. My Linux PC is my computer and it responds to my decree, as a certain hammy Skyrim character would put it. Android and iOS have the audacity to tell me what I'm allowed to do with my own device, which as far as I'm concerned makes them unserious toys.

You are of course welcome to disagree with my opinion.

My argument for convertible laptops is that, if you really want a tablet for whatever reason, you can have your tablet without the downsides.

1/

argv minus one

Comparing desktop and phone market share is iffy because a lot of people have both, and I don't believe there are any reliable statistics on the subject to use in our debate.

As for foldables, was it not your argument that you'd rather use one in place of a laptop? If it's meant to be just a phone with a bigger screen, I guess that's cool, but I'd still want to have a computer with a real keyboard and operating system.

2/end