[gourou]

A few weeks before launch, Steve Jobs replaced screens on the iPhone because they would get scratched too easily. You don't see this level of care anymore.

> For weeks, he had been carrying a prototype of the device in his pocket.

Mr. Jobs angrily held up his iPhone, angling it so everyone could see the dozens of tiny scratches marring its plastic screen, according to someone who attended the meeting. He then pulled his keys from his jeans.

People will carry this phone in their pocket, he said. People also carry their keys in their pocket. “I won’t sell a product that gets scratched,” he said tensely. The only solution was using unscratchable glass instead. “I want a glass screen, and I want it perfect in six weeks.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/22/business/apple-america-an...

[dillonmckay]

They showed Steve!

Now phones can’t fit in pockets, especially with other items.

[joering2]

Just thought about this comment now. I kept all my iPhone in pocket together with keys never cared for scratches and never seen any. On iphone4, iphone5, iphone6. Now im typing this message on horribly scratched iphone8 screen done with same set of key that i carried my old iphone in the same pocket. That’s sad. And few days ago i just discovered my old iphone4. Soeaker on it still plays smooth with strong bass. Speaker on my iphone8 sounds like cheap crap already after 6 months of ownership. Darn things really went south without Jobs around.

[Yetanfou]

If you don't mind me asking, why did you change from that iPhone 4/5/6 which withstood those keys so well and still sound good? I'm still using a device from the iPhone 4 era - not an iPhone though - which still works fine and continues to be useable as an 'outdoor' phone due to its smaller size and the fact that it is waterproof. I was only forced to get a newer device about a year ago due to the fact that the Swedish electronic ID app - without which it is getting harder and harder to interact with many government services - stopped supporting Android 4.4, otherwise that phone would have remained my 'daily' device.

[somesortofsystm]

It was a simple solution, really. They made the phones more expensive, as well.

That way, people took better care of the screens. As it should be.

Steve was wrong.

[ceejayoz]

He was right, though. Plastic screens would've been a disaster, pocket or no pocket.

[somesortofsystm]

People got used to replacing them every year.

And Apple have been out-selling themselves for years.

So, the gravy-train factor is pretty high, one might say.

I mean, I say this as an avid junky. I've got a stack of iPhones in front of me from the very beginning, and on the basis of my .. pockets .. as well as an admission that I have changed my behaviour over the years to, literally, 'treasure' my thousand-euro pocket communicator, (without which for some reason life is difficult) .. and not scratch it up as much.

A good case helps too.

And in most other cases - I'd just buy another one anyway, if things got really distracting... I mean, this stack ain't getting smaller, yo.

[jacobush]

No - Apple products have the longest life span. It's the cranked out Android generics which are replaced often. I'm not saying it's a good value for money, it may or may not be for different folks. But it just aint true that Apple products get replaced excessively.

[Yetanfou]

My more than 8 years old Motorola Defy begs to differ, as does the equally old Ainol Novo tablet I bought around the same time. Both devices run Android 4.4, an older but still usable version for which new software is still produced. The Defy has a replaceable battery, the Novo does not but both still work fine on the original versions albeit with a certain loss of stamina (Defy: 3 days on a charge, Novo ~4 hours of actual use/about a week standby).

In other words, yes, you could and can get Android devices which last for a long time. I does not need saying that both the Defy as well as the Novo were far less expensive than the 'equivalent' Apple devices - where 'equivalent' means 'iPhone 4' for the Defy and nothing for the Novo as Apple at that time did not have a mid-sized (8" 1280x768) tablet.

[wodenokoto]

> You don't see this level of care anymore

He also released several iPod's when easily scratched colored coating ...

I still think he changed to class for the feel, not the scratch-resistance.

Also, Steve was heavily involved in the search of glass strong enough, so it wasn't just him saying "Go get me glass! You have 6 weeks, I'll be waiting!"