Pointless Innovation in the Tech Industry
The mobile phone industry has been one of the wealthiest industries for years now, especially since the focus has shifted from analog mobile phones to smartphones. They have been releasing new models like wildfire, and eager consumers have been gobbling them up. But because of this, it is fair to say that technology has lost its creativity. Customers are ever so desperate for new phones, new phones, and new phones that creators have started getting lazy. Now they do not need or have the time to sit down and think of new, inventive phones that could be created. All they show us nowadays are irrelevant tweaks to the features introduced previously. If you were observant and decided not to buy the new model just because, you would have realized by now that new phones these days do not amaze you like it did five years ago. Why is that and how can we resolve it?
"The industry is fooling us. They make additions to old features that may sound fascinating, but are just not significant."
At every attempt in manufacturing a new smartphone, companies aim for the same things: better camera quality, thinner body, and higher resolution. But has it got to the point where it does not matter anymore? Is a new phone worth that Instagram photo? The introduction of the iPhone 8 and the iPhone X has the whole world amazed with its new features - mainly Face ID, wireless charging, and a full-surface screen. But before you reach your wallet, take a minute and think about it. Are a few additions to your perfectly working iPhone 7 worth a few hundred dollars?
The industry is fooling us. They make additions to old features that may sound fascinating, but are just not significant. Most importantly, they exaggerate when introducing those features. Take the face recognition system, for instance. It is pretty amazing that your phone can now recognize your face, but the real question - does it matter? Fingerprint identification is already quite useful and there is not much of a difference between unlocking your phone with your finger and unlocking your phone by looking at it. Another example is wireless charging. Many companies have introduced their own wireless charging pad which charges your phone just by placing it on the pad. Pretty cool, but think about it. How long does it take to take the plug and stick it in your phone to charge it? Only a matter of seconds. Wireless charging is just unnecessary. Companies are revealing to us all these useless gimmicks while holding back useful factors, like the headphone jack for iPhones. Why did it take Apple so long to make the iPhone waterproof while Samsung released their first waterproof phone back in 2013? Possibly because they were saving that for later when they run out of tricks up their sleeve.
The originality between different companies has also been decreasing. Compare the two rival companies, Apple and Samsung and their latest smartphone model. Not only is their basic hardware design similar, but their software is, too. They both just presented their face recognition system. Of course, they both have a health application, a payment application, a virtual assistant, their own internet browser, a calculator… The list goes on and on to prove how similar the two phones are. That is not to say that they are both exactly the same.The Apple iPhone is admired for its simplicity, while Samsung Galaxy is praised for its impressive screen resolution, and faster charging.
The smartphone field, as creators have a responsibility to attract consumers and we are giving them a great advantage by being ignorant. They are earning billions from us. As consumers, what we can do is to be smart. Don’t be fooled. Think before you invest your money into something that might not be worth it. This will force them to put their minds together and be creative, and hopefully there will be more originality in smartphones in the future.