Also, just for the record, some carriers in Japan are offering financing that gives you the option of paying over 48 months and Apple offers 36 months. Is that quite absurd to most people? Absolutely, but for the average person who wants a bigger screen sometimes, the cost is not even going up much on a monthly basis.
For the record, especially in Japan, folio cases where you open your phone like a book are already the default. Effectively most people on the train have their phone open in some "Duo-ish" form-factor already. So the jump from a folio case to a folding phone is already substantially lower.
Obviously the gimmick nature of folding is not the compelling reason why people want folding phones. The question is more about tradeoffs, and I think that especially in asia, the demand for folding phones is quite obvious: upgrade your primary PC to have a huge display when you want it that way, otherwise it stays compact enough to be with you all the time.
[–] crote 4 days ago
[–] Melatonic 3 days ago
[–] cheesecakegood 4 days ago
[–] Exoristos 2 days ago
[–] dymk 3 days ago
[–] stasomatic 3 days ago
I would argue that this is an attractive selling point for tech enthusiasts, but most people aren't going to care.
But people camped out at my Aventura Apple Store in Miami at 8PM the previous day. Not a nerd hub really.
[–] SenHeng 3 days ago
[–] dpark 3 days ago
[–] expedition32 3 days ago
HN just really hates mobiles and unironically goes to amazon.com rather than using the damn app.
[–] pjmlp 2 days ago
[–] officeplant 17 hours ago
Well yes because I will never install a shopping app, fast food app, travel app, hotel app, the list goes on.
[–] rk06 4 days ago
maybe it is not the culture in India (where i live). but it looks financially irresponsible. if you need a laptop and can't afford it, buy a second hand laptop instead. iphone duo can't replace a laptop in first place.
[–] decafninja 3 days ago
I'm sure there are people who fall into the financially irresponsible category, but these days there are many people who find zero use for having a laptop and have no desire for one at all.
[–] decafninja 3 days ago
Also it's not just a cost or affordability matter. Some people who can easily afford a top of the line laptop and/or tablet simply do not want one. They want one device to do all their computing needs from.
Most of my friends who are not in tech are like this, as is my wife. None of them have personal laptops at home. Few even have tablets.
[–] QuiEgo 3 days ago
[–] bradknowles 1 day ago
For me, I have two personal laptops, one of which I use more as a server in the house (MacBook Pro M3 Max). The other one is my actual primary laptop (MacBook Air M5), but I don’t use it that much, either. I only use my laptop(s) when I’m doing things involving creation of content, such as writing or deep research, etc…. The iPad gets used for all content consumption at home, but doesn’t typically go outside the house. The iPhone gets used for calls, inside or outside of the house. And the iPhone is what gets taken with me when I’m outside of the house, both for occasional content consumption while I’m waiting somewhere, as well as navigation and call purposes. I’m probably closer to 90% iPad, and 9% iPhone and 1% laptop.
I think the patterns for many people are similar. Content consumption doesn’t typically get done on computers anymore. That’s for tablets and phones. Many people don’t do much in the way of creation anymore, and if they do, then it’s probably on resources provided by work.
Or, it’s video content creation where the tools on phones and tablets are sufficient for the majority of amateur or social media videos. And social media sites are all about keeping you consuming content for as long as they can, where creating content is neither necessary nor really desired. They want your attention on all those ads they’re selling against you as their captive inventory of eyeballs.
[–] krustyburger 1 day ago
[–] SenHeng 3 days ago
[–] dpark 3 days ago
I sometimes pull out my phone for the calculator rather than use the calculator app on my laptop. I can’t justify it as logical.
[–] piltdownman 3 days ago
[–] bradknowles 1 day ago
I do sometimes break out the terminal and use `bc -l` to do some math, when I’m doing other things on the laptop. But if I could get a version of the “42” app for my laptop, I would be a much happier puppy.
[–] Terretta 1 day ago
On the splash page, check the calculator 'tab', or the docs it links to: https://documentation.soulver.app/syntax-reference/general (see left hand nav for categories of calcs).
See what's new in v4 for an idea of higher level capabilities (these are just new ones): https://documentation.soulver.app/whats-new-in-soulver-4
[–] MBCook 3 days ago
If I’m not doing programming or 3D modeling, I generally don’t use my laptop. It doesn’t seem worth the trouble of getting it. I can do the vast, vast majority of what I want on my phone, faster, because it’s already right there.
If I’m reading more or researching more, I pull out my iPad for the bigger screen.
But over the last decade, I’ve realized those two take care of the vast majority of my needs.
[–] decafninja 3 days ago
Most of my consumption happens on my iPad at home and while traveling, and my iPhone when on the move (such as commuting).
[–] MBCook 3 days ago
I spend all day on the computer. Unless I have some specific project I’m really interested in I’ve already had plenty of “computer time“ for the day and don’t feel that draw.
It still made sense before the smart phone, or when my phone it iPad couldn’t cover my needs well. These days that’s not a problem.
[–] lbreakjai 3 days ago
It's not even a screen size issue. I couldn't imagine diving into anything remotely serious without being able to open a new tab and search a specific term/concept/fact in a quarter of a second, without having to fight the autocorrect at every step of the process.
[–] floydnoel 1 day ago
[–] lbreakjai 1 day ago
[–] bradknowles 1 day ago
Your biggest problem in this space is trying to figure out which ones are good for you and which ones are not.
[–] floydnoel 23 hours ago
[–] loehnsberg 4 days ago
[–] bradknowles 1 day ago
Yes, the larger screen is nice, but portability is key. The foldable devices can do both.
For myself, I’m not even going to consider them until they are much more robust. When they get to the point where Zack on JerryRigEverything can’t easily break them, then I might consider the idea. Not until then.
Carrier financing doesn't make this go away. It's still a $60/month plan vs a $100+/month one. You're paying significantly more to have a worse primary compute device. For most people, that's going to be a rather hard sell.
The only benefit is that you have it on you at all times. I would argue that this is an attractive selling point for tech enthusiasts, but most people aren't going to care.