The point I was trying to make and I agreed with the original post, was that in order for the design to be considered successful you have to consider more than the aesthetics of the product. You can’t ignore the end user or you have failed in your design. Just because something looks good on the table does not make it a good design, only in one aspect, and as designers we have all learned you can’t just focus on one. I feel apple has sacrificed the end user for marketability of a flashy product. I’m not saying they can’t have a flashy product. but I’m saying they should have considered more durable materials and somehow incorporated some shock resistance into the design and user upgrade-ability. I realize you can’t solve every problem of design in product development, I just feel that Apple has neglected to solve some important ones that are being solved everyday in other products.
IP, how do you determine whether a user’s complaint about a product is valid and useful for evaluating a product? That’s subjective.
It is obviously the user’s fault that they dropped and damaged their product. Fortunately for Apple the iphone 4/4s is so much more than a tangible object. That’s why it’s more complex than “don’t buy it”. I personally still appreciate my iPhone 4s (with the vulnerable cover) more than any other phone I could have bought at the time. Even with it’s imperfections I still feel like overall it’s the best.
No product is perfect, but Apple made some pretty bold design decisions. Intentional design decisions. Glass is hard, but glass it is also brittle. From what I understand the iphone 4/s does NOT use Gorilla Glass, it uses an Apple-based solution based on the same principle. I’m assuming this was a cost-saving measure for Apple to avoid Gorilla Glass’s intellectual property rights. We aren’t talking about making a “tough-book”. Choosing glass as a cover has some functional value to reduce scratches, but leaving the edges exposed creates unnecessary vulnerability in favor of aesthetics (I think especially with tempered glass). The thickness of the glass also reduces it’s flexibility. I understand that Apple challenges manufacturing and material boundaries, but I wonder if that mentality has cost the user a better product in this specific instance.
How do you feel about this a designer? As a user of the product?
I definitely would not say Apple was wrong for designing their device a certain way (though others are entitled to their own opinions). In fact I would say they were very right, their device does stand out in a positive way. I’d just say there seems to be a market space in phone design that hasn’t been filled. And really, for me, it is Apple that showed that this space could even exist by creating something that for once didn’t look and feel like cheap plastic crap (and at a price point that is high but not out of reach), but at the same time pointed out the fragility of many of these devices. So they got one part of the equation, and did so in a wonderful way, but I think getting the second part is possible. Whether it’s Apple or not I really don’t care.
There are a few things I’d like to have cleared up:
Can you, or anyone else here quantify “more durable”?
Can anyone explain to me why Apple seems to be the the target of everyone’s ire here? Their product is no less durable than any other product based on my experience and my survey of many individuals around me. Is there some kind of market research study that shows that there are more returns on iPhones over any other phone?
Again, your discussion comes down to coveting Apple’s product. The message that I read between the lines in all of this is, “I really, really, really, love and want the iPhone but you made it too pretty and work too well”.
Subjective discussions require context.
This statement from the OP is the foundation of the context of this discussion.
6ix continues with this:
eobet stuck to his/her guns by NOT buying an iPhone4 or 4s and stuck with his/her feeling that the plastic has a better feel. A comment which, to me, is what consumerism is supposed to be about. “Apple made a product I like(d) so I bought it.” or “Apple made a product that is not to the quality/look/feel (insert other subjective view here) so I didn’t buy it”.
So, back to your original question…how do I distill real meaning from subjective discussions…
I basically turn my bullshitdar on and when it beeps, I start honking. Statements like “when in reality they need to be covered” is…well…bullshit.
Awesome…
The issue of fragility in electronics is tied directly to physics. Something I am sure we can all agree on. Can we get to a point where we have an unbreakable cell phone with the “Squirrel!” inducing flash of an iPhone? I think we have a long time before we find out. Until then, breaking phones is a reality every manufacturer has to deal with.
If it comes out in a report several months from now that there is a significant increase repairs to iPhone 4S … I’ll be happy to talk about the 4s Design decisions in that context. I just can’t swallow the OP comments that you “must have a bumper” whole. Let alone the follow-on Apple bashing.
Just to comment on this point, if you extend the bezel, it gets pretty bloated visually from the side. I’m sure the properties of the Gorilla Glass allowed them to expose the edges of it, even though there was some risk of breaking. I’m sure like everything Apple makes, aesthetics trump everything (within reason)
FYI they make phones that are rugged if you actually want to buy them.
It’s easy to make phones more rugged, but FYI more metal does not necessarily mean more rugged.
Being able to survive a drop test mean being able to ABSORB the energy of a drop. Gorilla glass for example accomplishes this by being very flexible. The housing wants to be able to do the same thing which is why rubber and plastic are far preferable to metal. If you’ve ever dropped a metal phone or camera what you’ll probably notice is it dents. Once it dents, it’s not going to come back to it’s original shape. Plastic enables the phone to flex like a wet noodle, absorb the impact, and transfer it away from the chips, display, and glass.
The iphone with a bumper is surprisingly durable, because the rubber does just that. The argument is being made that the bumper should just be part of the product, but not everyone wants that. I know several people, all designers, who refuse to put a case on their phone, and none of them have exploded yet.
Interesting discussion.
Certainly Apple has considered this “problem” as more of a blessing.
They get the lauded for their sublime designs anyway and also make a few bucks selling cases.
I think it is not a case of whether people need to protect their phones so much as that people want to that creates demand. If Apple made the iPhone somehow impervious people would still buy the covers just to personalize. If making them “rugged” negated the need for a cover, their accessories market (plus a huge secondary market) would suffer and everyone would likely complain about that as well.
Oh yeah, and what of all the gushing about patina and wear marks? This isn’t 2001, this is Bladerunner! 
"Can you, or anyone else here quantify “more durable”?
Can anyone explain to me why Apple seems to be the the target of everyone’s ire here? Their product is no less durable than any other product based on my experience and my survey of many individuals around me. Is there some kind of market research study that shows that there are more returns on iPhones over any other phone?
Again, your discussion comes down to coveting Apple’s product. The message that I read between the lines in all of this is, “I really, really, really, love and want the iPhone but you made it too pretty and work too well”
Well I guess everyone has a different standard of what is durable, but for me “durable” for a product that I will handle everyday and put in and out of my pocket or bag 15-20 times a day, and may potentially drop every so often, means the screen will have some shatter resistance if I drop it or accidentally sit down with it or the back won’t scratch from the slightest contact with another object in my pocket. Not saying the product has to look like a G-Shock either.
Apple just happens to be the subject of some peoples ire as you put it IP, because the question was raised about the validity of the moiker of “good design” being applied to the I phone 4. I will say this, I love the aesthetics of the phone and I really like the interface but I feel the ergonomics could be better.
It’s much easier to “quote” using the Quote button, or the code.
highlight and copy the text you want to “quote”
Click on the “Quote” button above, and insert the text between the brackets.
Or type the code:
i.e. [quote] insert text [/quote ( I left off the closing bracket ] so you can see the code)
Check with Preview
There IS an iPhone 4s protector that you can buy that adds no visual bulk and allows the original design to be admired:
Insurance
It’s expensive, but if you really care enough, you’ll get it.
Alternatively:
My good friend said to the lady trying to sell him additional warranty for his electronics purchase, “I don’t need it because I actually own a warranty company, it’s called ‘I’ll just buy another one’”. That shut her up.
It is situations like this that I wish the discussion forums had a Like Button rather than have to go through the quote process and state that I like this.
‘good design’ is about creative compromise. Apple staked it’s business on the insight that consumers are willing to compromise - physically speaking- 
on durability and ergonomics for a stunning object of desire that was affordable.
(having said that, iPh’s are quite durable and the ergonomics aren’t that bad - the design doesn’t cause huge amounts of unnecessary error or strain).
Ditto.