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Comment by skilled | Hacker News Reader

Why would you ever buy a phone like this? Hell, I can hardly justify paying $200 for a Huawei but I'll admit, the extra RAM does come in handy for a smooth browsing experience.

I think a few weeks ago there was an article on HN discussing these foldable phones. And the argument is that the screen size comes in handy for reading or watching stuff. I myself, I don't see it.

For books, I have a kindle. It cost me like $100 brand new. The native Kindle UI is superior to that of the mobile app.

Movies? Good one. Games? Hahaha.

So, why? Is it a status symbol? Is it the urge to keep up with tech? Someone who has had the phone for a while, please enlighten me/us.

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Why? Status symbol certainly - with hugely expensive iPhones rather common even amongst oiks, how can you show off how much disposable income you have at dinner parties and on the tube?

Me, I'll stick to a functional and somewhat disposable, £150 phones. Who needs more than a 5 1/2 inch screen and an octocore processor?

While I sort of agree in principle an I would probably never pay more than what a regular flagship costs (mostly because I tend to hand on to them for 3+ years), your judgmental tone is off base. I'm sure some do it for status but there's nothing to prop up your generalization. You're judging and insulting people just because their preferences or interests are different from yours. You're on a very technical site, you should understand that some things are also done for a passion for tech. People who have 2000E for a phone can probably show off their "disposable income" in many other ways.

Would you say the same about people who bought the first PCs or Amigas? Because I can assure you HN is full of them and they most definitely didn't do it (mainly) for status.

> Who needs more than a 5 1/2 inch screen and an octocore processor

Who needs more than a 4" screen and a quad core processor?

> Who needs more than a 4" screen and a quad core processor?

Not me, but you can't buy them anymore. :(

> you should understand that some things are also done for a passion for tech.

Oh, I agree absolutely. I wasn't intending to refer to those people in my comment. I was observing that hugely expansive devives are routinely and very commonly bought by people with no tech interest whatsoever and used in a way that demonstrates conspicuous consumption. If fact, Apple clearly markets to this group of people.

For those who don't do that (most of those on this site, I expect), I am sorry if anyone was offended. (Incidentally, I _am_ one of those on this site who bought into early Amigas — and earlier 8 bit machines.)

oik (ɔɪk)

derogatory slang Brit a person regarded as inferior because ignorant, ill-educated, or lower-class

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