Smartphones Losing Life?

By Sonny Long

Smartphones getting “sexier,” more “svelte” is apparently what we want. We have a compulsive need to see our phones wither away on their sides as the fronts get longer, sleeker, and “sexier,” much like a different industry. While I do not have a smartphone (I know, how do I manage?), I have seen the change is present in the newest smartphones; they truly are getting to the point where, when turned on their sides, you can barely see them. Many are excited that their phones are no longer “bricks” because of this. I, too, am excited that this change is bringing about thinner peo- I mean phones.

But there is, as always, a catch: smaller phones mean smaller batteries. And, of course, you can guess what that means: shorter time in between charges for the phones. We obviously have made great strides toward longer life in batteries as time goes on. We can even make do with smaller batteries, while still increasing the life of them. However, the point still remains, bigger batteries means longer lives. There will always be a trade-off in that category, even when our phones can go a year in between charges. We can either pick going two years and having a “brick” for a phone, or going six months and have a sleek, svelte phone.

Given the options, I would like to think I would be humble enough to pick the longer battery life in exchange for the vanity of a nicer-looking phone. However, not having a smartphone does not give me the insight to determine whether or not I would truly pick that. It has been determined that it would be suicide for a cell phone company to make a slightly larger phone in exchange for a little bit longer life because we would only hear that first part and tune out to the second because of our vanity, even in our phones.

But the question still remains: is it healthy, as a society, for our phones to wither away like this? Surely the insides of them are close to barren, meaning we are losing quality for a slightly better look on the outside, which, of course, is not everyone’s opinion. Some like the look of a slightly bigger, more bodacious phone. Some may even say that they have more to offer, that what’s on the inside is what counts after all.

So, given your options, which would you pick? Some more junk in the trunk or, perhaps you would be vain enough to choose the thinner, less healthy option? It is, after all, just a matter of opinion and perception.

Leave your thoughts below and check out other articles and short stories by Sonny Long here. And, as always, thanks for reading and stick around for more.