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New This "thinness über alles!" meme that's infected every IT hardware designer's brain is such utter BS
...we'd need a huge headphone bump! We decided it was more important to have a beautiful full-screen display in a thin device
What the fuck do I care if a phone is 11.8 mm thiCk in stead of 9.9 mm? Does that extra oh-so-humongous 1.9 mm make it impossible to pocket the device, or what?

Same thing with laptops; my late-2016 MacBook Pro is some 2 mm thinner than my old late-2014 one. The older one was actually nicer to carry; this new one, I'm not sure if it has sharper edges, or if it is so thin that it in effect is a sharper edge.

Sure, there is some level until which it is useful to work to make stuff thinner. That level is probably somewhere around half-an-inch, a-centimeter-and-a-half for laptops; three-eights-of-an-inch, a centimeter for phones. Anything thinner than that is just competitive BS for its own sake.
--
Christian R. Conrad
Same old username (as above), but now on iki.fi

(Yeah, yeah, it redirects to the same old GMail... But just in case I ever want to change.)
Expand Edited by CRConrad Sept. 19, 2017, 03:48:38 AM EDT
New Yeahbut...
Mass costs money. Making the phones the minimum size to do the job makes sense from an efficiency point of view.

And carrying around a < 3# laptop is much more pleasant than one that weighs 5+#.

But, agreed, it shouldn't be the primary driver for new hardware.

Where are our 10 GHz desktop CPUs?!?!

Cheers,
Scott.
New But, a sharp-edged 1.83kg laptop vs a 2.02 kg rounder one is a wash... Or a win for the heavier one.
And to the extent that the added mass is more battery, many of us are prepared to pay for it. To the extent that it is just more (because bigger) housing, I'd guess that's (more than?) offset by expense saved from not having to design everything else to fit into that last smidgeon more-cramped space.

So, nope, I don't believe there's really much -- if any -- genuine valid technical reason for it; it's probably all or almost all about the bullshit "mine is thinner than yours!" bragging rights.
--
Christian R. Conrad
Same old username (as above), but now on iki.fi

(Yeah, yeah, it redirects to the same old GMail... But just in case I ever want to change.)
New Heh.
My work laptop is a Dell Latitude E7470. About 1.4kg. Many ports (3x USB, HDMI, MiniDP, SD). Long battery. 1080p screen. Neat little docking station. Nice keyboard.

Pretty sweet.

And no sharp edges.
New Re: Yeahbut...
The real "thin" bullshit is that applied to the iMac.

A desktop computer.

It was already too thin. It could be made fully serviceable from the back by making it 25mm or so thicker and getting rid of that dumb-ass taper, and no-one would care. It would not impact its usability or aesthetics in any negative way. You wouldn't even know, when you were sat in front of it.
New Boy, you don't understand Mac users
It's not what it looks like to me when I'm sitting in front of it. It's what I look like to everyone else when they're looking at me using it.
--

Drew
New Such cynicism in one so...
...oh, wait :)
New I beat you to that one (IOW Yes, that exactly)
--

Drew
New Yeah, but I *thought* of it long before that.
;-)
New Did you think of it before smartphones?
What was that one that pre-dates the iPhone ... I think it was Motorola, super-thin, everyone was copying it.

Heh, goes to show how long things last. It was the phone with the most buzz for several years, now I can't even remember the name or find it in an image search.
--

Drew
New Razr?
That whole trend was lampooned in Zoolander:

Regards,
-scott
Welcome to Rivendell, Mr. Anderson.
New J loved her StarTac flip phone.
Small, decent battery life (and easy to change batteries). I think she had about 4 of them before she got her first iPhone.

The only real problem with it as a phone was that the flexible printed wires connecting the two halves would eventually fail.

Cheers,
Scott.
New Yup, Razr
This just keeps getting better. I saw that when I was searching, but I remembered it being much thinner than that. So a phone that looks kind of chunky today, when it was new I thought it was too thin.
--

Drew
New I had a keychain phone
Not quite that small, but close. Same exact design.
New Motorola RAZR, 2003.
ETA: 130 million of the things sold.
Expand Edited by pwhysall Sept. 19, 2017, 10:58:06 AM EDT
     New Pixel phones on October 4. - (Another Scott) - (47)
         I've seen some amusing butthurt from Fandroids about the TRRS jack - (malraux) - (46)
             I have a different theory - (pwhysall) - (45)
                 The Essential apparently has a solution to this problem. - (Another Scott) - (31)
                     This "thinness über alles!" meme that's infected every IT hardware designer's brain is such utter BS - (CRConrad) - (14)
                         Yeahbut... - (Another Scott) - (5)
                             But, a sharp-edged 1.83kg laptop vs a 2.02 kg rounder one is a wash... Or a win for the heavier one. - (CRConrad) - (1)
                                 Heh. - (pwhysall)
                             Re: Yeahbut... - (pwhysall) - (2)
                                 Boy, you don't understand Mac users - (drook) - (1)
                                     Such cynicism in one so... - (pwhysall)
                         I beat you to that one (IOW Yes, that exactly) - (drook) - (7)
                             Yeah, but I *thought* of it long before that. -NT - (CRConrad) - (6)
                                 Did you think of it before smartphones? - (drook) - (5)
                                     Razr? - (malraux) - (3)
                                         J loved her StarTac flip phone. - (Another Scott)
                                         Yup, Razr - (drook)
                                         I had a keychain phone - (crazy)
                                     Motorola RAZR, 2003. - (pwhysall)
                     Re: The Essential apparently has a solution to this problem. - (pwhysall)
                     Geez, I just noticed this - (drook) - (14)
                         Heh. - (Another Scott) - (13)
                             Too true! - (drook) - (12)
                                 Evolution didn't "design" the headphone jack... - (Another Scott) - (11)
                                     Apple patent blocked Magsafe-like connectors for years - (drook)
                                     *Good* reasons? Do tell. -NT - (pwhysall) - (8)
                                         Heh. You know the reasons. - (Another Scott) - (7)
                                             No, I don't. - (pwhysall) - (6)
                                                 Licensing aside, something like Magsafe - (drook) - (2)
                                                     Yeah, but that's not a thing, is it? - (pwhysall) - (1)
                                                         You said "better", not "available" - (drook)
                                                 We won't be using 3.5 mm jacks in 50 years. - (Another Scott) - (2)
                                                     Micro-USB is a bad comparison - (drook) - (1)
                                                         Everything in that post is a bad comparison - (pwhysall)
                                     Will second the snark re phrase, "good reasons" ;^> - (Ashton)
                 Waterproofing would have made the jack even bigger. - (malraux) - (12)
                     You must not run - (drook) - (11)
                         Nope. - (malraux) - (7)
                             Just to make sure I understand ... - (drook) - (3)
                                 No. - (malraux) - (2)
                                     Recommendation != opinion - (drook) - (1)
                                         In my opinion, the dongle should suffice. - (malraux)
                             Reviews indicate it's a piece of crap. - (Another Scott) - (2)
                                 That's another matter for sure. - (malraux)
                                 (Un-believably?) that's an Apple Inc. blog and.. - (Ashton)
                         Here ya go. - (Another Scott) - (2)
                             That's called the "Somali Hands-free" in Finland, if you do it with a phone in stead. - (CRConrad) - (1)
                                 Indeed! Breathing is good. -NT - (Another Scott)

Caveat emptor.
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