Z Flip 3: actually it's fashion

well looky here i have in my hand a folding phone the samsung galaxy z flip 3 which obviously means that it is time to talk about metaphors yeah you know metaphors it's been a minute since we made a video in the processor series so let's do it which means that it's time for me to say here's a question are phones really fashion okay actually two questions because spoiler alert the answer to the first question is yes so a better question actually might be what does it mean that phones are fashion [Music] all right talking about metaphors is super uh dangerous let's go with dangerous yeah so let's set some ground rules first even if you think you don't care about fashion that doesn't mean that fashion isn't a useful thing to think about in relation to technology second if you're not familiar just know that fashion is very serious business it's not frivolous it's not unimportant it is a huge industry we're gonna get to that third even though the thing that's got me thinking about fashion and technology is this galaxy z flip 3 i am not here to tell you whether or not this particular design is especially stylish sure on trend i mean i personally think this two-tone cream colorway is sick and i really love the bold blue and neon orange case that samsung is selling but that's me you see part of samsung's goal with this phone is to have it appeal to people as a stylish object they want it to be something that participates in the culture of fashion but what it's done for me is crystallize something that i've been thinking about for a while now all phones do that and they have for a long time now lots of people have pointed out how phones are fashioned that's really nothing new but i think that comparison is a lot more relevant than most people realize it's more than just picking a trending color palette or shaping a jewel like chamfered edge on a phone it's not about making the phone fashionable it's actually that i think the phone industry and the fashion industry work in very similar ways so to make my point i just want to go through a few similarities between say buying a pair of pants and buying a phone so there are new and slightly different versions of each kind of line of thing you want to buy every phone and sometimes there's even a spring collection the most expensive version of the thing has basically the same functionality as the cheap version i mean there is a difference but really when it comes to functionality pants is pants so part of what you're paying for on the expensive stuff is the quality of the materials and the quality of the build and you're also paying for a brand label i mean honestly part of the reason people like phones is that there's this allure of something new not just increased functionality and clothes are like that too they're often about participating in the now where phones are often about participating in the future and with both there are people who are obsessed with keeping up and paying attention and there's also people who don't really care at all and even when we donate our used stuff with both clothes and phones maybe buying too much of them and not thinking through their impact on the environment or workers is not such a great thing oh and also there are magazines and influencers and websites and entire industries dedicated to covering the phone industry and also the fashion industry i could go on and on but you get the point there are a lot of parallels between these two industries but you're also probably thinking about the differences and yes of course there's a bunch here's one example buying one brand of pants doesn't lock you out of buying another brand's shoes in case you're looking for a ecosystem lock-in metaphor to go along with this fashion metaphor but no we're not gonna get into walled gardens that's not the metaphor we're here for today instead i think you know what the most important difference between phones and fashions is the one that's actually starting to dissipate a little bit technology and especially phone technology it tends to get better every year but that's slowing down a little bit with fashion things change and yes sometimes there are technical advancements but the year-over-year differences are more about culture not about improved function with phones every year you tend to get something that does more or works better than last year's thing but with phones i think that dynamic is starting to change to be just a little bit more like fashion no i'm not saying that innovation is dead or all phones are the same or specs don't matter anymore but i do think we are at the point where even cheap phones are really good and can do the vast majority of stuff that people want out of a phone i mean compare this thousand dollar flip phone here to this 450 dollar pixel 585g and think about how your life would be substantially impacted if you had one or the other the difference might not be that big or you know if you're an iphone person how big would the difference be between having an iphone se or the latest iphone 12 or upcoming 13. when it comes to the basic functionality of clothing pants is pants and at least when it comes to the basic capability of phones phones as phones and that is partly why the z-flip 3 is so interesting like dan seaford said in our review on you know theverge.com this is a totally normal phone that just happens to fold up and there will be a lot of people who buy it for some practical reason about the functionality like you know it fits in a pocket but i think even more going to buy one because it makes some kind of fashion statement the functionality is almost exactly the same as any other phone but the expression of that functionality is different okay so all this is fine as an academic exercise but what should we actually do with this metaphor well i think there's one more parallel between these two industries that we haven't really talked about that i do think can help us have a better relationship with our gadgets see both fashion and phones can be an expression of personal identity externally to other people but i think more importantly internally to ourselves it's a lot easier to explain this idea with clothes than it is with phones so maybe you've been looking at it let's talk about this vest i bought it because it is very good for riding my bike this uh fabric here blocks the wind but the back is open so it doesn't overheat me too much it's got nice pockets it compacts down to a really small package it's super functional but i also kind of like the way it looks in a certain way but i also know that vests especially in silicon valley where i live are a venture capital bro kind of thing a patagonia business casual kinda you know what i mean of course it is just a vest and for a lot of people who don't care that much about the cultural resonance of their clothing it really is just a vest but for a lot of us it's more than that so we can go through this exact same exercise with the phone i bought it because it folds up and therefore fits in my pocket and that is very nice i also think it's very cool with its folding glass screen and its little exterior screen here and i like that i can close it and then i'll only see my notifications and not be tempted to dip into instagram because it's sitting right there or whatever there are external cultural connotations to this phone fortunately i don't think they're as strong as the tech pro vibes that people might get off of this vest but they're there it's a samsung it's a green bubble and i don't know maybe you don't care about that instead you think it's just like a little bit flashy when instead you should just get like a basic pixel or a standard you know galaxy a phone or whatever but with both the clothing and the phones i'm really trying to pay less attention to the external cultural connotations although they do matter and pay a little bit more attention to how these things make me feel or for you how your stuff makes you feel i think this phone looks cool and it's okay to buy stuff because it looks cool high-end phones are usually interesting because they're techie but the flip 3 isn't techy that's not part of what this expresses anymore the tech here is starting to get actually kind of boring instead i like that i have to physically do more to open this phone up and use it i have to be more intentional about choosing to use it than i would on a regular phone where i just like tap a fingerprint sensor or have it literally point to my face and it unlocks and i'm off to the races now to be very clear i am not trying to convince you to buy the galaxy z flip 3. it is a good phone but i know it's not for everyone instead i'm trying to convince you that phones are about more than just their function or their specs i think that tech operates in our culture a lot like fashion does and when you get right down to it clothing is also technology just very very old technology and the way that we see ourselves is mediated and has always been mediated by technology phones are fashion and fashion is culture and all of that is a lot more complicated than it looks hey everybody thanks so much for watching just so it's out there this video is not sponsored by the company that made this vest or my like and subscribe the best is by chrome that'll work