The foldy-phone’s big bill

Remember when mobile phones first appeared? Wow – you don’t look that old.

The first civilian call was (kind of) made by Ernie Wise (yes, the short, fat, hairy-legged half of iconic comedy double-act Morecambe & Wise) on the 1st of January 1985. By the end of the decade, they were pretty common (phones, not Ernies), and now – well... try living without one.

The model used by Ernie - a Transportable Vodaphone VT1, fact fans – cost about £2000. Ouch. Having said that, smartphones have been getting both progressively smarter and more expensive over the last decade or so.

Roll back to 2010, and you’d have been pretty gobsmacked at the thought of paying £700 for a mobile. Now, the latest top-notch iPhone is in that expensive ball-park, and there’s more bad news for the bank account of anyone wanting the latest, smartest, tech.

There’s a new kid on the block. The Samsung Galaxy Fold does what it says on the (alarmingly expensive) tin, and opens out to create one large screen, whilst still having another screen on the other side of one half – presumably so you can look like you’ve got a regular phone before impressing your mates with it’s foldy-fabulousness.

OK, so it’s a phone/tablet. Nice idea – The big(ish) screen experience at half the size. And it seems to be oozing with cameras. After that... well, it’s got lots of lovely features, but it’s not really doing anything revolutionary... other than folding in half.

Great gimmick, then. Fancy one? Me too! That’ll be around £1,700, please. You okay? Want to sit down? I’ll get some water.

I think we all know that’s a breathtakingly large sum on wonga for a phone. For comparison, my first three cars put together didn’t cost me that much, and they included a proper old mini and the mighty Datsun 180B (Mk II).

So who’s going to buy a folding phone that costs twice as much as a regular one? Only a mug, right? The Galaxy Fold goes on sale this month, and Huawei have a similar format one coming out soon too. Before you know it, all the cool kids will have one, you’ll be wondering if you should invest and in a year or so having a ‘regular’ phone will make as much sense as only using one eye.

Unless you were about when Little Ern made that first call. In which case, you’re probably wondering what all the fuss is about.

This post first appeared as my "A wry look at the week" column, in The Mail, on Friday the 19th of April 2019. The version used on the paper's website was re-titled as "Fancy a new mobile? That Samsung Galaxy Fold looks nice... HOW MUCH?" I think it's safe to say that that's a bit long for the print edition...

The day before this appeared in the paper, reports appeared online saying that assorted tech reviewers has encountered problems with the screens on the versions of the Fold they were trialing. Oops. Rushed to market to beat HuaWei, did we?

Interesting email from the paper this week. Looks like it's the end of the line for 'A wry look...' and if this wasn't the last one, next Friday's will be. I'll keep you posted. Game over?

(Tape Time! No 153 - a bunch of Mike Oldfield stuff on a white-labelled tape that probably came from a stall at Reading Market some time in 1986...)