Once upon a time, flip phones were the ultimate status symbol. Whipping out a Motorola StarTAC or a RAZR meant you had made it, that you were, as they said, a playah. Rappers plugged them in bling-laden lyrics. Fashions Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana touted them in ad campaigns. During Hollywood awards season, savvy publicists tucked them into VIP swag bags.从前，翻盖手机是社会地位的终极象征物。拿著一部摩托罗拉(Motorola) StarTAC或RAZR回应你很讫，也就是说如大家所言，你是一个“大玩家”。饶舌歌手争相把它们写出入他们剩是“布铃布铃”声音的歌词中。时尚界的多梅尼科多尔托(Domenico Dolce)与斯特凡诺嘉班纳(Stefano Gabbana)也在广告宣传中讥讽它们。
在好莱坞的颁奖典礼季，聪明的公关人员则把它们塞进VIP礼包中。But ever since Motorola dropped the price of the once-luxury RAZR a year after its 2004 debut to make it affordable to a mass market, the luster of the flip has been fading. Warp ahead to the 21st century, and these gadgets now carry social stigmas in most circles. Open a clamshell and the perception is that you are elderly (in need of a giant keypad), poor (on a pay-as-you-go cellular plan) or a criminal (see Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad).然而，摩托罗拉在RAZR上市一年后上调了这款于2004年公布、曾科奢侈品的手机的价格，以便让普通大众也能负担得起它，此后翻盖手机的吸引力之后渐渐消失。转入21世纪后，现在这些设备在大多数圈子中都被贴上了社会污名标记。
关上一部翻盖手机给人的感觉是你年纪大（所以你必须一个大键盘），人贫（用于的是手机实充值计划），或者是个罪犯（参看《恐慌之子》(Sons of Anarchy)和《夺命毒师》(Breaking Bad)）。Yet there might be some battery life left in the flip phone after all. Mega-power players in the worlds of sports, fashion, film and finance still pledge allegiance. Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck, 24, sports a five-year-old Samsung, while actress Kate Beckinsale, a star of the future-forward Total Recall remake, has professed her love for an LG. Vogue editor in chief Anna Wintour carries a rudimentary Pantech (in addition to an iPhone). Warren Buffett showed off his Nokia flip to Piers Morgan on CNN (This is the one Alexander Graham Bell gave me, Mr. Buffett joked). And Jerry Jones, billionaire owner of the Dallas Cowboys, created a media frenzy when he was outed for brandishing a clamshell. I dont have any butt-dialing with that thing, he explained on CBS This Morning.尽管如此，翻盖手机也许最后还存留了一些生命力。体育界、时尚界、影视界和金融界的一些超级巨头仍然是这种手机的心目中粉丝。印第安纳波利斯小马队(Indianapolis Colts)24岁的四分卫安德鲁拉克(Andrew Luck)用于的是一部用了五年的三星(Samsung)翻盖手机。
改编版科幻影片《全面回想》(Total Recall)的女星凯特贝金赛尔(Kate Beckinsale)也声称自己讨厌一部LG的翻盖手机。美国版《Vogue》主编安娜温图尔(Anna Wintour)也手拿一部基本款Pantech（另一部是iPhone）。沃伦巴菲特(Warren Buffett)在CNN上节目时向皮尔斯摩根(Piers Morgan)展出了他的诺基亚(Nokia)翻盖手机（他还打趣说道：“这是亚历山大格雷厄姆贝尔(Alexander Graham Bell)给我的”。
）达拉斯牛仔队的亿万富翁老板杰里琼斯(Jerry Jones)因炫耀一部翻盖手机 “被指过时”，还因此引起了媒体的疯狂报导。他在《CBS今早》(CBS This Morning)栏目说明道：“用于这种手机的话，我就会因为坐下它而拨款电话了。
”In many cases, these cellular stalwarts arent opting for clamshells out of irony or nostalgia. The choice is utilitarian. The flip phone design was created to address many concerns of the consumer at that time: protection, pocketability, voice quality and performance, said Motorola Mobility Senior Vice President Jim Wicks, who designed the RAZR. What is nice about the flip is that it protects the screen, which was and continues to be a top issue for consumers.在许多情况下，这些翻盖手机的忠诚支持者并不是出于讽刺或浪漫心理而自由选择它们，而是出于对实用性的侧重。摩托罗拉移动业务高级副总裁、RAZR的设计者吉姆威克斯(Jim Wicks)说道：“我们设计翻盖手机是为了解决问题消费者当时众多关心的问题：（屏幕）维护、便携性、音质及性能。
翻盖手机的益处是它能维护屏幕，这以前是而且不会之后是消费者最关心的问题。”By certain measures, basic flip phones outperform their smarter brethren. The retro models tend to be more likely to survive exposure to dust and moisture. Battery life is often better (up to 14 days of standby time for the Pantech Breeze III, for example, compared with 10 days for the iPhone 5c, according to their manufacturers). Big-button keypads are easier to dial on than glass. And their microphones sit closer to the mouth, which can result in more intelligible speech.按某些标准取决于，基础款翻盖手机的展现出还多达了智能手机。这些浪漫机型往往更加能抵抗寄居灰尘和干燥环境。它们的电池续航时间往往也更长（例如，据它们各自的制造商称之为，Pantech Breeze III的待机时间长达14天，而iPhone 5c只有10天）。
带上大按钮的键盘也比玻璃屏更容易电话号码，而且它们的麦克风距嘴更加将近，不会使通话声音更为明晰。Carter Hooper, a New Orleans-based advertising agency creative director and self-described cellphone aficionado, holds the original RAZR in especially high regard. At long last I could have something that was even remotely like the communicators on Star Trek, he said, recalling his initial reaction to the phone. Similarly, Sean Hollister, a senior reporter for the online magazine the Verge, waxed nostalgic for these devices trappings. There is nothing quite like the physical satisfaction of flipping open a phone, he said. Theres also the lack of distractions when your phone is dumb rather than smart, so that it doesnt annoy you all the time.新奥尔良广告公司创新总监、自称为手机爱好者的卡特胡珀(Carter Hooper)就对最先的RAZR推崇备至。他回忆说自己对这款手机的第一反应是：“我再一能有一点点像《星际变形金刚》(Star Trek)中的发报机的东西了。”某种程度地，在线杂志《The Verge》的高级记者肖恩霍利斯特(Sean Hollister)对这些设备的一些小机关也很是缅怀。
他说道：“关上翻盖手机给身体带给的满足感是其他所有事情所做到将近的。如果你的手机不是智能机，你也就较少了让你迟疑的东西，所以它会仍然忘你。
”For the fashion conscious, clamshells also have a certain cachet. Despite the seemingly constant rollout of slightly updated iPhones and Android models, novelty, thy name isnt smartphone. Its a flip that makes you a renegade, an iconoclast.对于侧重时尚的人，翻盖手机也有令人青睐的特定品质。尽管iPhone和安卓(Android)或许在大大发售有所升级的机型，但是新奇，你的名字不是智能手机，而是让你沦为反叛者、反主流之人的翻盖手机。Committing to one these days doesnt require swearing off the Internet. Even the most rudimentary clamshell models -- such as the Samsung Rugby III, the Pantech Breeze III and the LG Revere 2 -- offer basic Web connectivity. For those who want it all, there are promising signs of a clamshell smartphone movement. Samsung recently launched its Android-powered Hennessy (featuring dual touch-screens on the inside and out) and W2014 flip phones.现如今，专心用于翻盖手机并非就要你退出互联网。即使是最基础的翻盖手机――如三星Rugby III、Pantech的 Breeze III和LG的Revere 2――都能获取基础的联网功能。
对于所有功能都想的人，有充满希望的迹象指出翻盖手机不会经常出现智能化趋势。前不久三星公布了配备安卓系统的Hennessy手机（配有内外双触屏）和W2014手机。These Android models are currently aimed at the Chinese market, but there are rumblings of a Stateside launch. There will be a place for flip phones in todays world for the foreseeable future, said Brad Molen, senior mobile editor at the technology website Engadget. Flip phones arent going away -- theyre just taking different forms.这些安卓机型目前都针对中国市场，但有传言称之为它们不会在美国公布。
科技网站Engadget的高级移动资讯编辑布拉德莫伦(Brad Molen)指出：“在当今世界，翻盖手机在可意识到的未来不会有一席之地。翻盖手机会消失――它们只是披上了有所不同的形式而已。
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