We
have all dropped our phones before and cracked the screen. It happens all the
time, but people do not fix them because it is to expensive. People then have
to walk around with this big crack in their phone until they are able to
upgrade their phone. Now people will not have to worry about cracking their screen
thanks to Motorola. They have introduced with their partner Verizon, the Droid
Turbo 2 which is said to be the first shatterproof screen. Motorola does not
want people to have to live with a shattered phone. "People take it for granted
that screens on phones would break," said Rick Osterloh, president of
Motorola, in an interview. "Our big realization was: We shouldn't accept
that." This new shatterproof screen was a big engineering breakthrough because
the scree n is made of five different layers, which are designed to be shock
absorbent. Typically phones float on top of the rest of the inside of the
phone, but this screen is an aluminum chassis which allows for it to be
attached to the rest of the phone. The next layer is a flexible display and in
front of that is flexible touch layer. It is all covered by a hard exterior
lens that does the job of a screen protector. Typically, most phones contain
some time of glass, but the Droid Turbo 2 contains no glass even though it
feels like it. This shatterproof screen was able to be run over by a
horse-drawn carriage twice and came out only scratched. It is a wise move to
create this shatterproof screen and the rest of the smartphone industry should
join, because about 37% of smartphone owners crack their screens. Motorola and
Verizon believe that this new innovation will enter the mass market.
I
believe that these new shatterproof screens are a brilliant decision by
Motorola and Verizon. No one else in the smartphone industry has been able to
successfully engineer a shatterproof screen. Phone screens shatter all the time
and people always want to replace them but they are too expensive, but if they
have the option to buy a shatterproof case from the beginning that is the one
they are going to choose. Since Motorola is the first one out there, they have
the advantage of getting to the market first. People will be willing to pay for
this phone when it comes out this week because they are guaranteed the screen
will not shatter. Motorola spent the time and resources engineering this
shatterproof screen so that they could be ahead of all of the other smartphone
companies. This new innovation will help put Motorola and Verizon ahead of the
game and in front of the competition.
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ReplyDeleteI think the shatterproof screen is an amazing technological breakthrough for the phone industry, but the phone's screen being unable to crack doesn't mean the phone is unbreakable. Other internal problems can lead to the demise of a phone, you can drop it in water, break internal circuitry or have a short battery life. While this is a major advantage for Motorola, I don't think the promise of a shatterproof screen will have a significant impact on their share of the market. Thousands of iphone won't be throwing away just to have a shatterproof screen, and soon enough other companies will catch up. The largest impact this phone will have will be on avid droid users or on mothers, who will be ecstatic their teenage boy, that will jump for joy by knowing their phones won't shatter.
ReplyDeleteWith a movement to try to create a "life-proof" phone, like Motorola Defy XT, is something that will definitely create a sizable demand. The cost of replacing an iPhone screen through an Apple Repair type place is about $90. When adding that cost on top of the cost phone, data plans and any cases, a cell phone is not a cheap asset to hold. To create a safety net for people is something that will benefit many. Even if Motorola does not succeed in being the industry leader, what they can do is cause a shift in the market into a phase where phone makers start trying to focus on how to create more durable phones. Apple claimed that their phones were going to be made with Gorilla Glass, a very durable type of class, but yet the screens are still easily cracked. One problem I see is that in order to create a screen that is durable to survive life, a company will need to test many different types of glass and other phone designs which will cost a lot of money. In order to prevent heavy loses, the cost will likely be pushed down to the consumer to cover increasing the cost in the phones. However, as mentioned, the cost to replace a screen in not cheap. For a society that is keen on dropping their phones, the net amount spent may not change too much.
ReplyDeleteWhile the shatterproof screen sounds incredible at first, I don't think it is actually all it's cracked up to be. While, this shatterproof screen was able to be run over by a horse-drawn carriage twice and came out only scratched, the fact that it was even scratched makes me concerned. This result makes me think that if it was run over more than twice it would have more results than a scratch. Furthermore, while the exterior may still remain in tacked, their are cases where there is unseen damage to the interior that causes the phone to not function properly. As RyderHarkins stated, their are other causes of phone damage. I, myself, have lose two phones to water damage. This source, http://www.cnet.com/news/study-19-percent-of-people-drop-phones-down-toilet/ , states that 19% of people drop their smartphones down the toilet and that is only one way to damage your phone by liquids. This study (https://scripted.com/cpt_experts/weird-wacky-ways-kill-smartphone/ ) shows that "Among the 23 million Americans that have damaged their phones while watching a sporting event, 12 percent flung their phone in a fit of passion, while 13 percent dropped their phone into their beers." This leads me to think that more people damage their phones through liquid than through cracked screens. Furthermore, though it is expensive, you can still get a cracked screen fixed, whereas with water all you can do is buy a bag of rice and hope for the best; otherwise, you have to replace your phone all together, which, for Apple, is much more expensive than $90. I think that these companies should focus their research and development on a unbreakable phone in general, not just an unbreakable screen. Personally, since I like the design better, and this new development has failed to convince and impress me, I will be sticking with iPhones for now.
ReplyDeleteThis does sound like a good idea and I'm sure it is very capable of surviving numerous horse carriages riding over it but this will never be the thing that will bring new customers to the brand from their current iPhones or Samsung's. It is a great achievement but it will go under the radar to the not so tech savvy people do to the fact that this great leap is being accomplished by a not so popular cellular device company at the moment. And for the recent comments I don't think Apple will feel any pressure at all to make an adjustment to the "indestructible" phone because as of right now they are the leaders of phone innovation with loyal customers.
ReplyDeleteve that Motorola introducing the shatterproof screen is a great way to differentiate themselves from their competitors. But from a customer standpoint, I am not sold on the fact that the screen is unbreakable. As you mentioned in your blog post, the phone was able to get run over by a horse-drawn carriage twice. The only problem is that it was scratched afterwards. As a customer if I am buying an unbreakable screen, I don’t want there to be a scratch, no matter what the circumstance. With that being said, I can see this creating problems between Motorola and their customers. In my opinion, an unbreakable phone screen will not make customers with an iPhone want to switch to Motorola. An unbreakable phone screen is a great idea but they need to create something that has more of an impact on the phone itself if they want customers to come to Motorola. Another problem that I see with the unbreakable screen is that they already have competitors, like LifeProof. The LifeProof phone cases are pretty self-explanatory, they promise the customer that if you put their case on your phone is will be unbreakable along with your phone. Why would a happy iPhone customer change phones for an unbreakable screen when there are certain cases being sold that complete the same task? I think the unbreakable screen is a neat idea from Motorola but not something that changes their company.
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