I think most smartphones look the same and have for a while.<p>Meanwhile the tech related media's obsession with dramatically overstating the importance of small aesthetic differences like millimeters of bezel strikes me as lazy and annoying.<p>As far as smartphones go all I want to know is if it works, how new features work, and the impossible to find... good app recommendations (I've stopped looking for those).
Speaking of ugly; that consent form which forces my language to be region locked to my geoip'd location (instead of taking my language from my Accept-Language headers) and offering no way to opt out than I can find is quite ugly.
This is an incredibly silly article.<p>> And amazingly, due to being made of actual metal, the more drops an SE survives, the cooler it looks<p>Is steel not real metal anymore?
The author bemoans the notch on the iPhone saying we'd all like to be rid of it and that edge to edge screens are frustrating. He then goes on to complain that the Samsung has bezels.
<i>>If they removed the notch, literally no one would want the version with the notch, because it’s so plainly and universally undesirable.</i><p>Are we talking about a magical scenario where they have figured out how the minimise all of the hardware in the notch so that there's virtually no bezel on top? Or about a scenario where they take away the notch and all of the hardware in it? Because I'm not exactly sure how the sales pitch for an iPhone 11 without Face ID, proximity sensor, ambient light sensor, speaker or front-facing camera would go. And if they just deleted the notch by making it a regular bezel, I don't think that would be a sales hit either. <i>"The all new iPhone 11 - now without selfies!"</i><p>A hypothetical either-or scenario where the other scenario has literally no drawback is a pretty dumb one. And as far as I can tell, that's exactly what this argument is. It's like saying that no one would buy an iPhone with a 3000 mAh battery if they could get a 6000 mAh in the same packaging. But if you introduce another variable, like the iPhone being as thick as the Nokia 3310, or 5% of shipped phones catching on fire, then someone might actually go for the 3000 mAh.
<i>“That’s probably enough about Apple. They forgot about good design a long time ago”</i><p>A few years ago it was anathema to say this, even as a designer yourself — how could you even think of beginning to criticize Apple?! But now people and the press are coming to terms with reality.<p>I honestly don't understand how they can fail so badly with the bazillion dollars at their disposal (MacBook keyboards, phone notches and bumps, mouse charging port underneath, the power pack for phones... etc., etc., not to mention software issues). It's mind-numbing and such a disappointment that they greenlight blatant mistakes and proceed on to selling them for an embarrassing premium.<p>Apple made a huge ton of cash since <insert major event>, coasting on their hard-won reputation's inertia; but there's a reckoning coming if they don't sort their internal mess. Virtually any major tech is miles and leaps beyond in almost every respect, except profitability. For how long, though?
The looks of recent iPhones/Pixels/Samsungs are what make me even more of a fan of Sony's smartphone designs than I already am.<p>The Xperia 1 for example: <a href="https://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-1/" rel="nofollow">https://www.sonymobile.com/global-en/products/phones/xperia-...</a><p>It has a clean, simple look. Three cameras, but they're understated in positioning. No notch, just a small balanced bezel on the top and bottom. A side-mounted fingerprint scanner (where your thumb/ring finger/middle finger naturally rests). A simple, flat display with only very slightly rounded corners.<p>Sony has been acing smartphone design for years, by simply doing their own thing and not jumping head first into every trend. I wish they did better on marketing and software, because hardware-wise they're killing it. They deserve to be more popular.
I feel like if we wouldn't obsess over aesthetics, the gadget market would be a better place. Something similar goes for software too, in my opinion.<p>However, I'm slowly learning that wishful thinking and complaining detracts from the reality of things, like current needs that people have, and the subtle trends that lead to this phenomenon: things that you can easily render yourself blind to if you go around rejecting what you don't like.<p>That said, I do feel confused and at odds with the state of things in this time and place. I can't say that I have a firm understanding of the average consumer who is targeted by these products. I'd like to feel more connected with the different segments of the market. I suspect that a lot of people feel this way, but we may not be the most vocal of groups.
I think about this how I think about insects: you can call them ugly, but it's the best form for the job (ecological niche).<p>So yeah, today's phones aren't what you'd call "conventionally beautiful industrial design", but I'd rather have an ugly phone than one which compromises on features.<p>Here on HN, lots of people complain how Apple sacrifices ports and battery life on their laptops to make them "prettier", but apparently ugly Apple phones which don't compromise aren't loved either. You can't win whatever you do.
Sometimes form just has to follow function and there's nothing any industrial designer can do about it. Look at the Red cameras that revolutionised digital cinema. Many would claim they are ugly.
I’ve never liked the iPhone 6-style curved edges. Fortunately the rumor mill suggests next year’s models will adopt a style similar to the 4/5/SE series, like the current iPads Pro.
you mean the new Philips shaver?<p><a href="https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/09/20/12/18714154-7485701-Another_put_an_electric_razor_head_on_to_his_older_mobile_pictur-m-61_1568978588575.jpg" rel="nofollow">https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2019/09/20/12/18714154-7485701-...</a>