Predictions about the evolution of smartphones

show-Zi

show-Zi

Level 36
Thread author
Verified
Top Poster
Well-known
Jan 28, 2018
2,453
3
33,876
3,469
Beyond
The other day, I got excited about such a topic with a clerk of a shop where I bought a smartphone. Assuming you use it on the phone, the size is almost the limit and the processing speed seems to have reached the required level. What kind of future do you expect?

In the near future, a folding device that can be used when closed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: brambedkar59, Nevi, Venustus and 5 others
Not much. Generally speaking the evolution of phones has largely peaked on the bell curve. People in this house have several generation back phones and haven't even bothered asking for upgrades. They are fast enough to run any app. Have great cameras. Plenty of storage space, etc. Prior to that, everyone wanted to upgrade every year.

I remember speaking with a top phone engineer sometime around 2000. He said they have a 20 year plan for phones, phone evolution and feature creep. He gave me a pretty good idea of where they were going and surprisingly, they had a really really good idea of where the size and processing power would end up. So the inevitable question came up - what about after 20 years? At the time he didn't have an answer.

Just a few years ago everyone talked about their phones. People would get new ones and show them off. Now nobody cares. Nobody talks about them. Nobody really even bothers to look at each others phones or show them off. Has anyone else noticed this? I think the reason is, people know it's capped out and by this stage everyone has a reasonably comparable from regardless of what manufacturer or cell phone.

5G is really all they have left and between people worried about the dangers of it, and the prosumers who feel it is unnecessary because they know the increased speed on a phone is largely placebo, and somewhere in the middle are engineers who feel it isn't viable for widespread deployment due to technical limitations.. I think 5G is all marketing fluff and will fall flat.

Honestly, I don't think we'll see much of anything from them and the industry has plateaued. All anyone I talk to cares about now is how to lower their bill and who has the cheapest plan...
 
  • Like
  • Applause
Reactions: motox781, brambedkar59, Nevi and 5 others
show-Zi said:
The other day, I got excited about such a topic with a clerk of a shop where I bought a smartphone. Assuming you use it on the phone, the size is almost the limit and the processing speed seems to have reached the required level. What kind of future do you expect?

In the near future, a folding device that can be used when closed.
Click to expand...

😲 :D :D :D

I just laughed my ass off when I noticed your great and beautiful avatar.

1575310343966.png


That's awesome. :D:D(y)

And what a fine looking Burrito that is... ;)

And.... to remain on topic..

I agree with Sly to some degree. It was no coincidence that the new iPhones came out cheaper this year. I think the industry knows that consumers are starting to understand that their new shiny and expensive cell phone doesn't really do much more than their previous phone... and if they want to sell phones, they need to provide more value.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
  • HaHa
Reactions: brambedkar59, Nevi, Venustus and 5 others
upnorth said:
Less smart and more phone maybe?

Click to expand...

When the original function reaches maturity, such a playful product tends to start to appear.:)

I have a feeling that smartphones will be more closely integrated with portable game consoles. Or, there is a possibility of returning to the shape that returned to the origin.

 
  • Like
  • HaHa
Reactions: brambedkar59, [correlate], Nevi and 5 others
ForgottenSeer 58943 said:
Not much. Generally speaking the evolution of phones has largely peaked on the bell curve. People in this house have several generation back phones and haven't even bothered asking for upgrades. They are fast enough to run any app. Have great cameras. Plenty of storage space, etc. Prior to that, everyone wanted to upgrade every year.
Click to expand...
personally i expect better screen quality, more RAM, battery life and less heating. sometimes imagine a phone where the screen takes all the phone area, no notches or bazels. i even wish a camera hidden behind the screen (not even sure it is possible lol)


Just a few years ago everyone talked about their phones. People would get new ones and show them off. Now nobody cares. Nobody talks about them. Nobody really even bothers to look at each others phones or show them off. Has anyone else noticed this? I think the reason is, people know it's capped out and by this stage everyone has a reasonably comparable from regardless of what manufacturer or cell phone.
Click to expand...
in some less "rich" countries, having and showing off a expensive smartphone is still sign of higher social status. When the basic salary is 200-300$ a month, possessing a 1000-2000$ smartphone is not something people ignores. People here already jumped on the Iphone 11 Max pro even if its price is almost equivalent to a motorbike (which is for most, the main affordable vehicle in S-E Asia).
 
  • Like
  • HaHa
Reactions: brambedkar59, [correlate], show-Zi and 6 others
Umbra said:
personally i expect better screen quality, more RAM, battery life and less heating. sometimes imagine a phone where the screen takes all the phone area, no notches or bazels. i even wish a camera hidden behind the screen (not even sure it is possible lol)



in some less "rich" countries, having and showing off a expensive smartphone is still sign of higher social status. When the basic salary is 200-300$ a month, possessing a 1000-2000$ smartphone is not something people ignores. People here already jumped on the Iphone 11 Max pro even if its price is almost equivalent to a motorbike (which is for most, the main affordable vehicle in S-E Asia).
Click to expand...

Yeah good point on the income thing.. It might be a big deal over there. Around these parts (USA), people have largely moved on from phones as any sort of status symbol or care. Just 5-6 years ago people used to talk about their phones, show them off, brag about them. I haven't seen this happen for a long time (several years).

I think the market has reached not only plateau, but it's dropping. I have no evidence of this other than to state it's what I noticed.. People not giving a hill of beans over phones anymore. Some people seem to be buying smaller, cheaper refurbs of previous generation ones. Burrito pointed out, the newer phone price points seem to be DROPPING now. Maybe that is the best indicator.

My phone holds several days of charge. Runs great. Has a nice camera, plenty of storage. Unless it dies, I am keeping it for as long as possible because I have no reason to upgrade. Same with the family.. We're good.. It used to be that we wanted new, expensive phones with every big release.. Glad those days are past!
 
  • Like
  • Wow
  • HaHa
Reactions: brambedkar59, [correlate], Nevi and 6 others
The market seems saturated, close to maxxed out. Nobody seems to be looking with envy at the next commuter's phone on the subway, each is looking at his/her own in rapt fascination. Unless there's a means under development to implant something in your skull and then have your own personal cloud following you around, what you see around you is the penultimate, most likely.

Folding phones I find gimmicky. Plus, it's somethng potentially more breakable and for a portable object costing 2 thousand USD, too risky for me to own. Now this I think would be a magnet for a robber on the train, moreso than regular phones.
 
  • Like
  • +Reputation
  • HaHa
Reactions: [correlate], Nevi, show-Zi and 3 others
Umbra said:
in some less "rich" countries, having and showing off a expensive smartphone is still sign of higher social status.
Click to expand...
I hope the weakening of the status signal also happens to education.

Umbra said:
in some less "rich" countries, having and showing off a expensive smartphone is still sign of higher social status.
Click to expand...
Defeats the point of a status signal if everyone has it.
 
  • Like
  • HaHa
Reactions: [correlate], Nevi, show-Zi and 3 others
I think the evolution will be mostly in the camera..Nearly all manufacturers build the phone around it...
Look at all the ads for new smartphones and the "sales pitch" is always geared towards the capabilities of the camera hardware
Nevertheless I wish we evolved back to this :p
 
  • Like
  • HaHa
  • Wow
Reactions: blackice, [correlate], oldschool and 3 others
venustus said:
I think the evolution will be mostly in the camera..Nearly all manufacturers build the phone around it...
Look at all the ads for new smartphones and the "sales pitch" is always geared towards the capabilities of the camera hardware
Nevertheless I wish we evolved back to this :p
Click to expand...

Just put it in your backpack, with room for nothing else! :D
 
  • HaHa
  • Like
Reactions: brambedkar59, [correlate], Nevi and 2 others
I have this but rarely use it anymore because I bought this.
If I have to shoot landscapes and need to blow it up to poster size then the Nikon is great..but now that happens only once in a blue moon..
petapixel.com

This Pro Tried to Shoot a Professional-Grade Timelapse on a Smartphone

Professional timelapse photographer Morten Rustad is used to chasing the ultimate image quality when he's working for clients like Sony or LG. He's used
petapixel.com petapixel.com

oldschool said:
Just put it in your backpack, with room for nothing else!
Click to expand...
Indeed :LOL: (y)
 
  • Like
Reactions: show-Zi, brambedkar59, Burrito and 2 others
The only thing I really would like is better sound quality. I tried buying the LG V30 because it should have a better DAC. It WAS better than most others but not much. Now I use an Iphone 8 with Audeze SINE headphones. They got their own DAC and DSP, and are planar magnetics. So now the sound quality reasonably good.:geek:
 
  • Like
Reactions: show-Zi, Protomartyr, brambedkar59 and 3 others

You may also like...