iPhone Duo and Galaxy Z Fold 8 are great. Perfect reason for me avoid them

Remember when we used to get bored? These days, there's no time left to kill. It's all swallowed by our phones. We spend hours hunched over on the couch, watching what fitness freaks are up to or what mindfulness gurus are peddling. 

While phones are a fixture of modern life, we certainly don't need iPhone Duo- or Galaxy Z Fold-sized problems.

Less is more

From Digital Wellbeing to the Brick to grayscale screens, humanity is screaming for an escape from the screen deluge. How do Apple and Samsung respond? By tripling the number of screens. (I am counting the inner foldable screen as two; it's my editorial.)

But why do we need so many screens on a device glued to our hands? To read YouTube comments while watching a video? Why relax while watching a video when you can ruin it with a stream of mostly useless comments? It's not like we have anything better to do, places to go, or people to meet. 

The half-closed mode is pitched as a way to take hands-free photos, but it's little more than a party trick.

Don't brandish laptop mode at me either. As if anyone is going to get meaningful work done on a miniature laptop. Who are we kidding?

The reading mode

Many people are above temptation. I am usually the first to cave. My knees buckle the moment my mind finds something irresistible.

If local repair options weren't non-existent, I might have pulled the trigger. I don't care about split-screen multi-tasking, nor do I need a large display for videos.

But I read. All the time. And these short, wide foldables look tailor-made for readers. Why juggle a phone, a tablet, and a Kindle when an iPhone Duo can do it all?

The ability to be more than a phone is precisely my issue. 

Stay in your lane

I use my tech until it's on its last legs. That's why I don't mind splurging when it's finally time for an upgrade. If I am keeping a device for five years, I might as well get the most specced-out gadget.

My black-and-white Kindle revolts by freezing if I don't coddle it. My iPad 9 crashes whenever I open too many tabs. These limitations are what I love about them.

These devices aren't jack-of-all-trades. They are just adequate. By preventing me from opening twenty articles at once, my iPad forces me to finish what I am reading before it becomes irrelevant.

I can't imagine reading in peace on a foldable phone pinging with notifications.

Not the right time

Foldables may eventually replace conventional phones. For now, I am glad that they are a niche category.

They are too expensive and too fragile, and they aim to fix problems we don't have. When the iPhone Duo goes on sale, I'll swoon over it like everyone else. I'll just know better than to actually buy one.