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by georgeecollins 1465 days ago
I used to have a Newton, I tried developing for it in college. It was terrible but I learned so much from it. It was one of those things where everybody had to tell you how dumb you were to have it or use it. I had a similar experience with smart watches and believe it or not the first generation Samsung Note. I remember someone telling me I was ridiculous to have such a "big phone".

I don't know which thing will work out and which won't, but people telling you why they won't or will never use it is not that meaningful to me. I have seen too many things in my life that people say they will never use become quite common. I have always had my best successes on new technologies so I am always rooting for people trying to create new hardware.

FWIW I love my Quest 2 and use it every day. Your mileage will vary.

2 comments

I have one of those big phones with 6inch+ screen (they're pretty mainstream these days) and I wish I had something smaller. Hard af to use with single hand and screen is still pretty small for comfortably reading anything or consuming media (you have to hold it very close to your face for too long to be comfortable). Wish I had bought something cheaper and smaller and gotten a tablet with the extra money I saved. I'm buying a tablet anyways now.
Frankly I'd pay out the nose for a flagship phone with a 16:10 screen like the original Note.
The Note4 was the best phone I ever had as it had: 1. Large screen 2. Didn't really need a case as it didnt have curved glass 3. had a plastic back with texturing for grip / metal frame 4. Easily replacable battery, could pop off the back in a second. 5. Sd card 6. The pen was cool

When I say it it didn't need a case, I dropped that phone many times, and the screen never cracked due to the metal rim. In the end as os update bricked it. Went to an s8 which was slippery as could be, with its glass back. Cracked both sides and short order, and from there on out I've needed a bulky case to wrap my delicate flower of a phone.. Damn.

I am in complete agreement. My Note 4 had by far the best smartphone display I've ever used. 2560x1440 with zero screen wasted on camera or navigation buttons. I keep mine in a display cabinet and every few months take it out and enjoy just how huge the screen looks despite the fact I can hold it vertically in one hand. Dropping a spare battery in my pocket for a day hike when I'm going to run the GPS for hours. MHL giving me lag-free HDMI-out with charging. True mass-storage USB mode where I can copy files and navigate the folder structure at the same time. I used mine until the screen was so yellow it looked like I dipped it in popcorn grease.
In 2015, Huawei had the Honor X2, a 7 inch, 16:10 screen phone.

I'd happily buy one again if it had modern specs.

https://m.gsmarena.com/huawei_mediapad_x2-7075.php

That's a 20:9 display and an SoC that was hot garbage when it was new two years ago.