Today I came across an unboxing video of the Samsung Galaxy Fold6. Realizing I hadn't pre-ordered yet, I went to the official website to place an order; as I mentioned yesterday, this was a planned upgrade.
However, when I was about to check out, I was a bit stunned.
I admit I didn't notice the price issue at all yesterday. But after repeatedly confirming that the 512GB version costs $2,728 (SGD, exchange rate 1:5.4), I backed down. I'm sorry, Samsung, I can't afford it.
My old Fold, though repaired once, is still usable. All the necessary AI features are available in ONE UI 6.1. After all, for me, the most frequent use case is the unfolded screen for reading documents.
Since I can't afford it, I'll just have to bear with it. At least I can achieve those features through "DIY" edge deployment. It seems subjective initiative is quickly cultivated out of "poverty."
It reminds me of a conversation I had with a long-time friend over dinner recently. I lamented that it was lucky I got to know "Arc'teryx" years ago; otherwise, I'd be wearing "Decathlon" head-to-toe now. I said that nowadays, a T-shirt with a mediocre fit can easily cost a thousand, which is no different from robbery. Furthermore, "Decathlon" is actually quite good—the price is reasonable and the quality is sufficient.
Of course, it would be even better if it were cheaper. Low price is king.
Everyone needs to learn to live on a "tight budget." A spiritual sea of stars may not be attainable through material possessions alone. After all, many material things are earned through twenty years of hard study followed by another ten or twenty years of full-throttle work. Using that accumulation of knowledge and ability to seek inner fulfillment should also be possible.
By the way, even if manufacturers don't provide it, running small models on Android or even iOS phones to write essays, generate images, edit photos, or even add voice interaction to build an app and automate tasks is no longer a difficult feat in the era of large models.
For those who haven't learned Python yet, there's no need to. You just need to know how to let models write code to complete tasks. The basic requirement is just to look at the "quick start" on open-source sites and follow the examples.
It seems I can save more money and spend more time elevating my state of mind.