Smartphone makers are like school kids – they see the popular guy wear a weird hat and rush off to the store to buy weird hats too. It’s easier than developing their own style. Apple has been just such a trend-setter in Smartphone High and after successfully undermining the headphone jack, it’s now responsible for an explosion of notches.
But screen notches didn’t originate with Apple – time for a detour to History class. As former Motorola designer pointed out on Twitter, the MOTOFONE F3 had a notch way back in 2006. This one barely had an UI, though, so the notch didn’t get in the way….