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233 sats \ 1 reply \ @TwoLargePizzas 6 Mar \ on: Why Hasn’t Anyone Made a Durable Phone? tech
Although some people use these words interchangeably I think there needs to be a distinction between 'durability' and 'longevity'.
Durability refers to the ability to withstand damage. I would argue the market demand for durability has mostly been satisfied. Most people don't need military grade strength in their phone and for those that do there are phone cases that meet this need. In other words, there's not a lot of market demand for a more durable phone.
Longevity is a very different beast. If we compare the iPhone 1 to the latest iPhone 15 or whatever, there's a distinct difference in hardware capability. Back in 2007 it wouldn't have even been possible to make or even anticipate what phones would be in 2024. Even if they tried making a modular & upgradable phone they most likely would've got it wrong and it would've been significantly more expensive. In other words, not economically viable.
These days the difference between phone generations has largely stagnated. I think we can all agree the difference between the iPhone 14 and 15 is minimal at best. But the question then becomes, what is the market demand for a phone that lasts a decade? Maybe there is a market for something like this now. I don't really know. I personally wouldn't be placing my bets there but who knows, maybe somebody will.
Good points, I think that Longevity has already been achieved (mostly), albeit not intentionally.
Basically people want phones for 4 main task: Comms, GPS, Camera, and Web. The current crop of phones do that very well. I'll be honest with you, I just had to check what model phone I even have....turns out its an iPhone 11...
This is very analogous to the growth path of the PC desktop. It used to be (80s, 90s) that people upgraded desktops every few years. Articles used to be written highlighting the upcoming features of next years models which the public eagerly waited on...each new model seemed to bring massive capacity improvements that resulted in real-world benefits....then around mid 00's the real world benefits of any additional improvement stopped being meaningful: Does it send emails? Does it browse the web? Does it have a spreadsheet?
Phones are basically a solved problem and outside of a few niche usecases there is no real pressing need to upgrade. In fact I would go one step further and say you should basically buy used phones from here on out....a lightly used Phone (in which you've let someone else take the depreciation hit).
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