From cardboard cameras to frameless smartphones. A Brief History of Amazing Gadget Design

The less design the better

Portable gadgets help people perform various tasks literally on the go. For example, with them you can listen to music on the road or quickly catch a good shot without putting the camera on a tripod. In the early days of such technology, there were no tiny chips and other thin and weightless components, so the devices were often heavy and impressive in size. For example, the machine phone that appeared in the middle of the 20th century, the ancestor of modern mobile phones, weighed several tens of kilograms. Yes, it allowed you to communicate with relatives, colleagues and friends outside the four walls, but it was impossible to pull such a phone out of the car and take it with you for a walk around the city.

However, designers have been looking for ways to make gadgets smaller and more user-friendly. So, in 1900, Kodak released the Brownie Camera with a simple lens and a cardboard body. Lightweight and relatively small device with a handle on the lid could easily be used even by children. Plus, Brownie cost only one dollar - it's not surprising that in just the first year of production, the company

sold over 150,000 copies.

The Kodak camera looked aesthetically pleasing and was easy to operate - these are the qualities industrial designers of the 20th century sought to put into their creations. Among them is the German Dieter Rams. He was the author the appearance of many amazing devices that others later quoted. For example, his Braun T3 pocket radio inspired the design of the first iPod. Apple was inspired by the compact and ergonomic rectangular shape and the minimalistic round signal adjustment knob. Another Rams gadget that the company used to refer to is the Braun ET66 calculator: buttons in the first calculation app on the iPhone repeated rounded and convex shape of the original.

Rams made up a short guide for its followers - "10 principles of good product design". In addition to clarity and aesthetics, these include innovation, unobtrusiveness, environmental friendliness, durability, consistency, convenience and honesty - the gadget should not portray what it does not is. And the main principle is “the less design, the better”: a pile of details only leads to a stupor and prevents things from fulfilling their function. A good device should be created taking into account the needs of the user and help him solve everyday problems with a minimum of effort.

However, the desire for a laconic design does not mean that gadgets should not have anything unusual at all. For example, the popular American radio Regency TR‑1, which appeared in 1954, had a fairly simple shape: a rectangular plastic case with a gold-plated dial for signal tuning.

At the same time, the device had several color options: for example, black, gray, beige, lavender, red and blue. The radio could easily be used not only for listening to music, but also as an unusual accessory. Just like modern gadgets.

Smartphone designers are now constantly experimenting with the design of device cases, adding unusual colors and textures. Even functional elements - the main camera platforms - turn into decorative accents. Traditionally, designers pushed the module into the corner of the back panel, but now there are also unusual options: edge-to-edge linear inserts, round and even ring chambers. Such solutions help gadgets stand out, allow engineers to optimally arrange the filling, and in some cases work for ergonomics.

More features, more creativity

Over time, radios were replaced as wearable gadgets by cassette players, the most famous of which is the Sony Walkman. Its design was also simple and concise, but not without secrets: the dark blue color of the body of the first Walkman sent to denim, which was just very popular then.

Sony Walkman released in 1979, and already in 1983 appeared first mobile phone - Motorola DynaTAC 8000X. It looked like a large handset with a numeric keypad on the body and a retractable antenna.

The GSM communication standard made it possible to reduce the size of phones. With its spread, gadgets really became more mobile - they easily fit into a hand, a bag and even a pocket. The first phone supporting GSM, released Nokia in 1992. The company actively experimented with the design of devices: for example, the Nokia 8810, released in 1998, had the antenna hidden inside. So the gadget has become even more compact and convenient to use.

In the 2000s, with the spread of mobile phones, their appearance began to change rapidly. But creativity did not always meet the principles formulated by Dieter Rams. Often the gadgets were unusual and eye-catching, but the ergonomics were lame. At that time appeared phones with a rotating case, a sliding keyboard, buttons located along the screen frame - the mobile gradually turned into a gadget accessory that I would like to show to everyone. True, in order to figure out how to use such a device, sometimes you needed instructions.

There were also devices with less extravagant design. Here, designers looked in two directions: the layout of the buttons was either like on home phones, where numbers were combined with letters, or like on a PC, that is, with a QWERTY layout.

Over time, new features were added to mobile devices, such as cameras and a headphone jack - so “dialers” gradually turned into familiar multifunctional devices.

When phones became popular and affordable, there was a demand for devices with a unique premium design that would show the status of the owner. Nokia also decided to answer it: for this, the company opened branch, which was named Vertu. The first model of a luxury mobile was released in 2002. Vertu Signature looked like an ordinary push-button phone, but its case was platinum, the glass was sapphire, and there was also a test on the device, just like on jewelry. An additional touch was the unique Sandpiper ringtone recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra. Other Vertu models also combined laconic design with premium performance: in addition to precious metals, to create phones used genuine leather and high-tech materials that protect against damage. The cost of brand gadgets was appropriate: from several thousand to several hundred thousand euros.

At the other extreme were “indestructible” devices like the legendary Nokia 3310 or Siemens M65 with metal framing of the case - this model was uneasy about falling, moisture and dust, it also did not was afraid. True, the appearance and ergonomics of such phones were not for everyone. But the designers still managed to find a compromise between beauty and practicality. One of the available options for the manufacture of a smartphone case has become high-tech plastic. It is little prone to cracks, chips and scratches, and scuffs that form during use are usually invisible. Such a material can repeat the textures of glass, metal or leather, or create unusual optical effects on the surface.

Rejection of buttons and wires

In the 2010s, the fashion for bold and even crazy creativity in gadget design began to decline. Phones acquired the now familiar rectangular shape, the keyboard gradually completely disappeared - it was replaced by a touch screen. For ease of use, a stylus was often attached to the gadget before. Now this accessory is also used, but less often.

Despite the existence of a common standardized form, experiments with the design of the body of gadgets continue. Unlike the unusual solutions of the 2000s, they rarely harm convenience: the color and material of the body, the shape of the camera and the size of the device change. Especially often, creativity affects the display - designers strive to make the working area of ​​​​smartphones larger, remove frames and buttons from the front surface, while maintaining functionality gadget.

They do it in different ways. For example, in Apple to expand the screen without increasing the size of the device itself added cutout at the top - for the first time, the "bangs" were used in the iPhone X, presented in 2017. Another option is the curved edges of the screen, which started appear since 2015. Now a similar solution can be found in some brands with Android smartphones, most often among expensive flagships.

Many smartphones over time, in addition to the keyboard and front buttons, also lost the headphone jack. OPPO was the first to abandon it: in 2012, the company released ultra-thin Finder, and in 2014, the even more compact R5. The width of the devices slightly exceeded the parameters of the microUSB connector, and the round port for music simply did not fit in them. Wireless headphones were not common then, so for the convenience of users, the brand added an adapter to the smartphone. In 2016, Apple abandoned the additional connector, and now its absence has become commonplace. This has led to the emergence of many models of Bluetooth headphones. It is easy to connect other wireless gadgets to smartphones, such as smartwatches, speakers, VR glasses and fitness trackers. They complement each other and make the user experience richer.

Another feature of the evolution of smartphones is that now you do not need to overpay to get a gadget with top-end features. Flagship features like a 120Hz refresh rate or a curved OLED screen can now be found in mid-range devices. A truly powerful processor, a capacious battery or large amounts of memory - all this happens with inexpensive smartphones.