[redpoint5]

When color flip phones were all the rage, I was enraged because they required a backlight to view while the B/W LCDs were fine with ambient light. Color back then added no functionality, but was simply added to differentiate products. Same with polyphonic ringtones. Who cares if the phone sounds differently when it rings?

I can see the value in flipping modes depending on strong ambient light vs darkness. Smart phones are difficult to see in bright sunlight, and would benefit from reflecting ambient lighting.