[ninjaap]

5-7" cellphones? 7-9" tablets/PCs? It's like we did a complete 180 and heading back to the 80's and end up right where we started. I remember in the 90's it was a race to make the smallest cellphone and the largest PC screens. Now people want Zack Morris sized phones and PC screens that you can't do any real work on. What happened??? I should have cellphone chip implanted into my skull and a wall in my home that doubles as a PC by now. But nooooooo... people are forcing technology backwards.

[HeyCori]

Don't worry, we're gonna come full circle.

[ninjaap]

Don't worry, we're gonna come full circle.

http://i.imgur.com/bOfs28v.jpg

We came really close to that size! Remember the Pantech and Motorola Vader phone?

[3earnhardt3]

Grass is always greener on the other side. Once everyone goes big screen and pant pockets turn into man purses things will switch back to small.

[ninjaap]

Greaaaaat... Now there's a Nokia Phablet? This reminds me of the 90s when everyone was buying SUVs and Hummers. What a waste of space and gas. It still had the same amount of passenger space as a regular sedan.

[tgp]

It's not perplexing at all. A decade ago we didn't have smartphones. Mobile phones were devices to be used for calling, and texting was becoming popular as well. We only needed the screen to read a phone number, or a <140 character SMS. Manufacturers therefore made the devices as small as possible. Today, we use the screen. The more real estate the better (to a point).

[ninjaap]

That's a good point. With a smartphone. I wouldn't want anything below 4", but I don't wat anything above 4.5". I guess this is my sweet spot. I'm just worried that "high end" or "flagship" phone is going to equate to phablets. I don't want to get stuck with a mid range 4.5" phone. And seriously, I want a 17" tablet.

[a5cent]

5-7" cellphones? 7-9" tablets/PCs? It's like we did a complete 180 and heading back to the 80's and end up right where we started. I remember in the 90's it was a race to make the smallest cellphone and the largest PC screens. Now people want Zack Morris sized phones and PC screens that you can't do any real work on. What happened??? I should have cellphone chip implanted into my skull and a wall in my home that doubles as a PC by now. But nooooooo... people are forcing technology backwards.

So completely agree. Consumer buying habits are throwing us back 20 years. Battery life is a similar issue...

I am thankful to Apple for one thing... at least they stopped the downward spiral in monitor quality. IPS panels and high resolution displays would otherwise have completely disappeared from the consumer space had Apple not "educated" people.

[gsquared]

Still waiting on the first Borg to appear so I can go send it straight to hell...

[ninjaap]

Still waiting on the first Borg to appear so I can go send it straight to hell...

That's where google glass is headed. Kill that tech now!

[In Limbo]

Dang it! You beat me to it jerk! :)
BLUE STEEL!!!

[medway01]

I hope we dont go back to the early mobile phone days, brick sized white boxes with pull out antennas and a cart to pull the batttey around. It seems that while the circuit boards and chips are becomng smaller, the screens are increasing in size, if it carries on this way, soon the actual phone will fit inside your ear but the screens going to be on wheels !
You know those days are getting closer when people start to ask you if your pleased to see them or is that a phone on your pocket

[ninjaap]

Dang it! You beat me to it jerk! :)
BLUE STEEL!!!

LOL you weren't the only one thinking it.

[ninjaap]

I hope we dont go back to the early mobile phone days, brick sized white boxes with pull out antennas and a cart to pull the batttey around. It seems that while the circuit boards and chips are becomng smaller, the screens are increasing in size, if it carries on this way, soon the actual phone will fit inside your ear but the screens going to be on wheels !
You know those days are getting closer when people start to ask you if your pleased to see them or is that a phone on your pocket

Hopefully, they com out with flexible OLED screens several manufacturers (mostly TV) have been showing off the last few years. I wouldn't mind an 8" (as an example) screen that can fold down to a 4" screen. Anyone remember these concepts im referring too? Nokia and I believe MS released YouTube videos with similar ideas.

[N_LaRUE]

I hardly think that the new technology today is going backwards. It's meeting the demand of high resolution screens while providing a reasonable size to view media. The old mobile phones you are referring to were not smartphones. The smartphone was originally a combination of PDA and mobile phone technology. No PDA was small otherwise it would have been useless. You can still buy small mobile phones but don't expect much from them other than calling, texting, camera and maybe, if you're lucky, email.

My hope is with the new flexible technologies that are emerging and the thiner electronics that are being developed we'll return to more compact but powerful devices, maybe even with adjustable screens sizes instead of fixed. Keep in mind we're still at the very early stages of this technology and a lot has been done in a short time if you think about it.

[martinmc78]

Give it another 10 years and we will be going small again and using 3d holographic projectors to consume our media.