Big Black Blob (BBB)

April 6, 2023

The other day i was having lunch while three phones were on the table. Three differente phones from two different companies. They all looked like the same, a Big Black Blob (BBB) absent off all sign of personality and style. Following the rant of my previous post im going to do a timeline of all the phones i had, trying to show how the first ones had things that i remember, and how as time moves forwards, it made no difference, all were the same. And from now one, im going to call cellphones BBBs

Motorola v220

I still remember the goofy/silly monkey sound it made when you took a photo (i cant find any video or file about it, if you have one please send it to me). And now seeing the video, the different themes where awesome. Its interesting how today, we have apps that have the same design system but we still cant change the color of all of them without going per app.

Sony Ericsson W850i

A phone with a dedicated button to control the music player, with lights and all? Sign me in. And you could hide the buttons sliding it? What else one could ask for?. I still remember the countless hours i spent playing the Treasure Towers game that came with it.

Samsung GT-S5230

This is where i think everything went downwards. We start to see the BBB, but we still have a few boring buttons left. From this one, i only remember the first use i’d seen of a gyroscope, throw dices. And how difficult, or even impossible was to access WAP pages. But this wasnt something about the phone but the technology of the time.

Motorla Razr D3

Now we are officially in the BBB area of cellphones. Android without any kind of customizability. A rectangle with a touchscreen. The same ringstones, sounds, and apps that any other cellphone of the time. This one felled into the toilet, wasnt for that, i think i wouldnt have changed it.

Seeing the video, i have forgotten about the notification led. Something subtle, but very useful that i dont see in newer phones.

LG Spirit

Another BBB. I dont have any cool memories or thoughts about it.

Huawei P8

Another one, but at least this one was white. The only thing cool about this one, was the consistency of the UI around all apps. But nothing more to say about it.

Galaxy A30

My current one, and i think the pinnacle of the BBBs. Put it in a table with any other cellphone from today, and you wont be able to tell which one is yours.

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