Thomas Ricker, writing for The Verge:
The wood on the stairs in my newly renovated house is starting to divot and wear under heavy use. At first — for the briefest of moments — I was annoyed as I imagined my daughter’s “princess heels” and my son’s football cleats plodding up the steps in violation of our strict no-shoes-in-the-house policy. Then I remembered Starck’s lesson. The subtle scarring I see is created by the process that transforms a house into a home; imperfections forged by my children, themselves transforming into adults. Those stairs, disfigured as they are, fulfill their purpose of supporting my family on their daily journey through this world. Now when I look at the stairs I see a beautiful story.
He also quotes from this 2011 essay on design by Remy Labesque, a defense of well-worn gadgets:
Aging with dignity is a criteria designers should recognize in their efforts. I’m thinking of a future when products are designed not for the brief moment when they are new, but for when they have been aged to perfection.
We’ve got a table in our house that my wife and I bought when we got married, our first major purchase together. It’s a fine piece of furniture and has served us as our kitchen table for many years.
The surface of the table is well worn, scarred by sharp edges. An imprint of a phillips screw from a carelessly placed box, a patina of paint and sparkly glitter, and countless gouges from children and cats, mar the table’s surface. But I would argue that those imperfections make the table, give it a distinct well-worn beauty, and in no way take away from the iconic look of the table design.
Take a look at the images at the top of Labesque’s Frog Design post, the one showing both a well-worn iPhone and a similarly worn Canon point-and-click camera. Which wears its patina of wear better? To me, no question, that iPhone, with all its scratches and imperfections, is still a thing of beauty.
While I agree with the overall point the Jet Black issue is that much of the appeal is the gloss finish. it’s emphasized in the photos. It’s a brilliant, shiny, dramatic finish. To see that start to scratch with normal use almost immediately gives people pause.
I agree, but who didn’t see this coming?
The first scratch or chip is the hardest. After that, it gets a little easier. But to reach the level where the wear becomes part of thing’s beauty requires too many single chips or scratches for me.
Yeah. That first one’s a pretty terrible thing. This is why I prefer buying my guitars secondhand—then I’m never the idiot that put that first ding into something perfect 🙂
same. I always just wrap it in a case
As a phone reseller, we see a lot of wear and tear (and outright abuse). Most people want to buy something with as little damage, as close to looking new as possible. Putting one’s own mark on something is one thing; buying damaged stuff for their look and feel is relegated to really antique things. Cell phones aren’t in that category yet. Unless you’re collecting 1980s giant brick phones for some reason…
Been there. Those first couple scratches go from being you fucking up to you getting a great discount. 🙂
Wabi-sabi.
(I love the “brass showing through chrome” effect on old cameras, myself.
It’s sort of a shame that phones don’t have any plausible way of lasting that long – but I do like how the Apple Leather Case on my 6S is wearing in.
Between darkening from contact and the scuffed up corners from drops, it looks pleasantly broken in.)