this post was submitted on 22 Jan 2024
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[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 18 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago) (4 children)

I'm not even sure thinness was something consumers ever would have demanded (at the sacrifice of battery life) if the mfrs hadn't pushed it as a selling point.

In the flipphone days I didn't know many people who didn't have at least one spare battery, so they could swap to a fresh one on the go without having to charge, or bought extra thick batteries with higher capacity, extending the back of the phone.

Then when smartphones had removable batteries, lots of people still did those things. And all during that time I remember many reviewers and consumers reacting to many of the "thinness" claims with "I'd really like a bigger battery instead."

I also remember it being proven that apple's removal of the headphone jack impacted neither waterproofing nor thinness, despite their claims. (But then of course one by one others started following suit.)

I think it's better for mfrs and that's the only reason. It saves them money on mfr, or gets phones tossed in the bin faster. Possibly both.

I'd still take 2 or 3 more mm of thickness for an amazing battery.

[–] renzev@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

I’m not even sure thinness was something consumers ever would have demanded

I am entirely convinced that most "features" on modern devices are not "something consumers would have demanded". Sure, different lenses is nice if you're a hobbyist photographer, but do most people really need more than a single back-facing camera? Do most people want to have wireless earbuds at the cost of not having a headphone jack? Do most people want glass backs and other such gimmicks that make their device more fragile? I've been told for decades that the modern economic system is great because competition forces manufacturers to prioritize what is best for the consumers. But in the context of smartphones, it feels like the roles are completely reversed. Manufacturers come up with some bullshit and then mount psy-ops (ad campaigns, online astroturfing) to convince the population that it's worth their money

[–] unrelatedkeg@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 10 months ago

About thinness: I also like my phones bendy and snappy (iPhone 6), as well as exploding batteries (Galaxy Note 7 or 10, I don't remember the exact model tbh).

Or you have to 'hold it right' (OG iPhone).

These were all huge issues that could be fixed without sacrificing the thinness.

Thinness shouldn't be used as an excuse for otherwise shitty phones, since it's clearly a non-sequitur.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 3 points 10 months ago (2 children)

lol I first thought that "mfrs" meant "motherf***ers"

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago

Well if the shoe fits...

[–] octopus_ink@lemmy.ml 2 points 10 months ago (1 children)

I just reread that entire sentence substituting that word both times, and made myself lol.

[–] stoly@lemmy.world 2 points 10 months ago

I feel like I have done my good deed for the day.

[–] lunarul@lemmy.world 1 points 10 months ago

I'm not even sure thinness was something consumers ever would have demanded

Something popular back in the removable battery days was to replace them with thicker extended capacity batteries. So no, battery life was more important to a lot of comsumers.