Dollar Tree.
It used to have been an unreal experience witnessing the existence of these stores when they came out. Everything for a $1. No joke. The quality of some things have had corners cut and the quantity might’ve been laughable, but there was a good solid purpose for these stores.
And then I started seeing the signs after a few good solid years of shopping there. The first sign was how they stopped selling eggs. This was before the Bird Flu. They stopped selling eggs because they simply couldn’t afford to buy stock and then the price hike to $1.25 happened.
And now they’ve hiked the prices again to $1.50 for some products in a handful of stores. Additionally, they’ve incorporated items going from $2 ~ $15 so they have long lost the role and title of being the most affordable places to shop.
Gone were the days.
I worked in support for a phone manufacturer that has made some foldable. From what I’ve seen they seem to be noticably more fragile than the chocolate bar form factor. Seems the screen technology needs more time to mature
I’m using one that was gifted to me (Samsung Z Flip 3). It’s not a format that I would have deliberately picked, but after a little over a year, I can’t say I find it especially fragile. However, the provided screen protector has to be changed fairly often (I did it twice already and I’m overdue for a third), which is a bit of a bother. Apparently some people just remove it. I’m not sure if I’d be comfortable doing that though.
As for the form factor, it is slightly more convenient than a full sized phone, although it certainly doesn’t justify the markup.
It’s simply novelty design and oh look, they’ve got you going to spend more money having to replace screen protectors.
I cannot imagine what it’d be like the day those models start lagging and chugging because of planned obsolescence.
The screen protectors are 10€ for a set of three (plus three sets of wrappers for the phone) so it’s not a big deal. They’re annoying to install though.