What you’re describing here about going from 2G to 3G is exactly what’s happened this year going from 4G to 5G... What amazing changes did you get then compared to now?
The phones then were absolute garbage compared to what we have today.
And you may not use cameras but most people who buy any smartphone do, and care about them a lot. For most, it’s their only camera so quality, features and results are important. Same with video.
You say all the phones look the same, but they don’t. The Android stuff can to some degree, but that’s only because everyone copies everyone with those brands, and then copy Apple a lot as well.
This year we get a small option, the smallest any phone has been for many years but still with an equally matched specification to the regular model... so your point about phones getting bigger isn’t true. In fact they’ve all gotten smaller this year. Bigger screens yes, but smaller overall sizes for pretty much all devices from Apple.
iOS on the old phones looked rubbish, and that’s the general consensus. The icons looked dated and it needed a refresh. The flat style icons work better, and have aged better in comparison.
I think you need to try to embrace the future, rather than looking at the past through rose tinted spectacles, as iPhones back then, although better than the rest, by today’s standards were junk.
You’ve made numerous posts, all talking about old phones, old macs and old operating systems trying to make out it was all better back then, it wasn’t.
Cheap build quality until the 4 series, rubbish screens, small choice and quality of apps and limited accessories too. I’m not saying you can’t look fondly on the older devices, but maybe don’t put them on the pedestal they don’t actually deserve to be on.
As tech improves we just all take it for granted, but the improvements are still there, but because it’s come along such a way so fast, we just expect to be wowed each year when perhaps we shouldn’t.
I have tried embracing the future multiple times. Apple Watch Series 5--riddled with bugs. iPhone X, couldn't get used to the gestures one bit--kept getting the wrong result, such as recent apps when I wanted to home, or vice versa. Lack of headphone jack, forgetting to charge up the Airpods case one day I chose to nature walk and had to go without music! The screen is too big. Tried a Galaxy A01 running Android 10--well, my phone number leaked out and my data got breached. Had to turn it off and return it. Also too big. Full of 'nagware' designed to protect me from myself, such as a service that 'conveniently' shut down apps I wanted to use and caused issues such as me having to pull my phone out of my pocket to restart the music app when I wanted to use bluetooth in my car.
None of this crap happens with my older stuff. They all work perfectly fine, fit me too well, I love small screens, I love sliding keyboards (if you like looking through fingerprints, well, all the power to ya), I love headphone jacks and not having to keep up with bluetooth batteries along with the phone battery. I like a device that has skeuomorphism mixed with nature. I like a device that has nothing running in the background draining my battery, while my music apps keep working as they should, so I can just get into my car, and my music continues as it should.
The future is flat, oversized, has less features, and too much nagware. Sorry, I tried it, and the past or at least, 2012-era tech just works better for me.
The 3GS is a fun phone. At least the UI looked decent, and didn't burn my retinas in, and buttons and clickable actions worked and were easily defined as they should be.
Again, if you like what's offered today, great. I hope something comes along that gains my interest but so far they're taking away stuff, marking up the price to an unwarranted level, and the UI looks designed by Playskool. Oh and battery life hasn't improved since 2010 either. At least my devices have replacable batteries which reduces e-waste. Not everyone needs a new phone if their old one works perfectly fine. I'm satisfied. I still wish folks made interesting phones and the OS wasn't trying to protect everyone from themselves (Google SafetyNet, Samsung Device Care, 'this notification can't be turned off', etc) and I hope small phones one day return, and that skeuo comes back since I can't stand flat, never could, even during the days of DOS. Flat is NOT modern, it's a throwback to limited hardware/graphics in the 80s. Why revisit that part of the past?! Flat gave way to skeuo, which could have given way to holographic, or better AR, but no, we went backwards with iOS 7 and modern Android.
I still miss the wild wild west days, the days of the T-mobile Sidekick, the Galaxy SIII, The original Galaxy Note, the iPhone 3GS or 4, iOS 6, Android 2.3-4.4, features not being suddenly declared 'bad' and having to be taken away for the sake of change.
There's a ton of features that either don't exist or got taken away that I find greatly useful:
1. Voice control unlock. I can say 'unlock' to my S Relay, and it unlocks. I can also dismiss alarms without that nasty swipe mark on the screen. I can also start music playback or open apps, all done offline, no internet needed.
2. SD Cards, Don't need to be connected or have a decent signal to enjoy music, as all of it is on an SD Card, not harming my internal storage. I don't have to be like those poor saps at work who listen to ads on Pandora while bleeding off our wifi, only to hear them complain when it stops because they went outside of wifi coverage and their iPhone 11 Pro has no signal.
3. Sliding keyboards. They're useful, are there when you need them, gone if you don't, the on-screen keyboard is there also if you want it. It's a nice feature to leave your screen visible without an on-screen keyboard taking up space, or staring through smudges. Accuracy is better--just ask a BlackBerry user.
4. Notification LEDs. They're one of my favorite features, and use far less battery and don't burn in the screen like an AOD. It's nice to, at a glance, know if I missed a call, or text, or email, or see my device's charge status, just by the color of the LED.
5. Headphone jack. Ever want to listen to music but realize too late you forgot to charge up your Airpods case or bluetooth headset? I have, multiple times, and had to go without during a hike or when I wanted to listen to music and not bother everyone else by using my phone as a speaker.
Just a few things my older devices do that most newer ones took away or don't support. I don't need a dozen cameras, especially when I have a DSLR. I don't want to revisit the graphic design of Amiga WorkBench or Tandy Deskmate. I don't want a phone that looks like every other phone out there. I like standing out. Older devices were just far more interesting to me, and instead of me having to lament it and 'get used to' a device I hate that doesn't fit me well at all, why not just let me be happy with the stuff I got from Amazon that is old, sure, but works for me best?
