Allow me to express that, when I first learned of the issue, I was under the distinct impression that it only occurred in iPhones and other Apple mobile devices. I’m referring to, of course, the frequent issue that plagues users of iPhones and iPads: eventually, after constant use, the devices’ power buttons begin to jam or, in a worst case scenario, simply fail to activate the phone. The idea is twofold. First, these devices are designed with planned obsolescence in mind, so one should expect to have to replace their phone eventually. Second, even without planned obsolescence in mind, no device on Earth should be expected to survive the rigours of daily use—especially the kind of use that mobile devices are forced to endure.
I soon discovered, to equal parts horror and amazement, that iDevices were not the only handhelds pieces of technology that suffered from eventually malfunctioning sleep/wake buttons. My Samsung Galaxy S3 was the first of two phones that decided to prove that Android power buttons are just as likely to stop working after extended use. At first, I believed that it was a result of user error; however, I’d owned the phone for three years, and this time frame was consistent with reports delivered by iPhone users who complained that their iPhone 4s had suffered similar fates. In case I needed more evidence, the Nexus 4 that replaced my Galaxy device suffered from a similar fate; the Nexus 4, too, decided that it was no longer interested in either waking up or falling asleep.
However, unlike the Galaxy S3—and my friend’s iPhone 4—the Nexus 4 had no other means of activation. The issue was then immediately troubling.
The question immediately becomes: Did Samsung or Apple even bother trying to fix or replace three- and four-year-old devices? Of course not. Did they bother releasing devices without a major manufacturing flaw? No, they did one better. They released phones with fingerprint readers that, with a simple press, unlocked the device without needing a user to click a button and input a password. Of course, when Apple first announced Touch ID on their iPhone 5S devices, executives didn’t spend a single second explaining that users no longer need worry about the device’s power buttons failing. Instead, Tim Cook—but Phil Schiller, specifically—touted the feature’s security properties. Passwords are weak—what’s more unique than a fingerprint?
It’s important to understand that the implementation of a fingerprint sensor doesn’t necessarily mean that phones will no longer feature defective sleep/wake buttons. Quite the contrary, when it’s time for current iPhones to fall apart, I have little doubt that the sleep/wake buttons will contribute to users buying new devices. The fact of the matter is that Touch ID—and Nexus Imprint, Google’s fingerprint response to Apple—is for unlocking the device. Locking a device still requires the use of the power button. However, if users utilize their fingerprints to unlock the device, they only need to click the power button once during regular usage—compared to twice, when the power button was used for both waking up and putting to sleep the device. This is, literally, a 50 per cent decrease in usage—in best case situations.
The fact of the matter is that handheld device manufacturers failed to solve a problem. Instead, recognizing the sheer difficulty associated with building a power button that lasts a hypothetical one million clicks, manufacturers decided to compound usage by allowing users to only click the button 500,000 times. What’s especially ridiculous is that manufacturers solved the problem by adding one more thing to fix—should an issue arise. However, the issue is both software and hardware based—not just hardware. A fully functioning fingerprint sensor has no moving parts, because moving parts stop moving—which is not ideal.
Suffice it to say, it took me a while to realize that the fingerprint sensor on my new Nexus 5X is not there to make my life easier, but that its presence indicates one less headache for LG. Ironically, the moving parts dilemma only occurred to me after I began browsing the market for a new laptop. I immediately drifted towards the new Apple Macbook Pros—with Force Touch (trademark)—because, like a raven or a crow, I’m drawn to shiny things. The novelty of a trackpad that simulates a click through electromagnets excited and fascinated me. The future: no traditional moving parts, but electric components simulating real life.
And then my current laptop’s trackpad—a lackluster replica of the first unibody Macbook Pro’s beautiful and large glass trackpad—started malfunctioning, because it no longer registered clicks. Instead, taps were the only way to replicate the left- or right-click of a mouse. The revelation hit me with the same force as the Macbook Pro’s hefty price tag. My fantasies were dashed. Apple hadn’t invented the future—they’d simply failed to compensate for a very real hardware defect that plagues some of their computers by removing the parts responsible for the click.
There is an addendum, and this next part is pure speculation. It’s not enough to let users wake their phones with a capacitive sensor. Instead, you need to add value to the process. Use your fingerprint to not only wake a phone, but unlock it completely, if there’s a password. What makes Force Touch so interesting is that Apple legitimately stumbled over a breakthrough with the new Macbook Pro. Being able to apply more force to activate more functionality is a really good idea. It’s clear, however, that the company hadn’t actually given the feature much thought beyond a hardware solution, simply because they failed to provide any true benefit to purchasing a laptop with the feature. Not that it matters. Eventually, every iDevice and every Macbook—whether one chooses the Air, the Macbook, or the Pro—will have Force Touch.
Is there a moral here? Is there anything to be learned? Perhaps.
Innovation comes from unlikely sources. Just because something is marketed as innovative, that doesn’t necessarily mean that it truly is innovative. Just because Apple, or Google, or Microsoft or HP, or Lenovo or whomever, do something, that doesn’t mean that they have reinvented the wheel.
Finally: If at first you don’t succeed, compound potential problems until you fail into success.