Technology is a powerful train that moves quickly and is difficult, if not impossible, to stop. Sometimes you have to wonder where it's even going – and why?
I remember seeing the initial rollable and flexible tv and laptop displays at the Consumer Electronics Show in 2019 and 2020. It was cool, but like a futuristic concept car at an automotive show, it just looked a long way off from commercial success.
Soon after, Samsung made a splash with its “foldable” phone, a close cousin of the rollable display, but not exactly the same. Today, however, rollable may be getting back on the tracks and rolling along.
Let's see where it currently stands on the proprietary Silva New Technology Checklist**:
- doable (check)
- personal (check)
- wearable (check)
- connectable (check)
- hackable (see “connectable”)
- scalable (check)
- shareable (check)
- updateable (check)
- likeable (TBD)
- sustainable (TBD)
- available (no)
- profitable (TBD)
Well, there you have it. We're close but we're not quite there yet. Soon though. Keep your eyes peeled for a phone wrapped around someone's wrist like a watch.
**Not a real thing. (But maybe someday…)
Flexible OLED isn’t a new technology. It’s found not just in folding smartphones but also laptops, computer monitors, televisions, and other consumer technology. These applications stretch, curve, and fold displays into various configurations, leaving rollable OLED as the last hurdle to leap.
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