At the same time tho, our ability to shrink dies, to create displays of millions of pixels flipping perfectly day in, day out for decades - I recycled a Dell LCD monitor at work from 2003 yesterday, still working - to build cars that are more dependable than ever in history with actual moving parts - we take for granted the things that become dependable, even in ways that would have seemed miraculous a generation ago, because we’re always on the bleeding edge of tech where it isn’t working perfectly, because we’re shipping the minimum viable product, and now on a yearly schedule.

I think we could just chill with having smartphone wars for a few years, since there’s not a huge need to upgrade often, and people can’t afford to eat right now, but they’re releasing more and more foldable phones, making them standard as folks adopt. People will complain about how the hinges don’t work, how they fail a lot more. But that won’t stop them from buying them, from kids demanding them at Christmas, etc. And you know what? Aware of all this, and being chronically broke myself, I have still been subconsciously noting the intro prices for next year’s folding phones because part of me wants the cool little toy first.