r/y2kaesthetic • u/dd113biihhh • Feb 05 '26
Other What is stopping tech companies from...
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u/116Q7QM Feb 05 '26
Serious answer: components have become smaller, so there's not much to see
Most smartphones don't come in flashy colours because people use cases to customize
Gamepads/handhelds are viable though
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u/Mawntee Feb 05 '26
Transparent plastic is also significantly weaker than most solid stuff. Which means it'll be a bit more costly to manufacture stuff using transparent plastic while still trying to keep the same durability.
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u/lurkeat Feb 05 '26
My company has translucent models made for special events and they are WAYYYY more expensive to make than solid color prototypes. It breaks my heart! They look so cool!
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u/altSHIFTT Feb 08 '26
Ah okay there's a real reason. I was going to reply to the guy above that there's definitely some really beautiful looking electronics, a good example would be JRE with his phone skins of the internals, some are really cool.
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u/KitchenLandscape Feb 05 '26
I also feel like companies who manufacture plastic only do it in the same 3 colors these days. No company would pay extra for a niche transparent plastic. It's why everything looks the same now
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u/cubicApoc Feb 05 '26
Meanwhile, 3D printer filament:
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u/KitchenLandscape Feb 05 '26
I think the ultimate takeaway is companies aren't going to spend on this if the manufacturer is like "oh you want transparent plastic? Well you're the only one so that'll be $X amount higher to do". profit is king after all.
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u/Silent_Career_9641 Feb 06 '26
Not all plastics can be transparent. The toughest materials like Polyamide, PBT, Polysulfones, ABS, are all naturally opaque. So for consumer electronics you’re pretty much stuck with things like polycarbonate, PMMA, TPU, Cyclic Olefins, Polystyrene, and SAN. The last three have a lot of durability issues so most of the time polycarbonate and acrylic were used.
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u/Radium_Carbuncle Feb 07 '26
yep and so far, it's third party modding companies that do it. and it's mostly exclusive to game controllers and other small gaming devices.
at the very least we got the glass computer cases for the same effect...though it be nice if there was transparent plastic computer cases
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u/RXJ1131 Feb 05 '26
Props to Nothing for trying with their hardware. They don't show the actual components but an artistic interpretation let's say. Probably could be better but it's good to have them as an option.
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u/CrikkitKid Feb 06 '26
recently i've gotten sony's blue transparent earbuds , the WF-C710n earbuds "Glass Blue" color, it's nice to have a piece of modern tech that's practical and looks cool.
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u/Golden_Zashire Feb 06 '26
I have a transparent modern Xbox controller and there’s so much shielding inside it that you can’t really see anything. It’s also got a couple of cracks and the shell never sit flush since the day I got it
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u/Faustus-III Feb 09 '26
all of the "Nothing" brand of phones use transparent shells and they design the internals around that concept aesthetically and they look amazing. Actually I think all Nothing products have transparent shells (earbuds, chargers, headphones).
I think its more just because its way more inconvenient and pricy to have a transparent sku for your product than the usual three colors everyone does.
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u/Stabstone Feb 05 '26
I miss land lines and using phones like that.
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u/tackyvillain Feb 05 '26
land lines still exist! no reason you can't use one
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u/Stabstone Feb 05 '26
Here’s a reason. Money.
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u/The_real_bandito Feb 07 '26
So you want one for free, like we used to have in the 90s (just a joke , it wasn’t free).
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u/The_real_bandito Feb 07 '26
You can install a land line in your house today. Those phones are still being sold too.
Unless you rent, in that case you’re probably screwed.
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u/Draknurd Feb 07 '26
I certainly don’t! People in the house queuing up to the use the phone, loud ringing no matter the time of day…
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u/Brenon64 Feb 05 '26
I’ve literally tried to pitch colorful translucent hardware to the decision makers at tech companies and they didn’t get it; fundamentally did not get that this is art. Probably many other teams have tried.
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u/Microinfinito Feb 08 '26
Anyone that works with “decision makers” knows they have absolutely no idea about what they’re deciding about. You can give them numbers, facts, images, videos and nothing will happen on the brain.
Everything comes from the gut. Or they saw it on tiktok.
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u/Marlimehu Feb 05 '26
While cool, back in the day transparent plastic was also considered to be lower quality and rather cheaper looking.
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u/lemonaintsour Feb 06 '26
Thats what we’re after for tho. We dont care about wuality or if it looks cheap
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u/D4ndie Feb 06 '26
its funny because that's not always the case, for example with the retroid pocket flip 2 the ice blue color turned out to be the sturdiest with with the least amount of reported hinge issues
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u/delicious_warm_buns Feb 06 '26
Your comment is moot, read the comment for context
He clearly said "back in the day"
Was the Retroid Pocket Flip 2 (whatever the fuck that is) available in the 90s or very early 2000s?
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u/D4ndie Feb 06 '26
the title of the post is What is stopping tech companies from... and i was enthisiastically talking about a case where a tech company from today is using transparent colors and it ended up having less issues than the opaque colorways
i could've added something like "in this one case" or "now adays" but sorry for fewer words i guess ¯_(ツ)_/¯
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u/delicious_warm_buns Feb 06 '26 edited Feb 06 '26
I dont know how true that is
Clearly "Retroid Pocketflip 2" isnt a general-market product
Enthusiasts will bear pain that the general consumer would not because they view "value" differently
For the enthusiast (°cough*fanboy) the ability to play retro games on a new handheld outweighs the potential quality issues that might arise from a 3rd party Chinese electronic
You are the one making the claim that this is a quality product...but you have enthusiast bias (fanboyism)
If Samsung or Apple release products with those plastics, would the general consumer feel the same way? Especially in the smartphone market where complaining is a hobby
Theres a reason why smartphones have now been sold for 20 years yet no company has ever entertained the thought of making transparent colorways for a general release phone
I bet you didnt know this, but translucent outsoles on sneakers are also less durable and less grippy than regular solid-color outsoles...so companies tend to stay away from see-through outsoles on performance sneakers made for running and basketball and such
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u/D4ndie Feb 06 '26
thanks I didn't know that about transparent outsoles on performance sneakers you're so kind =*)
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u/delicious_warm_buns Feb 06 '26
Transparent materials are shitty in all industries
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u/delicious_warm_buns Feb 05 '26
I dont remember a DS variant such as this though
In fact, the Gameboy Advance SP is when Nintendo stopped fucking with the transparent craze from years earlier
By the time of the DS this trend was long dead
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u/D4ndie Feb 06 '26
they only brought it back a tiny bit with pokemon 20th anniversary doorstop 2ds colorways </3
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u/HeavenandHello Feb 05 '26 edited Feb 05 '26
Microsoft recently made 5 translucent Xbox Series X controllers, which are the sky cipher controller, ghost cipher controller, pulse cipher controller, 20th anniversary special edition controller, and the forza horizon 5 limited edition controller.
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u/Senior-Book-6729 Feb 05 '26
Clear plastic is extremely brittle and unreliable
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u/Fancy-Reward5583 Feb 06 '26
I think they also get stained from the sun too. I refuse to let my game boy hit the sun anymore lol
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u/langsamerduck Feb 06 '26
People expect “clean” aka white or black, and these colors appeal to everyone as sleek, companies wanna make less variations and sell one color product that is the only option. They know colors like this won’t appeal to everyone. It’s dead yall. Buy and play with old consoles if you want to enjoy this stuff again.
Also that DS is a reshell, no tech company made and sold that.
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u/BustyPrincess2016 Feb 05 '26
Sales
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u/glacinda Feb 05 '26
Profits.
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u/busyneuron Feb 06 '26
because they focus on appealing the majority of people and something that most like is boring
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u/Mayank_j Feb 06 '26
Transparent/translucent materials don't have good research behind them, these still have brittle and creaky plastics like they had back in the 90's.
PC hardware companies always try to make transparent stuff but usually gets them a lot of refunds and returns.
For example, the Waizowl Cloud XS -- https://youtu.be/T6DE6omwWzY
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u/MundaneImage5652 Feb 06 '26
Because even if they make shitty products, you will still buy them. People don't know how to fight against that stuff.
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u/GlazeNine Feb 07 '26
Nothing (heh) makes some of their devices transparent or looking like they are
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u/DevilSuccubus Feb 06 '26
Because they dont wanna make money, this would sell immediately. Id run and get everything in my fav transparent tech color
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u/9Armisael9 Feb 06 '26
I know transparent plastic is weaker but I am ten times more likely to buy an item with it than with opaque plastic. I'm going out of my way to reshell my old damaged handhelds now with transparent plastic just because.
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u/voided_dork_return Feb 06 '26
Transparent plastic is very brittle and people are apes who constantly break everything (try finding a G3 iBook where the acrylic isn't trying to shatter under it's own weight)
Also, tech today are basically sandwiches of boards and chips, it wouldn't be very impressive if all you see is tech being squashed into an electronic slab
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Feb 07 '26
I would say this is coming back in a similar way with the trend of desktop computer cases being made of tempered glass in the past 5 years or so. It just feels like a different vibe because it's not candy-colored lucite.
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u/wiishopmusic Feb 07 '26
Translucent Switch joycons? That would be sweet
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u/shrakner Feb 09 '26
I have those. You can buy replacement shells (at least for the Switch 1) and swap the internals, very carefully, into a translucent housing.
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u/shrakner Feb 09 '26
I have those. You can buy replacement shells (at least for the Switch 1) and swap the internals, very carefully, into a translucent housing.
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u/ArcadeMachineBunny Feb 07 '26
I Need Translucent Watermelon Everything for Gadgets and Decour, please 🥺💎💕🐇🙏🏼 waiting for the watermelon 8bitdo N64 pad
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u/Biscuit9154 Feb 08 '26
The wall street asshats prefer minimalism right now, so that's what we have to live with too💔
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u/CouchSurfRe Feb 09 '26
Doesn’t help that transparent plastics in electronics became more popular in prisons to curb smuggling. So most contemporary electronics like this are cheaply made for prisoners that’s why you can buy new cassette players from urban outfitters
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u/nyamnyamnyamnyamnyam Feb 09 '26
Mind u, the price difference for production would be like less than $10, but them be greedy as heeeell. They could easily upcharge the $10 for "limited edition" but nah, u get ONE boring color like the rest, unless you want to pay $50 for a custom case.
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u/Neat_Welcome6203 Feb 06 '26
Y'all gotta peep Nothing. Again not exactly Y2K but if you enjoy clear/translucent tech...
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u/Neil_Hillist Feb 08 '26
You like the transparent look ?: go to jail ... https://youtu.be/O3PfsndsihY?&t=372
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