Google Pixel Fold • Hacker News Board

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#111

Post by kimbernator » Wed, May 10, 2023, 11:00 PM UTC

atourgates wrote: post #21

manningthegoose wrote: post #9

I just don't understand who wants these foldable phones, especially at the $1799 price point. I guess a use case is wealthy frequent travelers who don't want a separate device with a larger screen to watch movies/videos on the go? Someone help me out here.

It's more than the price of a nice smartphone, and a nice tablet. An iPhone 14 and iPad Pro are gonna' run you $1,600, and be more useful in most cases. I mean, sure, you're not going to fit an iPad in your pocket, but do you really need to? And when it's out, it's more productive to have a separate tablet and phone, than just one device that's trying to do it all. Folding phones are a neat idea, and as a technical a…

These things always cost more at first, so I agree that it's "overpriced" for the value it brings. That said, I think the practicality is that it provides all of the value of a phone and a tablet in a single device that fits in your pocket. It's a fairly large leap in the ever-growing list of other devices that smartphones are replacing.

I also like to think that long-term maybe they will have the ability to fold out along more than one dimension and potentially be dramatically larger than this, but that's just dreaming at this point.

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#112

Post by ergocoder » Wed, May 10, 2023, 11:00 PM UTC

retskrad wrote: post #19

Why is Google still making Pixel devices? They have made them since 2016 and spent billions of R&D and ads and it has only reached like 1-2% market share in the US.

They make it as a strategic move to push other makers to do better. That is why they only make the top tier one with the top price.

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#113

Post by micromacrofoot » Wed, May 10, 2023, 11:00 PM UTC

manningthegoose wrote: post #9

I just don't understand who wants these foldable phones, especially at the $1799 price point. I guess a use case is wealthy frequent travelers who don't want a separate device with a larger screen to watch movies/videos on the go? Someone help me out here.

tech workers making $250k a year

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#114

Post by kccqzy » Wed, May 10, 2023, 11:01 PM UTC

dzink wrote: post #94

jefftk wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Pixel 6 and later phones will get updates for at least 5 years from when the device first became available on the Google Store in the US." -- https://support.google.com/nexus/answer/4457705?hl=en#zippy=...

That should be 5 years from when you buy it. Planned obsolescence is not worth the same price as a product that will last 10 years.

The year is 2023. Who is still using an iPhone from 2013?

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#115

Post by thaumasiotes » Wed, May 10, 2023, 11:01 PM UTC

deltree7 wrote: post #105

sidfthec wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you use your phone an average of 5 hours a day for two years and then throw it in a junk drawer the hardware would cost less than 50cents per hour of use. I don't understand this type of justification. My fridge would cost around $65k for a 15 year lifetime at $0.50/hour. It just seems like a completely meaningless way to judge the value of something.

You'd pay double the price for double the fridge capacity (if doubling your capacity serves useful purpose for you) You'd pay double the price for double the screen size (if more screen size serves a useful purpose to you) It's really not that hard of a concept to grasp.

Do you often buy the same product in different sizes?

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#116

Post by kccqzy » Wed, May 10, 2023, 11:03 PM UTC

retskrad wrote: post #19

Why is Google still making Pixel devices? They have made them since 2016 and spent billions of R&D and ads and it has only reached like 1-2% market share in the US.

When Google cancels a product people complain. When Google doesn't cancel a product, people still complain.

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#117

Post by ianbutler » Wed, May 10, 2023, 11:04 PM UTC

manningthegoose wrote: post #9

I just don't understand who wants these foldable phones, especially at the $1799 price point. I guess a use case is wealthy frequent travelers who don't want a separate device with a larger screen to watch movies/videos on the go? Someone help me out here.

I'm never going back. I only type and respond to things unfolded, I have big hands and the split keyboard + bigger buttons are great. Outside of that I'm a fairly big reader and I enjoy reading both articles and books unfolded and have no interest in bringing a second device to do so.

I also write notes with stylus on it which is practical unfolded. More real estate for video etc. And then I can just fold it and use it as a phone for calls.

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#118

Post by elorant » Wed, May 10, 2023, 11:06 PM UTC

1,8k. Yeah, right. For doing what exactly? Watching videos? I'd rather take a tablet, and a phone and still have money in the pocket. I just don't see the use case for these things. Microsoft also produced a foldable device and it tanked.

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#119

Post by gowld » Wed, May 10, 2023, 11:06 PM UTC

gibspaulding wrote: post #82

shrimp_emoji wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Google has a history of dropping support for the devices they sell quickly They do? Aren't Pixels some of the longest-supported phones, security update wise? Their IoT and software services might be another story.

Typing this on a Pixel 2a running Android 12. It is out of support now, but that's not too shabby for a $300 phone from 2017.

You shouldn't have to put yourself at risk like that.

Re: Google Pixel Fold

#120

Post by Jeff_Brown » Wed, May 10, 2023, 11:07 PM UTC

DiabloD3 wrote: post #95

Yikes. Google hasn't magically figured out how to fix the problem with the screens failing after a few hundred bends; neither has Samsung, which is most likely their display supplier. On top of that, there is no viable market for a phone over $1200 (and, arguably, no market for over $1000, ask Apple how their sales have been going down since the peak in 2015); what were they even thinking? This is ridiculous even for…

A few hundred?! That's like a week of use. Does that happen a lot? Do we have a way of estimating the average number of folds a user can expect before failure?