Streisand effect
Except that in this case everybody knows about Apple anyway, so it's just a Streisand ripple.
Apple has allegedly blacklisted a German tech journalist who filmed a video that proved the new iPhone 6 Plus could be bent. Axel Telzerow, editor of Computer Bild, was determined to see if the new mobe could be persuaded to take on a more curved shape, only to be "shocked" to see how easy it was to buckle the already quite …
Titter, chuckle, chortle.. It's turning into a fiasco of Microsoft proportions.
"More importantly, according to Apple only 6 iphones have bent."
The report I heard said 9 confirmed, worldwide. Still low, but I did immediately wonder how many sheeple simply hadn't yet reported the problem.
And as they've now commented on the problem, 3 things happen:
1) Every iOwner now checks their device regularly for bends.
2) Apple introduces a change to the design and replaces any bent units people complain about.
3) Apple makes no further comments on the issue, leaving the only comment as there is only 6 (or 9) bent phones.
To be fair Apple aren't alone in this practice. It's quite common in the automotive industry as well where a bad review of a Porsche, BMW, etc. can get you banned from from their promotional events and you can forget about loaners for future reviews. Companies like Ford and Toyota don't have that luxury since a potential reviewer can hit any of a myriad rental shops and plonk down a few bucks for a day of thrashing reviewing. Owners aren't likely to make a big fuss in public since they face a different problem - who wants to say they spent all that money on a car that's pants especially if they have the money "upgrade" in a short while?
True, although I remember when buying a PSU a while back for a pc, after checking the reviews for my hard earned spends there was a review in custom PC of a seasonic PSU that they had sent for preview and the reviews didn't give it great ratings (not bad but there were flaws, they did tough tests), seasonic actually listened to the review (I think they actually contacted the mag as well) and came back with a redesign.
I have to say that was a big influence on who I spent my money with.
All I can say is that you have obviously never had a cheap PSU blow up on you. If you're building your own PC, it's one of the most important components to get right.
If I were to buy one that subsequently failed in a short period of time, or gave shitty voltages, or didn't output the current it was rated for, then damn right I'd leave a negative review of it to warn others...
On Eddy Itos post, it reminds me of an episode of top gear I watched once. They wanted to test drive some car, and had been told they could have one, and then teh company changed their mind because they thought that the car would get slammed.
So instead they went to a dealership, and did a 'hidden camera' test drive, I think it was James May doing the driving, can't remember.
I believe they also had another episode where something similar happened, iirc they were driving through russia or romania... some eastern europian country. Two of three cars turned up, the third did not because the company didn't want them test driving it, so IIRC hammond bought one, using his own money.
" believe they also had another episode where something similar happened, iirc they were driving through russia or romania... some eastern europian country. "
It was the USA - and Hammond quite liked it in the end too, especially after the performance at Bonneville.
"Personally I would bend over backwards to get that kind of access to Apple tech."
You just solved the problem. People are putting the iPhone 6 Plus in their pocket and then bending the wrong way. As Apple would say, you sitting (bending) the wrong way.
The iPhone 4/5's are short/squat/fat devices so bending them is harder with them being relatively thick but small. Although I do wonder about a 5 series being long/skinny... The 6 series is more spread out so you get greater leverage on bending with the same material thicknesses. Then we're dealing with a cheap aluminum exoskeleton that doesn't like to get spread out thinly like that, and it sure enough doesn't like to have holes in weak spots. Not sure why Apple didn't move the controls to the top/bottom where there is more structural strength.... That would increase the force required to bend, OR just make it 2mm thicker and beef up the frame and materials a little so it has the same rigidity as previous phones.
"Has anyone tried bending an iPhone 4 or 5 yet? Perhaps they were always bendy but no one thought of bending them?"
The plus has a larger screen so someone can apply more force by using their thumbs to form a fulcrum and levering from the ends. It's probably harder to do with the smaller phones.
Aside from the greater leverage, Apple didn't stiffen the device enough so the aluminium deformed and that's that. People trying the same with a Galaxy Note 3 have shown it to be far more difficult to do - presumably the plastic shell is more resistant to deformation.
"Has anyone tried bending an iPhone 4 or 5 yet? Perhaps they were always bendy but no one thought of bending them?"
Yes. And even they take considerably more force.. That consumer magazine report from a few days ago tested a 5 in the same machine where the new preciouses came last. The one that found all phones don't in fact bend so easily.
Not the best performer, but Aluminium, despite Apple's assertions is indeed bendy in thin cross section.
Cracked screen and bulging case from swollen battery.. Noticeable.
Poor reception. Noticeable.
Flat phone not flat any more.. Noticeable.
Fanboy excuses.. Laughable.
From now on, when someone says their iPhone rocks, they may actually mean back and forth when they put it on a table.
Aluminium, despite Apple's assertions is indeed bendy in thin cross section.
A quick google search on the physical properties of aluminium confirms that it is both highly ductile and malleable. In layman's terms, this means that it can be both stretched, and squished easily. Not a great choice for a mobile phone housing, which is why other phone manufacturers who were already making phones with an aluminium body (*cough* HTC), make theirs out of a sufficient thickness of metal. Another case of Apple nicking someone else's idea and screwing it up...
Okay, having just read the actual test results in CR, it seems that HTC's phone performs just as badly, confirming that aluminium is not a good choice for something that is going to go in a pocket and get sat on. Looks like Apple still copied them despite there already being reports of this being a problem with the One M8 (which is a horrible name for a phone IMHO).
"... fruity stormtrooper ..." Love It
Fruity Stormtrooper: Let me see your Press identification.
Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: [with a small wave of his hand] You don't need to see his Press identification.
Fruity Stormtrooper: We don't need to see his Press identification.
Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: These aren't the Blackberries you're looking for.
Fruity Stormtrooper: These aren't the Blackberies we're looking for.
Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: He can go about his business.
Fruity Stormtrooper: You can go about your business.
Ben Obi-Wan Kenobi: Move along.
Fruity Stormtrooper: Move along... move along. and Have a Nice Day...
'Pologies to S Spielberg
It was because of Jagwyre. Or at least, I think it was because of that.
I'm not surprised about Apple, after all they forced Ellen DeGeneres to backtrack on a joke ad she made on the iPhone. But really, Apple shouldn't keep the Jobs-era policy on reporters given that they don't have Jobs on the helm anymore. They're just coming out as rude.
Whilst I disagree with Apple's reactions, and not a fan of their products - I can't blame them for being pissed off, that reporter isn't exactly treating the iphone with kid-gloves, Anybody stupid enough to apply that pressure to a phone should expect to either bend or snap.. fact the screen didn't shatter should speak about the quality of the product..
As for people complaining its weaker, physics dictates the thinner phone would be weaker compared to thicker skeleton/chassis/interior (relative to its width and height)..
Yes it does. Google "m8 bent". Apple gets lots of publicity, both good and bad. HTC gets very little, avoiding both the positive and the negative...
Apple said they test for bending using 55 pounds of force, and always have. One can argue that this isn't enough and they should be testing with a higher force, as evidenced by a small number of people who claim they bent in their pockets. But a phone bending when you deliberately try to bend it by applying enough force to make your thumbs go white? Who cares! That's like complaining that the screen breaks when you stomp on it with a steel toed boot.
"that reporter isn't exactly treating the iphone with kid-gloves"
It is a domestic product. It should demand a reasonable level of care and attention (like don't use it in the shower, obvious stuff) but if it can be distorted while wearing it in a pocket and comparable phones do not, then it is a problem with the product.
There's no two ways about it. This thing is thin and fragile, and skating close to "not fit for purpose".
I'll remind you again. It is a phone. Maybe a sort of tablet-like thing. It is not a bone china tea service.
"physics dictates the thinner phone would be weaker "
Don't confuse physics with fashion. Apple phones are more expensive, for poorer technical specifications than all the alternatives I have checked (not exhaustive).
But people still buy them. That's fashion.
As for people complaining its weaker, physics dictates the thinner phone would be weaker compared to thicker skeleton/chassis/interior (relative to its width and height)..
And anyone with a modicum of sense would realise that this make being thinner a bad design choice. But if Apple's designers had any common sense, they'd also realise that making a phone with a front and rear face made of glass will result in it becoming slippery in sweaty / dirty hands. So it looks like they've not heard of coefficients of friction, or bothered to look up the ductility of metals. Apple have always been a case of design (and price) over content. Having been forced to use some of their products on occasion, I can assure you that I will never willingly own one.
I thought by now we'd be seeing the new iPhone being returned in bulk as not fit for purpose. Goes to show the power of contract lock-in I suppose. What I'd like to know is
1) has anyone tried to replicate the bending without forcing it, i.e. simulating a day's careful use like the guy who allegedly went for a drive with it in his front pocket and wound up with a bananaphone
2) isn't anyone worried about the battery in a phone that isn't protecting it from stress?
Maybe they are being returned in bulk, but, the only people who could confirm that are Apple themselves, or one of their big retailers.
Apple are not going to admit that they are having loads returned, and likewise, given Apple's penchant for banning anyone who dares criticise them, are resellers really going to step out of line and be the first to say "Yes, we've had loads returned"?
Of course, there may be no problem and it's just a handful of people who've got a bendy phone.
This whole thing kicked off after someone alleged that their iPhone bent after being treated respectfully (i.e. spending a day in a FRONT pocket.)
Hence why I asked if someone had tried replicating the bend through simulating an average days wear & tear as opposed to bending it all at once.
How exactly can you construct a fair test that simulates an average day's (or year's) wear and tear?
The only way to do it is to actually use it, and there are a lot of 6 Plus owners who are doing just that. If this was a real problem for a lot of people, there would be more and more complaints every day from actual iPhone 6 Plus owners that it happened to them.
But there haven't been, at this point it is all noise from Apple haters, just like every new iPhone launch. The only issue for a new iPhone that actually affected more than a handful of iPhone owners was the antenna issue on the iPhone 4. All the rest - "yellow screen" on the 4S, "purple haze in photos" on 5, and so on were a few scattered reports than the haters did their best to blow out of all proportion, just like the bending.
"Hater"? Oh dear...
Look, this may be a complete non-problem, but you can't use the current number of faulty devices to judge that. The current crop of customers are still being too careful with their new toys. As time goes by, however, and that new thing becomes part of your daily surroundings, the chance of mis-handling increases.
What should concern Apple is the evidence of just how little force is required to permanently deform the casing. In time, we may see an epidemic of broken iPhones as owners stop paying so much attention to them.
Even expensive watches are constructed from durable materials, because once you've worn a watch for a long time, you forget that it's there, and you forget how expensive it is.
Why are people not worried about electrical cable which only has a 1mm plastic coating to protect them from shock?
Maybe because that plastic coating is designed to be flexible and not break, and to be impermeable to moisture, to well defined engineering standards, whereas bending a battery that contains a highly reactive metal and which can short circuit as a result, catching fire in the process is a bad idea.
RCBOs. Also electric cables for flexible cords are double insulated. An awful lot of people spent a lot of time designing the standards for the electrical system. Fashion did not really enter it. Avoiding fires and deaths did. Your biggest risk from the British electrical distribution system is of standing on a plug, which hurts.
Apple gives a full refund for 14 or 30 days (can't remember which) for any reason. So anyone who bought a 6 Plus, saw the bending video and was concerned they made the wrong choice and shouldn't have bought it could return it without issue.
Few people will though, because it is a non-issue. The ability to bend a phone when you deliberately try to do so with a lot of force doesn't mean that the handful of people who have reported it bending in their pocket will suddenly number in the millions.
Google "m8 bent". HTC had the same issue, and obviously it was the same small segment of the user base that had the problem. CR's test showed it is EASIER to bend that the iPhone 6/6 Plus, so if Apple was going to have a ton of returns for "not fit for purpose" like the fandroids vainly hope, HTC would have already.
There’s a special word in the English language for anyone who deliberately breaks an Android phone, bends back their Windows laptop til the hinge breaks, stamps on their Blackberry, pokes the lens of their Nikon with rods of metal, bends their iPhone, sets fire to their Sony TV and so forth. That word is ‘Twat’. It’s thin, shiny and hollow to make room for the electronics. Of course it will fucking bend. It’s not a test your strength machine.
Anyone who then whinges about its unscientifically tested supposed lack of durability, uploads the video to YouTube or otherwise makes a stupid damn fuss about a non-story isn’t just a twat, they’re a cunt as well.
Sorry to be blunt about this - but there are bigger stories in the world, be they bad (ebola, death of bees, global warming, ISIS, Justin Beiber) or good (that new Renault Twingo III, the new Star Wars film, Christina Hendricks, Windows 10 (maybe), Yosemite). Smashing up shit ‘cos you’re a small minded baby who’d rather destroy than create just isn’t worth the column inches. It’s ‘look at me’ trolling, pure and simple.
Actually the special word for the actions you describe, in my own experience, is "manager", though in some organisations it might just be "user".
Back in the days of thin HP laptops I remember a replacement coming back with a note that said "we've replaced it this time, but next time don't give it to a gorilla."
Don't pay attention to the crappy design of a USD $1000+ mediocre hardware device which bends under simple thumb pressure.
Justin Bieber has a new tattoo! That's important. Discuss.
Do let us know when you're done with your fanboiragegasm, so I can flush.
You wouldn't perchance work for Apple?
@Anonymous Coward
No, I don't work for Apple. But I do make stuff. I'm not an accountant. I'm not a project manager. I create things with my own effort. Software. Paintings. Furniture. I just like making things. Which, in a consumerist, short attention span, society, might be considered a little weird. And, like many people who make things, it really gets my hackles up when some moron just breaks things to get hits on the internet. It's mindless, it's stupid. Damn. I'm ranting.
Where are my dried frog pills?
P.S. the bits about Justin Beiber and Christina Hendricks were flippancy.
I thought it was just me who thought this "bendgate" bollocks was being blown out of proportion.
My eyesight being a bit rubbish means smaller phones are no longer of any earthly use to me as I can barely read them, so big screens it is. So, I own a 6" Nokia Lumia 1320, which means nobody gets to call me a "fanboi". (Yes, I keep it in a nice, chunky flip-cover case. I'm not an idiot: it has to share a trouser pocket with my house keys.)
I did check out a Note 3 and a similarly sized Wiko model, but Nokia's build quality is best described with words like "outhouse" and "brick" and it's been holding up pretty well so far.
No consumer electronics product is designed to take the kind of deliberate abuse shown in the video. If you look closely, you can see the screen starting to separate when he tried to bend the Android product. And let's not even mention Samsung's own woes. (Oh, right: nobody has. Odd, that.)
"Sorry to be blunt about this - but there are bigger stories in the world." - sure, there are, but...
"ebola" - not so relevant to a tech news site unless it mutates into a computer virus.
"death of bees" - ditto above.
"global warming" - been covered here, the comments make for great reading.
"ISIS" - isn't that just called "IS" now?
"Justin Beiber" - that smashing noise you can hear is your argument flailing in agony before it dies. He will never ever be an important story... unless he catches Ebola and infects IS(IS) with it while being stung by a horde of bees.
"that new Renault Twingo III" - might turn up here if it has some interesting tech onboard.
"the new Star Wars film" - ANOTHER? Bloody hell...
"Christina Hendricks" - [google-google] Meh, not my type.
"Windows 10 (maybe)" - covered here. I liked the reasoning for skipping Windows 9.
"Yosemite" - oh God, this isn't another volcano that's going to blow up, is it?
"Smashing up shit ‘cos you’re a small minded baby who’d rather destroy than create just isn’t worth the column inches." - maybe not column inches, but certainly YouTube storage. There's no shortage of people doing dumb things for the lulz, like objects-in-the-microwave and such. Is it idiotic? Hell yes. Look at what passes on Twitter, Facebook, etc. It is an awful lot of "morons doing stuff for other morons to laugh at". That's just how it is. (Pathetic, isn't it?)
Though, if you took care to read the story, the column inches (in whatever context that might have on a website) were not about the bloke bending his phone, but about Apple's "WAH!" reaction to the bloke bending his phone.
""Justin Beiber" - that smashing noise you can hear is your argument flailing in agony before it dies. He will never ever be an important story... unless he catches Ebola and infects IS(IS) with it while being stung by a horde of bees."
OK, who here would pay to watch that on pay per view? (hand up)
Um... you do know that phones are supposed to be resilient because *gasp* they will be carried and used in extremely harsh environments most of the time? My BlackBerries have survived countless falls, at least 4 super-soaking storms; my current one survived Monday's storm that flooded my freaking shoes as I was caught mid-commute on my motorbike. Any phone that can't handle that kind of beating is not fit for purpose. Phones that break if you look at them cross-eyed aren't fit for purpose.
Oh, and if you're a software developer, you should know that this also applies to software. Programs should not crash if someone inputs 1025 chars in a 1024 char field, if a network connection is broken/lost mid-transfer, of you get weird input, among other things. All exceptions should be handled safely. Your reservation system shouldn't break because someone inputted 2014-09-32.
...there are bigger stories in the world...
What, really, other things exist? Some of them are more 'important' than this story? Well, hot damn, whodathunkit?
Please go and look up 'straw man fallacy' and while you're at it look up 'ad hominem attack', then have a thought about who is the 'twat' and 'cunt'.
Actually, the oft-misquoted Apple response was "Gripping any mobile phone will result in some attenuation of its antenna performance, with certain places being worse than others depending on the placement of the antennas".
Which isn't the happiest advice in the world. But it is at least semantically correct.
Clue: Apostrophes and adverbs exist for a reason.
I think you'll find the response was "Just avoid holding it in that way" - if Steve Jobs can be validated as stating "Apples response"[sic]
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/24/apple-responds-over-iphone-4-reception-issues-youre-holding-th/
He [Jobs] had a point. I went to my doctor comlpaining that my shoulder hurt from going to the gym. He said "don't do it any more". Nice!
Apple's company response (as opposed to one person's quip in an email) was somewhat different. And neither said "you're holding it wrong". But commentards can always interpret history as they like.
I wonder
If Apple's campus content filter even allows El reg to be viewed? Somehow I have to think not...
However, ironically, there is an App for that :)
I can sort of understand an Apple bod being pissed off if they supplied the device for testing and expected it back in one (unbent) piece. That said, Apple can hardly be surprised that journos are doing this given the widely publicized (and demonstrable) problem. I wonder how many devices are getting bent in Apple stores - I bet staff have a memo to hover around the display and keep an eye on people bending their phones.
"'Dear Mr Cook,' Telzerow continued. 'Is this really how your company wants to deal with the media that provide your customers with profound tests of your products? Do you really think a withdrawal of Apple’s love and affection could have an intimidating effect on us?'"
In the above statement, Telzerow poses two questions. Although Tim Cooke won't answer them for Telzerow, I will take it upon myself to answer them as Tim Cooke would, if he were so inclined.
The answers are "Yes" and "Yes".
1- Blacklisting + presents, test units, invitations and such are just a bait&switch strategy for corrupting the press. They could as well cut all the theatre and give friendly journalists a check every month, and have an agreement with some group of thugs to have said thugs capping unfriendly journos knees.
2- El Reg should consider their blacklisting as a kind of honor badge or decoration, that proves that they're able to stick to their guns when defending their right to inform the public.
3- A good part of the public, though- alas-, not a majority, can tell the difference between a news article and some PR bullshit container. That part of the public includes probably most of my fellow commentards, 'cause if you have survived for some time working in/with IT, you probably can detect bullshit from miles away in a dark and foggy night. ;-)
... of contempt and secrecy, their refusal as company policy to answer journalists' questions, their smug complacency of apparently renting you a phone which they retain the right to brick if they don't like the owner's usage of it...
This episode just adds to the list. If they simply came out and said "Yes, it bends if you treat it *really* stupidly" I'd have far more respect for them.
Apple has shot itself in the foot again.
Highlighting this simply points out that all the 'technical' editors, such as the guy with two Christian names at the Guardian, are so biassed towards Apple and simply overlook all the obvious deficiencies.
No one is perfect ... except on the tech pages of the Guardian. All for the cost of a crappy iPhone.
You should be more like The Verge.
That website is the perfect media outlet for Apple. Go and look at it! www.theverge.com.
They're *still* dutifully imploring you to discover "EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED AT APPLE'S IPHONE AND WATCH EVENT (show me)" (Their shoutiness). How long is it now?
Tim Cook only needs to fart and there are twenty stories covering it. Apple are so up their arse that I truly do believe they will start coughing them out before long.
Recently, their gushing adulation of Apple started getting on their readers tits and their reaction was to tell us all that their reviews are so good because they're biased!
To show how much Apple love a news outlet which bends over and takes it willingly, they were rewarded for defending the bendyphone WITH A SITE VISIT TO THE HALLOWED TURF WHERE THEY TEST JESUS PHONES!
Apple has to do this.
I mean if a drug dealer incurs a bad debt, you kill the debtor in an overt and public way.
You cut their hands off and post them to journalists. You kill their familiy.
Apple and Jobs didnt get to where they are(or were in the dead Job's case) by being nice guys.
This journalist just has to lie awake now and wait for Apple's lapdog, the CIA, to arrive and rendition him brown bread.
Google "N85VM/N227SV rendition" if you think I am exaggerating.
The screen on the 6+ breaks if you drop it. Some sorry individual sat next to me the other day had the first broken iPhone 6+ I've seen A lovely spidery-web of cracks coming from the corner it had presumably landed on :-) And he'd gone to the trouble of putting a screen protector on it. Oh how I chuckled quietly to myself :-)
That Consumer Reports conducted a careful test and found that the iPhone 6 and 6+ were no more "bendable" that other phones and better than some, such as the HTC.
No matter, Apple=bashing makes a good story. Truth cannot be permitted to interfere with that when you are pandering to irrational Apple haters.
No, I do not have an IPhone, I have a Samsung phone and tablet.
If you are stupid enough to put your pohne in your hip pocket and sit on it, stop whining, you got what you deserved. The same applies if you deliberately try to destroy your phone and succeed. All you have proven is how stupid you are.
Increased fragility is not progress. It a disease that started with the MacBook Air, spread to the MacBook Pro and has now infected the iPhone. Apple, do you know some people use their laptops and phones outside in the real world? Out in this real world things like battery life, anti-glare screens, water resistance and overall mechanical resilience matter. Steadfastly putting aesthetic appeal above practicality IS starting to cost you - no need to think the two cannot be combined, but you do need to think. Having "Genius Bar" staff recommend rigid shells might look like an up-sell, but it is also a tacit admission of failure. Have a word with yourself.