Foldable Phone

Yesterday, Samsung released a foldable version of its phone. It’s clever in the sense that it diverges from other form factors on the market and introduces something new. It’s also set at a price point but gives enough margin to Samsung to feed its R & D engine.

Personally, I don’t want one. I would see myself using the outer cover most of the time and the inside only occasionally. It’s also not clear how it feels. Will I be concerned that I’ll tear off one end if I open it too hard. This is one of those devices that needs to be tried before commitment. The ergonomics are going to be a factor in that decision.

It will also be interesting to see what applications, especially those with a voice, will be usable in the open vs. closed setting. Mic orientation oil change with both.

However, this device reminds me of the computer book from Inspector Gadget. Gadget’s niece, penny, would use this computer book for looking up information and having video chats with Brain, a dog. There was a benefit to having a lot of real estate to communicate and look up information at the same time.

Who knows? Maybe we’ll see multi-paged tablets in the next few years.