Why All Phones Look The Same

If you were around in the early days of cell phones, you’ll probably remember the iconic designs of the Motorola Razor, Sidekick, Pebble, LG chocolate, and stranger designs like the Samsung X830 or the Motorola V70.

There seemed to be an endless amount of unique phones to choose from. Each with their own unique operating system.But today, that’s all gone away. Almost every smartphone is a slab of glass with a large touchscreen without much any uniqueness or personality.

So what happened? Well, in short, the iPhone happened.

[tymnj]

Personally I think smartphones have reached a mature stage where more features are just additions rather than something that would blown everyone expectations nowadays.

[bushidorox]

The early 2010s were full of smartphones with distinct designs. The iPhone 4/5 era, Galaxy S3, the HTC One…and most of that ‘personality’ was in and around the bezels of the phone. The ‘indistinguishable glass slab’ really came into existence once we started moving towards borderless displays.

Ridding smartphones of bezels gave us larger screens, but that removed any remaining personality smartphones used to have.

[friendlybane]

It's the touchscreen. It killed buttons. And of course, there's not many ways to manufacture touchscreens, and not many manufacturers doing it, so you end up with similar looking devices.

[bluecherryreal]

Because it’s a good design and no point in changing it

[Sting_ray]

“Google made an operating system named Android”
Google didn’t make Android, they bought it in 2005.

[rarigate]

Kinda like how televisions look all the same now, since its technology reached its peak. People expect a phone redesign every single year, that's not how tech work.

[DefinitelyJustJJ]

In my opinion it wasn’t the original iPhone that caused the lack of uniqueness, but the iPhone X. Back in 2010-2016 there were still unique smartphones with different designs, but since the iPhone X and its screen to edge + notch design, every phone more or less looks the same now.

[IntegraDIY]

there were PDA’s with on screen qwerty keyboards way before the first iphone, they were running windows and looked very basic and sleek but were very powerful for the day

[kjooni]

Agree, when I first had my touch screen phone, because of nostalgia I still used my flip phone as a secondary for about 2-4 years until it died...even now I would still choose a flip or a keypad phone as a secondary...

[xenonsoftware]

Devices like the lg wing, surface duo and like you mentioned foldables are the step to the past and i love it thats why i love these devices so much

[SufyaanDewan]

2:22 was a reference to One and Only NOKIA

[ggwpBC]

One key detail, compatibility WASN'T the only drive factor. Screen size was. Pretty much nothing on a phone beats more screen size (as long as the total area of the phone is still manageable). Simply put, screen is content, it's where everything about the phone is. Mechanical keyboards are a tool to get information into the screen, but with touchscreen you can do always with it and add more screen. Home buttons are useful, but not necessary, so away with it for more screen. So on and so on. Even things that aren't necessarily physical objects in the phone, but concepts, lose to screen size: the original size of the iphone was meant to be easily navigated with one hand - today you need humongous hands to have full access to your phone's screen with your thumb.

[johnmilner]

I love the early 2010s because it was an era when tech companies were experimenting, and we still had verity and iconic names
Ex: Microsoft surface RT
Ex: Apple iPhone 5s
Ex: apple iPod classic
Ex: Microsoft Zune HD
Ex: Blackberry Bold
Ex: Samsung Galaxy Mega
I could go on...

[thecapone]

Absolutely loved the Motorola Razor. What a time to be alive. That being said, I loved the consistency in iPhones and not having to “re-learn” a whole new phone. I recently found my old phones from my early college days and I realized I had forgotten how to use them. My old iPhones, however, were very familiar to me. That sort of consistency just didn’t really exist back then. Same for MP3 players.

[anponmon]

Before it was hardware that mattered. Now phones are only differentiated through software only.

[llukem]

Kinda funny how the Apple Explained video starts with naming a bunch of old competing non-Apple phones from the 2000s lol.

[laurenslee]

I'm so old that I remember when a person had a beeper, it meant they were really important and successful. Then I recall the huge cell phone in a bag that people would carry around.
Now if you had *that* you were doing pretty, pretty well for yourself.

[dyrbhgdjdt]

It's because they are handheld computers that make phone calls. We've gotten to a point where most changes are where most people will never see..

[Gabriel_Strelow]

That's why I bought a Z Flip 6, and until now, my experience has been good. I know, it's less durable and resistant than a regular phone, but it's fun to use it. If you want to buy one, I would suggest for you to do so

[Thiaghotheeye]

Some were indestructible. Lmaoo Nokia 3310 😂