Raise your hand if you actually want a dual-screen device

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Raise your hand if you actually want a dual-screen device

August 29, 2011 | by Andrew Kameka

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Two is always better than one. Except when it’s not. We’ve all seen cases where something was unnecessarily doubled and wondered if one might have been the better option, and I get that feeling whenever I see phones or tablets with two screens.

Ever since the Kyocera Echo debuted in February, I’ve been dismissive of the dual-screen gadget concept. The Echo struck me as interesting but odd. I had very little confidence that it would ever catch-on with users unless Kyocera managed to do something truly amazing with the simul-tasking feature.

So Imagine my surprise when Sony Ericsson announced its own dual-screen device, the S2 tablet, weeks later. A peculiar LG device with two screens was leaked a few weeks ago, and a Windows-powered Acer tablet was announced on Friday, so the dual-screen trend doesn’t seem to be fading away. Why?

Companies often do things that I don’t understand, but at least it’s because they see signs that consumers will want to buy that product. I don’t see anyone exactly starving for a phone with two screens and I honestly can’t remember a single instance of seeing the Echo in the wild. A tablet? I can actually see the potential in that, but I’m still surprised to see companies continue to trot out dual-screen devices without any sign of success in previous products (unless Nintendo counts).

Perhaps it’s the desire to succeed where others have failed that makes an Acer or Sony think, “What people really want is a dual-screen tablet like this.” Whatever the reason, I’m not seeing customers clamoring for two screens of any variety. Am I the only one who doesn’t care or are you someone who believes at least one company will eventually deliver a great dual-screen phone or tablet?

commentary, dual-screen tablet, Kyocera Echo, opinion, Sony S2

6 Comments

Aelhues says:

August 29, 2011 at 12:15 pm

I personally love the idea of a 2 screen device as long as they are fairly seamless, and take advantage of the ability to nearly double screen space with the same pocket size.
Rob says:

August 29, 2011 at 12:30 pm

I think the appeal is a phone form-factor that can unfold into a tablet. There's many times I don't want to carry the tablet because it's just too bulky, and there's just as many times where I say to myself "this phone screen is just too small for this."
williams says:

August 29, 2011 at 2:35 pm

I would have to say it would be akward at best using a folding tablet. I guess it it was done correclty then maybe….(If I knew what correctly was i would be making millions in design work so dont ask.)
David Simpson says:

August 31, 2011 at 9:38 am

With a barely there bezel, maybe but that Sony device looks fugly.
William L says:

October 28, 2011 at 5:38 pm

Good lord. I really want one, but not an underpowered one. The market for these things is hardcore geeks. You can't put an old CPU and outdated OS in there and think it's going to sell. It's all about the power users, so you have to have something with enough under the hood to appeal to those people, and enough to make the use of two screens viable.
Apod says:

December 1, 2011 at 4:25 pm

The capabilities of a tablet, in smartphone size. That is a winner for me.

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