Caught up in the weird world of blogging — blogging as I know it, 11+ years into the practice — at 7 in the morning here in Madison, Wisconsin, I tried to make a go of it. I found a wonderful little design problem, a flaw in the Galaxy Note 5. Great photograph of what happens it you stick the S Pen in backwards.
Please don’t do this. It’s not a fun experiment and you will likely ruin your $800+ smartphone to a point where it’s not fixable. Seriously. Just don’t do it....I don't have a Galaxy Note 5, but I like this metaphor. Here you have something that utterly fails if you do one simple thing that you don't have to do, but just the idea that you could do it, so easily, makes you... what? 1. Want to do it, 2. Just feel bad about the device anyway, even though you know perfectly well not to do it, 3. Worry that some devious person will see that you have a Galaxy Note 5 and stick the pen in backwards and now you have to grip and guard that thing even more than you had to already, 4. Boldly go forth in life knowing that in the end it's a user problem, and as the user, you are firmly in control.
I won’t even mention Sylusgate, SPengate, Pengate, or any other ridiculous term the media has dubbed this issue. It’s an unfortunate design flaw, but in the end it comes down to being a user problem.....
And in the end, the blog you make is equal to the... ability not to stick the pen in backwards.
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17 comments:
Why is this interesting?
Steve Jobs said a finger was “the best pointing device in the world”, and that “Who wants a stylus? You have to get ‘em, put ‘em away, you lose ‘em, yuck. Nobody wants a stylus.”
It's called temporizing the essence.
A thing is characterized by where it began, or where it ends.
I eagerly await Laslo's take on sticking things in the end backwards.
Unfortunately Shouting Thomas's rant will be sure to follow.
800 for a phone? Really?
What causes a Galaxy 5 to grow cold and eventually die? Pentropy.
"800 for a phone? Really?"
Perhaps you're thinking of the price after it's subsidized by the carrier? The apparent price may be (much) lower, but it's not as if you won't pay for it in one way or another.
And yes, it does seem like poor design, as any designer should realize that if a thing can be put in backwards then it will be. That itty-bitty lever just looks like it wants to break; why not use a non-contact sensor instead (e.g. magnetic, or reflect the light beam from an intermittently-on led, etc.)?
What the fuck is Althouse saying? This blog post is incoherent.
@Peter - No, I know you pay for them one way or another. You pay for everything one way or another (well, except ObamaCare; he gives that out for free)
I just didn't know they cost so much. I have a flip phone.
Being an ex-cellphone engineer, I skimmed through 7 pages of comments about the S Pen problem on Are Technical. Not once was Murphy mentioned. Or other classic essays such as The Design Of Everyday Things.
Kids these days, what ya gonna do?
Ars Tecnica
(Autocorrect. Bleagh.)
"grip and guard" I like that combination of words.
800 for a phone? Really?
That's what all top-end phones cost.
You're just not used to paying for them outright, cash.
Japanese design incorporates the idea that parts should fit together one way, and only one way, the correct way. I forget the word, learned it from the book "How to Wrap Five Eggs."
Ability for parts to be connected together incorrectly is a design flaw.
Get a rope and a tree, let's find the designer.
Althouse said
" I like this metaphor. Here you have something that utterly fails if you do one simple thing that you don't have to do, but just the idea that you could do it, so easily, makes you... what?"
And the joke to reference?
Why are a 9 volt battery and a womans butt hole alike?
They look weird and different. You know you shouldn't, but, you also know deep down,even knowing its wrong.....you will eventually HAVE to put you tongue on it.
mikee:
That was Murphy's point, exactly. The future will suffer from the present's ignorance.
Gee, didn't someone figure this out already? Something like "Those who don't know the past are condemned to..."
"That's what all top-end phones cost."
meh
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