For a moment back there, the smartphone was the coolest gadget on earth. The original iPhone kickstarted a seismic shift in how technology influences and integrates with our lives. But as the iPhone approaches its 20th birthday with the all-but-guaranteed launch of a folding mode on the horizon, it's hard to avoid the gnawing question: doesn't it all feel a bit boring?
The ills caused by overuse of smartphones are well documented by now. Just this week, they were given the dubious honour of being blamed for falling fertility rates in the US. And the UK has just passed a law banning them for under-16s. But in the tech world, a world that lives and dies by the pursuit of the 'new', the fact that the iPhone feels stale is perhaps the most existential problem of all.
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