this post was submitted on 27 May 2024
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[–] [email protected] 59 points 6 months ago (1 children)

That phrase doesn't mean what you think it means.

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[–] Hobbes_Dent 39 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Drinking glasses. Not planned obsolescence but a way to remove klutzes like me from the pool.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

To be fair, you'd have to drop an awful lot of bubbles to not be let back in the pool.

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[–] hperrin 26 points 6 months ago (5 children)

Not really. Unless you think dishes are planned obsolescence.

[–] victorz 6 points 6 months ago

I crashed my boat into a rock. PLANNED OBSOLESCENCE.

Yeah this one was easy to break. I originally up voted the post, but quickly changed my mind.

[–] JamesTBagg 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago)

Hmm... maybe. You should look up East German Superfest glass. Big dishware producers refused to use it because it meant not selling replacement dishes.

Though, OP's argument is just dumb.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Now that you mention it, we live in the future! Where are my indestructible, microwave-safe, and machine-wash safe plates? Don't say plastic, those get weird with high temperatures.

[–] AngryCommieKender 4 points 6 months ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (1 children)

Superfest made them. None of the glass makers and distributers would buy them because they were practically indestructible, so they couldn't see infinite sales.

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[–] Exusia 26 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Bro just dropped his brand new Galaxy Fold/Flip/pixel from way too high and found out they need a case.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (4 children)

Hell, I even have protectors on the camera lenses.

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[–] CobblerScholar 20 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Humans will break anything and everything that we use regardless of size shape or function just depends on how fast. Long as every piece is replaceable and repairable then it doesn't matter if it breaks

[–] Mr_Fish 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

A common mistake that people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.

[–] SGG 10 points 6 months ago (1 children)

There's a constant race between inventors and the universe. Inventors are trying to create idiot proof devices, and the universe is creating better idiots.

The universe is winning.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

Is dropping a smartphone from a standing height the work of an idiot? Sounds like something a smartphone designer might say, but I think OPs point is valid. Don't even get me started on cases. Eventually history will look at smartphone cases the way we look at plastic on furniture from the 50s.

[–] SGG 18 points 6 months ago (2 children)

There's always a trade off when it comes to any device.

Fast or slow, lots of features or basic, cheap or expensive, thin/stylish or ruggedized, water or other ingress resistant standards. All of these have to be weighted against each other.

Also what constitutes a drop? 4 feet, 40 feet, 400? (sorry if I turned on anyone with a foot fetish)

It is absolutely possible to create a mobile phone with most features people want that survives multiple 4 foot high drops, but it will be encased in a few cm of rubber, the touch screen will be under a noticeable screen protector, and reception might suffer a bit, and it won't have wireless charging unless you're ok if that stops working after a unlucky drop. It will also probably be expensive, even more so if you then want to use more premium materials in order to try and slim it down some.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

I mean, my mobile phone was like 350aud, has survived literally dozens of drops from 4ft+, on a variety of surfaces from carpet and lino to gravel, concrete and bitumen. Literally every function of the phone works fine and there's no case, just a screen protector. It didn't come with wireless charging so I don't know how fragile that would be, but current phones are tough as shit.

The chassis of my phone is dented and smashed in dozens of places and everything it could do new it can do now just the same, except for looking pretty.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I wonder what these would look like if Apple made them:

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Does anyone remember these?

[–] [email protected] 14 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Uh, not really what planned obsolescence is.

Though I do wonder how much more durable they would be if corning made it 1 mm instead of 0.4 mm thick.

Manufacturers can also improve durability by recessing the screen slightly into a plastic frame, that way when the phone drops on its corner or side on a hard object, it will reduce the likelihood of it cracking.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Uh, not really what planned obsolescence is.

You’re right, but I couldn’t think of a short term for this. I found ‘bad’ design too broad, and it’s not ‘hostile’ design either.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

Probably just designed to fail maybe?

[–] [email protected] 13 points 6 months ago

If the parts that break are either unavailable or incredibly difficult to replace then I agree. (Held in by glue I'm looking at you ya bastard)

But just because it breaks doesn't mean it's planned obsolescence.

Where I work in the freight industry we have little handhelds we're supposed to use that get dropped all the time. Occasionally the screens break or the cameras break. Both of them are held in by screws and are swappable in that event.

Fairphone is a device I'd love to get as they are very easily fixable but they still break when dropped. The parts are readily available for purchase as well. It's just not easy if you're outside of the EU.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 6 months ago (5 children)

I agree that there should be phones that prioritize sturdiness for clumsy people, but I see things like sturdiness and waterproof capabilities used as an excuse to get rid of useful features, and I don't like it. I've had cell phones for over 2 decades, and I've never dropped one; having an SD card slot and headphone jack is much more important to me than durability, since I rarely hold it over water, and always make sure to keep a solid grip regardless of the circumstances.

[–] TrickDacy 6 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I've had cell phones for over 2 decades, and I've never dropped one

Pressing X to doubt.

[–] MolochAlter 7 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Meh, I can see that, my dad is the same way, the trick is he hardly uses one and treats it like an OSHA situation when he's operating it.

TBH it's not the worst habit to have.

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[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (2 children)

I got my first cell phone in middle school, and I knew that if it broke I wasn't getting another one, so I made sure to hold it securely when using it, since I didn't want to drop and break it. When I eventually upgraded to a smartphone a few years after they started getting popular, I held it even more securely, since it was even more expensive, and even more fragile. At this point it's just second nature to me to handle phones like I'm transporting fine china.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Samsungs have been advertising water resistance to 10m for yeeeears with headphone jacks and sdcard slots. It's not exclusive.

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[–] tinyVoltron 2 points 6 months ago

I call bullshit.

[–] iarigby 2 points 6 months ago (2 children)

For you maybe, I drop my phone at least once a week.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 6 months ago

That's exactly my point. Different people have different needs, so while OP is right that there should be phones for themselves and yourself that address the fact that a significant portion of the population drop their phones regularly, my own needs follow a different hierarchy that benefits from a separate set of features.

The fact that phones are all kinda just the same, with any changes made to one model frequently rippling through to other models from other manufacturers in time, is an issue. The customization to phones shouldn't only apply to external features like cases and dongles.

[–] TrickDacy 2 points 6 months ago

Me too, and I feel like I'm pretty careful. But when you're always holding/moving a fragile thing, accidents happen over time

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago

having an SD card slot and headphone jack is much more important to me than durability

por que no los dos? i drop my phone on nearly a daily basis, because i am clumsy af, but the screen is more scratch and impact resistant than any screen protector i could purchase, and it's still fine after a couple years of that abuse. it still has a headphone jack and removable sim/sd tray, and if it ever gets dirty i can wash it in the sink. i do wish it had a removable battery and a better camera, but nothing's perfect i guess. there's no reason sturdiness or waterproofness need to get in the way of any functionality.

the trick is though, they don't market these sorts of phones to clumsy people, they more aim them at construction workers.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 6 months ago

Human beings: planned obsolescence.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Yeah, no. The forces of suddenly being stopped even after a few feet can be extremely difficult to mitigate. Most electronics can survive being dropped once, but few are able tp be dropped multiple times, and 'withstand being dropped' sounds like it would cover multiple drops.

The surface matters too. Most electronics are fine dropped on carpet, but fail on concrete because the surfaces are different.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago

I’m using my old Nokia to this day. And why? Because “suddenly being stopped even after a few feet” wasn’t “difficult to mitigate” for Nokia. In the last 15 years this thing must have survived more than 100 drops, sometimes down a staircase. When I pick up the back cover, the battery and the SIM card, it’s as good as new.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago
[–] [email protected] 5 points 6 months ago

With phones, like with other things, a bit of protective covering goes a long way.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)
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[–] [email protected] 2 points 6 months ago (1 children)

I dropped my handset a bunch of times - came out second in a fight once and wrecked some nerves in my hand - but it survived every time.

It's when we were abroad and trying to rent those funny little scooters that I dropped it on cobblestones and it was insta-dead. And me having already done arrive-can with my info stored on my phone that's now unusable. Wheeee.

I don't think even an otterbox would have saved it, though. The universe has a sense of humour and it's a very dark one.

[–] yokonzo 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

You used your phone in a fight? Did you have those brass knuckles case or something?

[–] Threeme2189 3 points 6 months ago

He went all out and got the Katana case.

Still lost though, as the other guy had a nunchuck case and fucked up his strong hand.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 months ago (1 children)

Sometimes it is unplanned obsolescence. I mean most TVs will not survive being dropped from the table…

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 months ago (1 children)

You're either a heullva lot stronger than me or have a much smaller TV if it's a handheld device

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