Nice writeup from AppleInsider focuses on the controversy itself, how it ultimately benefits Apple and injures the companies that have tried to take advantage of it.
On the video that started it all:
The man in the infamous video has large hands that make the expansive iPhone 6 Plus look both reasonably sized and remarkably thin. As he flexes the device from both ends with enough pressure to drive the blood out of his thumbs and inflame his fingertips, his pre-bent iPhone bends even more. Who would have guessed that were possible?
Observers on Reddit were quick to call attention to the editing of the video, which supposedly portrays the phone as being bent in one sitting but actually shows the clock jumping back and forth, resulting in a contrived timeline that raises more questions than simply “can one destroy expensive gear?”
All this attention ultimately brings the focus of attention exactly where Apple wants it:
BendGate is specifically directing the attention of millions of people (36 million views so far on YouTube, paired with mentions in every newspaper and on every local TV newscast) on the exact feature Apple wants to promote about its latest iPhone models: their larger screen size and thinner body that makes them still quite easy to use with one hand. That’s a level of incessant, mainstream promotion that would be difficult to orchestrate and bankroll, even for Apple.
There’s a lot more. Good stuff.
I still think Samsung and/or Google had something to do with that guy’s video. It seems like a smear campaign to me.
I can tell without following the link it’s going to be Daniel Eran Dilger.
Something like this isn’t good news. It can come out that it’s a clumsy smear campaign, but the victim is still smeared.
Edit: I was right, but I spelled his name wrong. Fixed.
I’m looking forward to getting my 6+. I used the Note for a couple of weeks and I like to size. I expect it will take a while for the apps makers to catch up with the form factor but that’s OK.
This week I bent a carbon steel pry bar while ripping a stump out of my garden. After my 6+ arrives I won’t use it to pry out stumps since it would be stupid fucking thing to do.
Media is in on it. They have no problem doing “he said”, “she said”
After the initial news died down.
They are doing the Apple response.
and only now questioning the video.
Meanwhile the guy got 40 million views of which how
much did he earn from Google ad sharing.
Media will move on to something else.
Consumer-reports can’t help themselves getting in on it.
wait tll they come out the review and Android the higher score.
DED got better in the years since Roughly Drafted was still going after Vista apologists. I think of him as an occasionally useful attack dog.
Yup. There’s no incomprehensigraph there. But still, it’s a pretty slanted view of the world.
Hence the “editorial” label.
Exactly. Bendgate did not “backfire” on competitors.
Ask anyone on the street about the iPhone 6 and they’ll tell you it bends.
Even in the face of cold hard facts, the public (and especially Apple haters) are going to be doing the whole “does it bend” thing for years. Its very unfortunate. I wonder how much that moron’s youtube video cost Apple, and how much time we’ve spent correcting those that love the smear. Its to the point where I don’t hang out with “those” kind of Android owners/Apple haters anymore as its worse than talking politics and they just don’t “get it”. Never will. I get so much enjoyment out of my Apple products, its too bad I doubt any one of them will ever feel that way about theirs.
And then go out and buy one.
“Why would I? Everyone knows they bend.”
Silly, but it’ll have an impact.
no they won’t. they’ll ask you if it bends because they’re thinking about buying one. and then you tell them it’s nonsense.
true story.
the thing about haters is, it’s not about them ever getting level of satisfaction about theirs — it’s about hating that you do.
Your trust certificate is borked. You should probably get that looked at.
Doubly ironic when Android is a complete rip off of the iPhone in the first place. Heavens if it were not for the iPhone they’d probably be using physical keyboards to this day.
ROFL! I KNEW IT! I was waiting to see who would write the “LEAVE THEM ALONE” or “YOU’RE HELPING US!!” article. 😀 It was inevitable and happens every time a “gate” happens. iMore was almost first with their “but physics” argument. 😀
The 6+ is 30% waker than the 5 and the 6 is ~47% weaker. It’s not a solid phone, feels great though, yet competitors blew it by focusing on their stronger phones? It’s a conspiracy against Apple? 🙂
No, Samsung has a real talking point here. Simply show the durability of their phone (100% stronger than 6, 40% stronger than 6+). The “it brings focus right on Apple” argument is like saying Mac v. PC brought good attention to Microsoft/Windows.
And you wouldn’t have better multitasking, a semblance of file management, notifications, custom keyboards, Extensibility, bigger phones…need I go on? This game is boring to play.
Yes. The Android team is better at thinking up certain categories of features. Most of them geared to tech nerds. A few others iterative of consumer-focused capabilities that would have been slightly beyond their cultural strengths to originate on their own.
But had the iPhone never existed, even the flagship Android phone would be far different—and less—than it is right now. All things are not equal.
😀
Android helped shaped the iPhone just as much as the iPhone shaped all phones. The iPhone brought a form factor. Android brought function. Apple now has function, beyond what we developers provide to it.
Competition breeds innovation. Both have done wonders for each other.
I would posit that many of the features that you attribute to Android should actually be attributed to desktop computers. To think that iPhone users only clamored for and eventually received file management or notifications is because of Android is foolish and disingenuous.
Also, keep in mind that many of the features that are always touted by the Android community actually appeared in the jailbreak community for the iPhone first.
No one is saying that the iPhone is the only phone that came up with an original idea, but pedantically spouting off everything that was available in Android first as though Google invented it makes you sound petty and childish.
Sales numbers will, as always, win out.
So sales numbers wipes this away as being an issue people can safely ignore? Or maybe sales numbers means the competitors did blow it by focusing on this?
Oh Zepfhyr, you miss the relevance and completely missed my point. Of course things existed before but you can’t tell iOS users Apple didn’t invent a lot of things (multitouch, the slate form factor, etc) although every single one of them existed previously in a different form.
LOL @ jailbreak. 😀
And yes…someone is claiming the iPhone came up with the original idea. If Android copied the iPhone, it means Android copied the original maker otherwise they (moeskido and rattyuk, in this case) would say “Android followed the iPhone and copied ______.”
Oh John, your clever attempt to use diminutive phrases to make me look like a child are so helpful in this discussion.
LOL @ your trolling. 😀
Also, you’ll notice that I never said that iOS users don’t do those things. I simply drew attention to your own hypocrisy in pointing them out.
A pleasure, as always.
No, I simply meant that, in the end, sales numbers are the ultimate metric of success. If the iPhone’s sales numbers are reduced because of BendGate, then clearly it had its desired effect. If, however, they are higher than any previous iPhone release to date, then it can be safely assumed that it had little to no negative impact and cannot, therefore, be proven to have no positive impact.
Everything you said was true, (except for the durability of the Samsung phones, if Consumer Reports’s tests are to believed) as you can’t really accurately measure the effect an event like this has except by comparing sales numbers and customer satisfaction ratings.
Eh. That’s a fair argument but I don’t think you can look at overall sales numbers as that assumes everyone who purchased was aware AND assumes they all bought a 6+ (the weakest one).
I’d venture to say it would be based on who didn’t buy an iPhone but chose a competitor because of this. That’s a much clearer metric, although one we’ll never truly know.
Actually, the 6+ (again, if Consumer Reports’s tests are accurate) is stronger than the iPhone 6, and was able to withstand 20 more pounds of pressure before deformation and 10 more pounds of pressure before case separation. The assumption, then, is that the 6+ bends in the pocket because greater force is exerted upon it due to its larger size and therefore higher leverage.
You are correct, though, that those that buy a different phone would be a more clear metric. The closest you can come to measuring it is quarterly market share results. Unfortunately, on the scale that smartphones now operate, the shift would have to be massive for it be accurately measured.
Also, it would appear that I misread the Consumer Reports article, as they only compared the Galaxy Note 3 and it did withstand higher pressure before separating (it did not deform, likely due to the case being polycarbonate), though it also was unusable once it did.
Oops, had them mixed up. Yeah…the 6.
True on it being massive but Apple won’t tell us the sales split and Sammy…well, we all know how they do w/ their numbers. 😀
The plastic definitely is a help for the Note. I was highly disappointed in the HTC One though. It is a really solid phone (wife had one for a while).
Well, I think the HTC phone is probably pretty safe, as are both the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus. I can’t imagine that we will see nearly as many bent in the real world as initial media reports would lead us to believe. Users will either stop carrying them in their back pockets or just put a sturdy case on them (which you should do anyway, since a device that large is likely to get caught on something at some point in your time with it and experience a larger than expected amount of torque or go flip-flying out of your hand do cartwheels across the concrete).
Agreed