Phones are becoming the new wallets…

Now I want a phone case with a chain that attaches to my belt.

(Like the kind bikers and punks used to wear.)

The suffix “fold” in this instance refers to the number of parts, not the number of folds. As confusing as that is.

Trifold wallet tho

Pedantic return: it has 3 screens with 2 connecting hinges, it is therefore trifold.

trifold in American English (ˈtraiˌfould) adjective

1. triple; threefold
2. having three parts a trifold screen

That ain’t gonna satisfy the shareholders so fuck you instead

I like removable batteries, but I like waterproofness combined with thin more.

Easily serviceable batteries are a great compromise IMO.

And while we’re at it, a physical tactile keyboard.

My tender palm hurts just looking at this. I can feel the pinch.

I kinda always wanted Penny’s computer book from Inspector Gadget.

Do you mean Lisa Frank, the artist for colorful animals on school supplies, and not Anne Frank, the famous diarist who was killed by the Nazis during the Holocaust?

Clearly, so they could make an !oddlysatisfying@lemmy.world animation. I mean, practicality is obviously not a factor here.

I’ve used a Z Fold 4 for two years now and it’s been the best phone I’ve ever had. Desktop versions of websites, on my phone, without feeling cramped. Two apps side by side, both roughly the size of a usual phone screen. Huge screen for retro emulation using a Bluetooth controller. All with still having a small screen for one handed use and more traditional scrolling.

Games like Hearthstone, Gwent, Chess, Baldur’s Gate Enhanced Edition, Roller Coaster Tycoon Classic, feel way more playable.

At this point, using any other device feels limited and cramped in ways that a big screen doesn’t.

My only complaint has been price, and I only got mine because my company paid for it

I didn’t get it either til I came across a Galaxy Fold demo unit at the mall.
It’s light, the expanded screen gives you lots of extra screen real estate without feeling too big or unwieldy, and when folded up you get a normal aspect ratio, at a thickness that’s comparable to other phones.

I never really felt like a tablet would be useful for me, filling the “gap” between a laptop and a phone with essentially a ‘bigger phone’ I’d have to charge and carry always seemed silly: I’d rather just keep using my phone instead.
But when you merge both devices into one, it works. It really is a ‘bigger phone’, with the benefit of being able to choose when you want to use the extra screen real estate without having to swap devices.

As someone who often tries to juggle multiple tasks on a phone*, I want one.
Shame they’re so expensive where I live. Looking at the used market, even the folds multiple generations behind are still too expensive.

*Side note: Stock Android’s split screen implementation is shit.
The floating windows Xiaomi and other OEMs have is light-years ahead, Google should be ashamed.

Phone companies, listen to me, BUILT-IN KICKSTAND

All the things that used to break phones got fixed, mobile OS changes got smaller and smaller, designed obsolescence required something that would get people to buy a new phone every 18 months. So here’s a hinge. Here’s TWO hinges!

Companies don’t make as much money when it’s repairable. Washers and dryers used to last 20-25 years with a few repairs here and there. But companies weren’t making any money, so they started making unrepairable junk instead.

It’s really not bad, especially for reading, especially if your eyes aren’t what they used to be.

More screen space in a smaller portable form is of tremendous use to some people - until projectors come of age at least.