I don't know if it's that crazy. The form factor of laptops, and computers for that matter, has pretty much stayed the same for many decades and still going strong. It's entirely possible that this slab phone form factor will stick around forever.

Off the top of my head, random list of older things that haven't significantly changed form factor in forever:

• Writing tools (pens, pencils)
• Notebooks
• Chairs, sofas
• Cars (pedals, steering wheel, gear stick)
• Cookware (pans, pots, etc.)
• Utensils (knives, spoons, forks)
• Clothes (for men: trousers, shirt, underwear, socks, shoes, jacket/coat)
• Drawers
• Doors and door knobs/handles

Maybe some of those I'm wrong about, but certainly not all. Sometimes, a form factor just sticks around.

10 or 20 years ago I might have excitedly speculated about what will replace the smart phone in 2155. Could it be some kind of glasses or smart contacts that give you private AR-style access to your digital life? Maybe even an implant!

Me now: Still love my technology, do not trust the megacorps that are evil on their own, never mind the fact that the line is blurring between trillion dollar tech companies and the government. Oh and I live in the US, so it's the raw uncut shit.

With any luck, the closer I personally get to 2155 the less I will continue to use my old-fashioned smart phone. I already lose it in my own house for hours on end. Feels good man.

You say brain implants might be expensive, but as technology, and time, progresses the price will drop significantly.

Unless it's a Sony gaming device, in that case the price will go up after time.

They started building the machine in 2055 and didn't have time to invent anything else. Turns out focus is pretty important for fast R&D...

The scientist is a hipster who uses the 2155-equivalent of a flip phone. Through a lifetime of grit and determination, he's extended his attention span to 6 entire seconds (the global average is 4) so he could complete the time machine and save the world (by asking someone else to do it)

Honestly, I don’t think the smart phone form factor is going anywhere anytime soon. I think that the 20th century set a lot of people up for an assumption that technology would continue to increase at the same rate for the next several hundred years but that’s just not correct. Look at how much changed in the 500 years before the 20th century and look at the current state of capitalism and global politics. We’ve gone basically nowhere culturally in over 100 years. Certainly more technology will be able to fit in the same amount of space. But that’s the dirty secret of the 21st-century, miniaturization is our biggest technological achievement. I definitely think that even 500 years from now will be a lot closer to now than most people think.

Knowing us, it'll be a projector you implant in your eye that projects a picture in front of itself that your eye still has to look at, because that's exactly the kind of half ass thing we're best at.

Eventually someone is going to create an input system that will make the glasses form factor work.

I’m sure by 2050 they’ll start restricting airplane travel or crossing the border to people who are chipped. Given historical precedence, I’m sure 5% of the populace will resist for a few months before giving in.

Probably most people will have gotten chipped already for a discount on energy drinks or something, and won’t see the problem.