Ditch the glass: It's time to bring back less-fragile plastic smartphones(notebookcheck.net) |
Ditch the glass: It's time to bring back less-fragile plastic smartphones(notebookcheck.net) |
But smart phones are an established product line where lots of experiments have already happened.
Including using cheaper, more robust materials. The outcome ? People just think your phone is cheap and don't buy it.
https://world.hey.com/dhh/we-tried-that-didn-t-work-d9c42fe1
My favourite ever iphone was the plastic-bodied 5C, never felt the need for a case on that thing and it felt indestructible.
I remember seeing friends' that were dinged to hell, but still worked perfectly fine.
Forget plastic, ditch notifications.
I’m firmly on the glass side, but I’m willing to listen if there was a material as scratch resistant as glass and had better shock resistance. The word “scratch” was only used once in the article so I guess there isn’t a material improvement to polymer over amorphous silica.
Being able to blindly fumble for it in the dark is essential.
And the point of a phone is to be a mobile computer. A bulky phone case kind of defeats that point.
The back is some variant of plastic but it feels like paper. Dropped it a couple of times without a case and no scratches at all.
Each screen replacement cost me around $75 to replace DIY.
In exchange, I have 4 3-6 year old phones that look and function as new. If you hold them just right you can see fine scratches in the light, but at a casual glance, they appear unblemished. That would not be the case if the cases were plastic. I also get the convenience of wireless charging (not possible in metal cases).
You never tripped? Slipped? Had a toddler run into you? Dropped as much as a glass? Are you actually a human?
I usually have both a screen protector and a case, but accidents happen.
I've probably dropped mine at home 3 or 4 times, usually when trying to pick it up or set it down - but I got a nice soft case around it so nothing ever cracked. The real mystery is why people don't put a basic protective case on their expensive handheld devices.
I strongly suspect most people buy either the official case from the manufacturer or maybe they go to Amazon or buy one from their local store (Best Buy, Verizon, etc.). They are high markup items and thus readily available in places people shop already.
I find secondary markets that are essentially universal interesting. Imagine selling a TV, but not including a remote control, that seems absurd. What I strongly suspect is happening here is that the market does not favor phones that don't need cases because people want to buy cases. When you're talking about toting around a generic black rectangle everyone else has, there is a desire to make it unique and expressive through the case. I think even with plastic phones, cases would still sell.
Wireless charging is also RF btw.