Cell phones...is bigger better?

Remember when cell phones first came out?

Oh, don't be silly, of course you do!

How could anyone forget those gigantic, grey bricks that were approximately the same size as a cordless phone? A little later, the company came out with a black model, but the shape and large size remained the same. It flipped open and had an antenna that needed to be pulled up in order to make a call. Forget about designating a ringtone to every person in your contact list. You had one ringtone and that was it.

Texting? Forget about it!

Internet access? Are you out of your mind?!

The first cell phones were just that. They were phones.

And they were big. 

Which brings me to the main point of this rambling musing of mine...

Having been forced to schlep around these big, bricks of what was then cutting edge technology, the next logical step was to make this bricks smaller. You saw it happen. It didn't happen overnight, of course, but gradually, the phones became just a little smaller. Over time, over the years, the phones became smaller and more streamlined, and before you knew it, you had the choice between flip-phones and none flip-phones. But the point is, that the phones kept getting smaller as the years went on.

It was the hip thing for cell phones was for them to be as small as possible, and if you were seen carrying around a big brick when everyone else had phones that fit in the palms of their hands, then you were viewed as a luddite.

The smaller the phone, the better!

However, now it seems that the times are a changing...

While phones are still sleek and streamlined, has anyone else noticed that they seem to be getting bigger again? Gone are the cute and tiny flip-phones that were once so coveted, and in their place are for all intents and purposes, flat-screen T.Vs that fit in the palm of your hand. This happened because unlike the cell phones of old, the cell phones of today are no longer simply phones. They're basically miniature computers from which you can run your entire life while you're on the go. Texting, emailing, banking, taking pictures, recording or even streaming videos, and let's not even get started on all the other different apps that are out there...things that we never would have imagined doing on those old bricks is now all possible. That being said, who wants to do all of that on a tiny little screen?

The answer is, nobody.

In fact, the BIGGER the screen, the better!

My Samsung Intercept is approximately 4 1/2 inches in length and 2 inches in width (3 inches of all that is the size of my screen. Now, my BFF's phone is approximately 6 inches in length and 3 inches in width. It almost quite literally is a miniature television or computer. The darned thing is practically bigger than her hand, and for the most part, it's nothing but screen.

Is the bedrock of this rambling of mine a rant? Not at all.

Are you kidding me? I LOVE my Samsung Intercept! It's an Android phone without the Android price, and it has saved my butt on more than one occasion. For instance, just the other day I had a job interview, and I always like to have an extra copy of my resume with me so I can use it as a quick point of reference when I'm filling in a job application. However, this time around, I was unable to do so because the printer was acting up. So, I simply emailed my resume to myself, and because of a handy-dandy little app on my phone, I was able to download, open and view my resume without any difficulty.

So, no...this particular rambling is not a rant about how phones are gradually getting bigger. Rather, it's just a random musing of how we seem to be slowly gravitating away from the mindset of 'smaller is better' when it comes to phones and back towards the mindset of 'bigger is better'.

Who wants to take bets on what the next fad will be? ;)