Smartphone design “improvements” are not progress: Prettier is less practical

And the immediate reaction by consumers will likely be a shrug.

“What can you do?”

The problem is, that apathy shouldn’t be a surprise. We don’t have much room to “vote with our wallets” these days. The reality of the tech market, these supposed “upgrades” happen way too quickly for consumers to react. Gadgets sales paced out over years from individual consumers don’t guide manufacturing decisions.

This week Samsung stumbled into a bit of a security issue on the Galaxy S10.

The in-display fingerprint sensor can apparently be unlocked by ANY finger. I discussed this on the #SGGQA podcast while the story was fresh, and the general sentiment from Samsung fans was that this had to be a case of user error. We’re getting confirmation now that this is a flaw in the current software from Samsung. Users are starting to test this flaw, and it has nothing to do with improper setup or using Non-Samsung approved accessories. BBC confirms Samsung will release a software patch for the problem.

 

Here’s a video of a Galaxy S10 owner on Twitter demonstrating the problem, freshly training a thumbprint, and then bypassing the fingerprint lock with a different finger. Continue reading “Smartphone design “improvements” are not progress: Prettier is less practical”

LG G8 is PERFECT competition for the Galaxy S10 (Suggesting Otherwise is Silly)

LG G8 vs Galaxy S10? It’s been said that there’s no competition, but that requires someone to completely ignore all the things LG does well. It CAN be OK for a manufacturer to focus on different features than what a more popular manufacturer chooses to include (or exclude). Let’s have a quick chat about tech reviewing on YouTube, and compare two awesome smartphones. Because apparently, only popular YouTubers can recommend popular phones. That’s not very fun…
Continue reading “LG G8 is PERFECT competition for the Galaxy S10 (Suggesting Otherwise is Silly)”

If you think the Galaxy S10e is a better buy than the LG G8 ThinQ, you’re probably not very good at tech…

We tech fans can be insufferable sometimes.

Everyone’s favorite whipping boy, LG has released a new phone, so all the armchair tech “experts” are skulking out of the woodwork to proclaim it a failure. Dazzling us with witless observations about how it’s just not “worth it” enough, and how the only way to combat Samsung is price.

Comic-Book Guy Voice: “If the LG G8 were exactly the same as my S10 Plus and were half the price, and came with a lifetime of free sandwiches, THEN I would buy it.”

It’s a useless observation. The person who makes that kind of statement is usually the same person who’s tied to a brand. They say things like this to seem like they’re open minded. THEY make LEARNED rational purchasing decisions, based on merit. Their decision COULD be swayed IF ONLY the other gadget we’re just WORTH IT!

It’s a dead giveaway that they’re defending a gadget they like, instead of really weighing the pros and cons of various devices. LG could offer that, but then they’d just be accused of “copying Samsung”, and the person who offered that astute observation would still buy the Samsung.

Comic-Book Guy Voice: “Why buy the copycat? Even with all the free sandwiches. I make the WORTH IT gadget purchases!”

The LG G8 commentary has gotten even more ridiculous in light of the three four Galaxy S phones Samsung birthed this year. The brand fandom for Samsung is now pushing a new narrative. LG’s new flagship CAN’T EVEN COMPETE AGAINST THE CHEAP S10e!

It makes for great clickbait videos. Get those YouTube metrics cooking. Make Samsung owners feel good about their purchase! There are way more Samsung owners than LG, so it’s an easily tapped tech echo chamber.

Punching down on LG has always been a “fun” spectator sport. We’re at a point now though, where if you’re earnestly parroting that “witty” observation about phones and value, then you’re probably not very good at rationally assessing technology products. Let’s break this down real quick…

Continue reading “If you think the Galaxy S10e is a better buy than the LG G8 ThinQ, you’re probably not very good at tech…”