phonescoop.com
Form factor terminologies
I think the term "candy bar" is somewhat disparaging, implying that the phone is a toy or childish. For those of us who prefer one-piece (uh, "candy bar") phones, a major plus to them is that they have no moving parts or mechanical joints. As we all know, anywhere there is a mechanical joint, there is an increased potential for failure. If it was up to me, phones that are not of one-piece construction would be given a disparaging term (think: "flimsy" as opposed to "solid").
Furthermore, using the terms "bar" and "candy bar" to describe one-piece phones is only partially accurate: only certain types of candy bars (Hershey, Nestle Crunch) have the thin rectangular cross section that is typical of mobile phones. I have not see...
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Furthermore, using the terms "bar" and "candy bar" to describe one-piece phones is only partially accurate: only certain types of candy bars (Hershey, Nestle Crunch) have the thin rectangular cross section that is typical of mobile phones. I have not see...
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Sprint Nextel actually refers to there single form factor wireless device as monolith. A two piece where one of the pieces slides out from the other is referred to as a slider.
Monolith examples: Motorola i265 and the Samsung M620
Slider examples: The Sprint Mogul by HTC and the UTStarcom PPC-6700.
Monolith examples: Motorola i265 and the Samsung M620
Slider examples: The Sprint Mogul by HTC and the UTStarcom PPC-6700.
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Interesting. I kind of like monolith more than my idea of one piece; it has more of a "solid" and "sturdy" connotation to it and sounds less, err, "engineer-y".
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six-ft-seven said:
Furthermore, using the terms "bar" and "candy bar" to describe one-piece phones is only partially accurate: only certain types of candy bars (Hershey, Nestle Crunch) have the thin rectangular cross section that is typical of mobile phones. I have not seen any phones that have a Snickers- or Milky-Way-type square cross section.
You obviously have never seen a Nokia 6019. Phones like that are where the term came from.
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your suggestions are great if we were trying to come up with a taxonomy that scientist and engineers could agree on. however what we try to do at phone scoop is provide a way for every user, not just scientists, to rate and compare phones. by using the common / colloquial names for various form factors, we allow everyone to make comparisons using terms they already know. these terms are both industry standards as well as what's commonly used by the bulk of american population. if that changes, we will change with it, because we want our site to remain accessible and easy to use.
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Although the engineer in me would prefer a more logical (at least what I perceive to be logical, anyway) terminology, I see and understand your point.
Oh well, at least I got it off my chest... 🙂
Oh well, at least I got it off my chest... 🙂
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most of those terms are from older phones and they have stuck, because the majority of wireless users have the mental greymatter of a brown rock.
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Thanks for the feedback.
It is something we have given thought to; our choice of terms is very much intentional.
I agree that "candy" in "candy bar" has some odd connotations. I intentionally don't use the term "candy bar" in the spec database for that reason. We don't have a strict editorial policy against using "candy bar" when we write news and articles, but perhaps we should. It's a thought.
I think "bar" or "bar style" is a good term, though. "Clamshell" is also a good term IMO. It's a good real-world analogy that describes the form factor quite well. Think about how an actual clam shell is arranged and that's exactly how a "clamshell" phone works.
As for "form factor", I feel that really is the most accurate term for what w...
(continues)
It is something we have given thought to; our choice of terms is very much intentional.
I agree that "candy" in "candy bar" has some odd connotations. I intentionally don't use the term "candy bar" in the spec database for that reason. We don't have a strict editorial policy against using "candy bar" when we write news and articles, but perhaps we should. It's a thought.
I think "bar" or "bar style" is a good term, though. "Clamshell" is also a good term IMO. It's a good real-world analogy that describes the form factor quite well. Think about how an actual clam shell is arranged and that's exactly how a "clamshell" phone works.
As for "form factor", I feel that really is the most accurate term for what w...
(continues)
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