When Tim Cook stepped out on stage to announce the new $1,000 iPhone X, complete
with infrared cameras and a speedy new processor, I thought back to a conversation I had with a friend last year. "It's not just a phone, it's a tool, a sophisticated computer," he said, waving around a then-new iPhone 7. "Don't you want to have the most powerful computer you can always at your disposal?"
No, not really.
I sigh in relief whenever my phone dies, freeing my mind from the constant din and rattle of social media and internet news, if only for a few hours. I can happily geek out all day about the strange and fascinating mechanics of human-powered submarines or NASA's Cassini mission to Saturn, but iterative improvements to smartphone processors put me to sleep. I'll glaze over immediately if someone so much as mentions "hand feel" or "haptic feedback."
I use my phone—a workmanlike and unremarkable Huawei Honor 6X—for a few practical purposes: reading the news, listening to music, keeping track of work, and texting/e-mailing people. I also set an alarm now and then, or even use it for reminders if I am feeling ambitious.
My phone.
Jay Bennett
To handle these tasks, my phone is perfect. For one, it can take a beating. My phone is covered in dents and scratches from dropping it on the pavement, no case, and the screen has held up just fine. Besides, when your phone costs less than $200 on Amazon, you don't have to worry too much about an accident. It's no beautiful work of technological art or design minimalism, but it doesn't have to be. It's a beast and I'm not afraid to scratch or drop it. How's that for a feature?
What's more, the Honor 6X's battery lasts virtually forever. I can wake up at 7 a.m., grab my phone, and count on it to keep a charge for a good 36 hours, until 7 p.m. the following night. Perhaps that's because of all the features it lacks. Its processor is not particularly fast. Its camera is not particularly good. It's not particularly slim or attractive. But it works.
RELATED STORY
It's Never Been a Worse Time To Upgrade Your Phone
The smartphone, and particularly the iPhone, is perhaps the greatest invention of our time. The widespread availability of handheld computers has transformed the way we navigate, communicate, and even the way we think. But that's broadly true whether the smartphone is a brand new, glass-encased slate of $1,000 consumer tech glory—or a beat up junker with old tech that is one fifth the cost. Not to mention there hasn't been a transformative innovation to the smartphone in years.
Some scuffs on my phone.
Jay Bennett
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
New phones will get smaller, or bigger, a bit faster, and of course they will come with more and/or better cameras. You can dunk some of them in water now, too. But more and more, smartphones lean on sleek design and the aura of innovation—the idea that unless your selfies are composed in magical "Portrait Mode" thanks to your phone's depth-sensing camera, you're just not living your best life. The iPhone is the Rolex of our generation: It will do a damn good job telling you the time, but it's mostly about lifestyle status and sex appeal. Except you don't have to upgrade your Rolex every two years.
Why don't we have logical upgrades made to these increasingly pricey products, the most important objects we carry with us every day? Why did we lose replaceable batteries in favor of bezel-less displays? Well, let's look at some of the wisdom Tim Cook imparted last year to Jim Cramer of CNBC's "Mad Money," just before the release of the iPhone 7:
TIM COOK: We've got great innovation in the pipeline, new iPhones that will incent you and other people that have iPhones today to upgrade to new iPhones.
JIM CRAMER: I will need something else?
TIM COOK: You will need something else.
JIM CRAMER: I can't think of something else that I need.
TIM COOK: But we are going to give you things that you can't live without that you just don't know you need today.
There's nothing you can't accomplish with a little demand creation.
Some day, I'm sure a tech visionary will come up with the next disruptive idea, and the most significant invention of our generation will leap forward again. Maybe when it can clean your bathroom or go into the office when you'd rather stay in bed.
Until then, I'll stick to my beater of a phone, because it's more than enough to get the job done.
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/a28143/i-love-my-completely-average-phone/
