Apple iPhone's Slippery Secret

Just how slippery is Apple's (AAPL) iPhone?

Scattered reports from people who have put their hands on pre-release models say that its main problem is not the rumored battery-life shortfall, but the sleek, slippery surface.

I handled one for about 15 minutes earlier this year and didn't find it any more prone to flying out of my hands -- or my shirt pocket -- than an iPod. But others who have spent more time with it say different.

Alexandros Roussos recently interviewed a "tipster who had the chance to play with the device for a longer time than just a few minutes."  He reported on MacScoop that its real-world battery performance would "surprise us," and, in fact, exceed Apple's posted specs: up to 5 hours talk/video/browsing, and up to 16 hours audio playback.

"Overall," he added, "our source found the iPhone awesome but he mentioned, as a sole negative point, that the material used on the device's case makes it feel even more slippery than the iPod and will probably require the purchase of a protective skin or case so as to avoid unintentionally dropping it." (link)

I must say that in my brief encounter with the iPhone, the image of the jewel-like device cracked like a $500 Humpty Dumpty on the sidewalk did pop unbidden into my mind. An Apple exec was obliging enough to toss an early model on a carpeted floor for me, where it bounced a few times, came to a stop and kept on ticking.

Whether it would survive a five-foot drop on a concrete floor -- as my $49 LG phone has several times -- remains to be seen.

Comments

[David Gholson]

So? What the hell is duct tape for , if not this?

[Jonathan Phillips]

That's it? That's the best you monkey-fingered journalists can manage for a critique?
Waaaah, the iPhone is slippery!
How about battery life?
Well, it's uh, well, long.
How about performance?
Dunno, we were too busy throwing it on the floor.
When will we get a critique we can use for purchase information?

[Chris]

I must say that this article simply smacks of trying to find something bad to say about the product.

[Acecursio]

Wow - this has to be a new low for Apple bears. We are focusing on how slippery the iPhone is - you have to be kidding. Apple is one of the premier new product development companies in the world. They have a strong history developing new products based on user testing and launching them successfully. The iPhone will be the phone of choice not only because of its style, features, price point and brand cache, but because Apple listens to its customers and delivers what they want which is why thee are over 1 million users already lined up for the iPhone site unseen. Apple is the company and brand to beat and I do not see any competition.

[glen engelmann]

I guess "Iphone battery concerns unfounded." didn't sound as good as "the Iphone's slippery secret". I guess, also, that it is a secret because the Iphone looks slippery, but noone actually said that it IS slippery....

[RL]

haa..

Are you kidding me? This article is retarded.

[arie kligier]

For those who fear the "slippery iphone phobia"
there is always paper to correct the problem.

[Nathna Friedly]

LOL, this article made me happy to have apple stock. The best knock against the iPhone is that it might break if you drop it on concrete.

I think the only to 'fix' that would be to make each iPhone come with it's own Reality Distortion Field.

Example scenario:
"Hi concrete, I'm an iPhone. A product from any other company would be smashing to bits right about now, but I'm from Apple and I have a (patented) RDF, so I won't be getting a scratch! Cya next time!"

[dj]

April 27, 2007
Apple iPhone's Slippery Secret
More SLIMY shortseller bloggers!!!
The iPhone only slips from their slimy hands. All of you short selling scammers should be prosecuted.

[richard p]

if it really is going to be a problem... just get a thin rubber case for it. there will be a million case options to choose from. they are already selling on ebay. they should just say f**k it and call it the jesus phone.

[Kim]

What phone WON'T break on a five-foot drop to the concrete?

[B Palmer]

No worries! Better line up for your phone because nobody else is worried! I'd worry more about not owning enough Apple stock!!!!

[Michael]

The iPhone is "slippery"? What an absolutely ridiculous thing to complain about. It's pretty obvious that the critics are scraping for things to complain about.

Apple has become the company to beat as far as innovative design and development, and Apple's many critics knew the moment they saw the iPhone that like the iPod, it was going to become the industry standard. If the worst thing about the iPhone is that it's too slippery, then I'm definitely sold.

[Terry T]

Kind of funny how the media tries to promote any inkling of something amiss with APPLE products! Had to laugh at the latest....it's too slippery! Do these people have anything better to write about? What a stretch! Keep coming out with products that make others envious...and I'll keep watching the stock rise.

[guy.smyley]

it's slippery? or his palms were sweaty? or his fingers were greasy? or he's a total butterfingered fool who enjoys acting like an ass when given the privilege of demoing a fantastic new technology? p.s. the iphone is probably easier to handle once you take your thumb out of your butt.

[John M]

There are plenty of superior phones overseas that can withstand 10 foot drops and stay in your pocked when you do cartwheels.. This new toy hasn't proven itself yet folks, but I am sure it won't matter to many of you.

[Fred]

I must agree that it must be the stupidest article I've read in a while. But I also agree about the Apple Stock. Ask me again how slippery the iPhone is when I have in my pocket in July, and how I like my Apple Stock after the Q3 Sales reports are published.

[Jon Man]

Philip Elmer-DeWitt,

This blog is becoming a joke. Why do you even bother? If the URL wasn't linked to money.cnn.com every day, there would be no interest. You are clearly short AAPL, or just upset because you didn't buy any at $60.

Honestly, you are reducing your credibility more and more with every post. The iPhone is slippery? I can't even tell whether you are joking or not.

I'm so happy AAPL CRUSHED earnings! Margin call for you I guess!

[earth2kelly]

Anyone who says the iphone is slippery has never held one. I have, it's not.

[Heath Ackley]

Well, I guess I won't send it to my friends in prison...

[Joe]

Why do apple entusiasts get so militant anytime someone criticizes apple?

[HDW]

Does anyone out there realize there is more in this world than a freakin' product to make our so called life easier? Right now, entire villages are being razed by civil war in Darfur- and you guys are arguing about stock prices, margin calls and slippery cell phones? Get a life... there is more to life than arguing about a freaking mobile device. People would give anything to live in peace- and not have to worry about rebels destroying their house or their entire village. Think about it folks... just think about it. If you really want to put things in perspective over this stupid iPhone thing, just visit a developing nation. See how much they care about what you people whine about. It kills me to read comments like this- just enjoy the product and be thankful you live in a place where you can enjoy such conveniences.

[Pea Nutter]

This is not an issue for people who love peanut butter. Our phones will be sticky and tasty.

[Edwin]

If they are taking longer that means they are going to fix this issue.

[Max Thrane]

Oh man... $500 and then see this puppy on the floor... Ouch!

[scott]

This video shows a demo of a iphone being dropped.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHIHJb5NzlA

Okay it is simulated

[Mark]

Lanyard Lanyard Lanyard

Can't be slipperier than a Ericcsson T60

[mike]

Why do apple entusiasts get so militant anytime someone criticizes apple?

--

This is an article based on ... what?... pure rhetoric, heresay and bullshit. Apple fans should be annoyed when these baseless criticisms come out, it's pure speculation. A Phone that is too slippery to hold?? Huh?? If no one at Apple drops it, I think it'll be alright guys.

What you geeks fail to realize, amazingly, after 30 years, is that Apple does care about the little details, and this is the kind of thing they would not allow. Before criticizing a fictional defect for an unreleased product, take a look at a Zune.

[bragging and grateful stockholder]

Apple 2.0 proclaims objectivity as in "outside the reality distortion field ". Since Apple 2.0 is transparently a negative reaction to the reality distortion field (RDF) it adds reality and potency to the RDF.

As an Apple stockholder I want to thank Apple 2.0 for promoting the RDF and for all the free advertising provided by this kind of pseudo-news. Apple 2.0 articles like this one often have an unintended backhanded positive bias. In addition to free advertising for Apple it also provides good buying opportunities because so many day traders react to these kinds of articles by dumping their Apple stock only to buy it back at higher prices in anticipation of the real news. Between day-traders, forums like Apple 2.0, and the almost uniformly positive nature of the substantive Apple news I have made a lot of money.

Keep up the good work.

[Chuck]

I wouldn't totally laugh off the "slippery" factor, look what happened with the "Wii Controllers" people were throwing those through their plasma TVs.

Obviously you won't be flicking your phone around the air like a maniac, but a nice hot summer day and you have some sweaty hands could easily lead to some slippage. And for a phone that costs as much as it does, I'd be quite concerned.

[Bill Valenti]

Though Apple's iPhone's high-fallutin'
It's really just...another Newton
Twice a flop, in sad retreat
iPhone looks like Jobs' "three-peat"

[Erik]

Or you could just put some grip tape on the device in certain locations.

[Spud]

From what I have seen of the iPhone it does look very sleek and shiny and slippery. This is obviously what those who have been lucky enough to get there hands on one have found out. Oh well if slippery is the only "problem" with it then I'm not being put off. Give me an iPhone now!

[Robster]

Two words...
Invisible Shield

[richie]

This is possibly the funniest thing I have ever read!

In Shirley Temple's voice:
"Gosh mister, that iPhone sure looks slippery...would you like a lick of my sucker....it sure does taste good."

[James]

The iPod was cool because there wasn't a good MP3 player before it. I've got my choice of plenty of good phones already. It isn't that great.

Maybe 10 years ago. But I wouldn't buy an iPhone for anything now.

[pinoy]

The next revision would probably fix that issue if that really were a real issue.

[Tom]

Um, here's an obvious frikkin hint for the blogmaster: People read comments starting at the top, and work their way down. So when comments are ordered in reverse -- newest to oldest -- a comment written in response to another makes absolutely no sense to the reader.

It wastes time for the reader, but even more egregiously, it wastes the efforts of those users who take up your invitation in good faith and leave comments. They're devoting their time to write something that may not wind up making sense, all because of a comments hierarchy that is the opposite of what Web users have learned to expect.

This is 2007. We're well past the wild-woolly days of trying to figure out what basic blog standards work best. Please set up your comments so they run oldest to newest, top to bottom, like the rest of the civilized world. Seriously, I'm amazed I'm seeing this on an actual tech blog, of all places.

[Vlad]

hehe, i shall get a leather skin for it then. also please visit http://www.serioushacker.com/

[JayGHayward]

Yeah, I'd say it's newsworthy. It just goes to show how Apple favors form over function--make it look pretty, but who cares what it's like to actually use it? Just like their carpal-tunnel-inducing mice. It's like pushing a brick around the desk--a shiny, slippery brick.

[Newton]

My two-tin-cans-joined-by-a-string phones in sexy white are velcro (r) encased and hence not slippery. And as far as the extended battery life conundrum, the answer is: WHAT BATTERY? Plus, I don't have to dispose of the stem and seeds from this baby.
Poor aPPLE!

[Duh]

The iPhone isn't going to make it because it won't be open to 3rd parties, and lacks many of the types of apps that better phones (even though they run Windows) have, like chat. It won't take advantage of 802.11 enough, won't have Skype (for free chat), and cannot be extended by 3rd party applications. For all we know, 'iPhone' could simply be a Mac OS X application. Guess this isn't a Newton replacement after all; nobody in the industry has done anything remarkable since the Newton architecture.

[Motorcycle Guy]

Even though their buttons are supposed to work good, I just don't see it competing with real tactile buttons.

[Duh doesn't think]

How the hell does duh know if it will support third party software or not, i would be shocked if there was no third party software available, also the claim of no chat, this is also something duh has no idea about, the only facts known about is what apple has let the public know, and the claim that it won't support 802.11 enough is simply retarded, its a wifi device, so anywhere you go that has 802.11 internet, then the iphone will support it, these are the dumbest reasons ever to not buy it, saying its to expensive, and lacks tactile buttons, those are acceptable, but all the other reasons are retarded, my guess, just like the ipod there will be plenty of third party apps available.

[smokeonit]

chris (1st post):

i absolutely agree!!!!

Posted by: Chris | April 27, 2007 at 06:57 AM

That's it? That's the best you monkey-fingered journalists can manage for a critique?
Waaaah, the iPhone is slippery!
How about battery life?
Well, it's uh, well, long.
How about performance?
Dunno, we were too busy throwing it on the floor.
When will we get a critique we can use for purchase information?

[Harry Chong]

What's big deal? People will probably buy an "iSkin" anyway. Problem solved.

[Ivan Minic]

I'll never understand why so much fuss about iPhone.. Ok.. it does everything... I don't need damn multipractic I need a phone.

[Philip Elmer-DeWitt]

Tom wrote: "Um, here's an obvious frikkin hint for the blogmaster: People read comments starting at the top, and work their way down. So when comments are ordered in reverse -- newest to oldest -- a comment written in response to another makes absolutely no sense to the reader."

Order straightened out, per your request.

[here is my question]

How sweaty are your hands?

[charlesn]

UN-FRICKIN' BELIEVABLE. Never mind that the sole "source" for your fud-tastic headline is a single, unidentified "tipster." But even said fudster "...found the iPhone awesome..." However, instead of headlining what he found to be so great about it, you chose (no surprise here) "... a sole negative point..."

How much does MSFT pay CNN to feature your crap in their finance section?

[John Greene]

Why is that when Apple comes out with a great idea (iPod, iTunes, iPhone, etc.,) everyone talks about what the downfalls may be. When Microsoft comes out with something new (xBox, Vista) it's all great reviews? C'mon now, we all know everyone uses that crap software that is so state of the art... Get your iPhone and use it with pride to know that you won't be conforming to Microsofts attempts of keeping you from Macintosh products that actually work well.

[Andrew Patience]

I don't think the iPhone will be a problem for Apple to market. Millions of people love the iPod and I'm sure that this small issue of how "slippery" the iPhone is will just wash over anyways...

[Feh]

Being slippery would be an issue.

If you read ilounge.com, you would see the enormous amounts of people complaining that the iPod screen scratches easily.

"Waa waaa I has a scratch on me iPod"

Big deal? for many people it is.

My phone is so slippery, it fell off my hands and now I have a $600 piece of junk. Cost of repair at Apple? $500 for a new multitouch screen, glass enclosure, etc.

I think it's a big deal. If your phone can't survive a single drop, it'll certainly need to come with some sort of an armored case or flex-skin. Just a heads up for Apple.

[Matt Malone]

All it needs is egrips, who will be making a custom pattern for the iPhone. I have egrips on my iPod and it makes a huge difference!!! Check'em out ... www.egrips.com

[CSF]

When is Apple going to court over the name? doesn't Cisco System own the name "Iphone".
Thieving Bastards...

[Mj]

Yeah, it's a dumb article... but why the venom? You Apple fan boys are crazy. You guys are defending a product that isn't on the market, 99% of you haven't touched it. A $500 phone that gets email and plays music... go get a ROKR off eBay (that failed by the way). What are you paying for ? The touch screen? Or the pretty Apple decal on the back. My Cingular 8125 does all that the iPhone does, what's the big deal? This is the most over hyped product of all time! Calm down.

p.s. Sent via my G5 iMac, which I love.

[john]

again... invisibleSHIELD

at http://www.invisibleshield.com

no more worries.

[DSG]

Get in line and assimilate apple drones. Buy a phone with all the same functionality for half the price and donate the other 250 to charity. Trust you'll feel better (in the long run) doing that then marveling in the coolness of you latest apple product.

[Antony Mathew]

Aint this the most stupid article you have read about a product review.The author himself says he dint find it slippery but had the tenacity to write it cause some else found it so.

[amer]

This is a major drawback for iphone.
1. I'm not gonna buy it.
2.I'm gonna tell my friends about this issue.
3.But I fear they're gonna spit on me.

[Chris]

Does anyone moderate this blog? I am a teacher who uses sites like this for educational oportunity. Appropriate language needs to be addressed.

[Billy]

I can kiss my elbow. Can you kiss your elbow? I bet you can't...not like I can. Sometimes, I wish I was a goat so I could chew up leather better. Have you ever wanted to eat your friend's belt? Mmmm...I love trying to eat belts, but I'm just not very good at it. If I was a goat, I would probably be more successful.

[CC]

that's too funny! you know, people will probably buy cases for it anyway just out of fear of scratching it. i don't know anyone with an ipod that doesn't have a case for it.

[maria meza]

that is true very true it falls

[steve]

I'm not sure how this phone will hold up to drops but I have a T-Mobile MDA and i have to say that i'm VERY VERY impressed with it's durability. i've dropped it on carpeted floors from mid chest level untold times but i've also dropped it from waist level or even the breast pocket of my sport coats about 6-8 times, a couple times with the battery cover flying off and the battery shooting across my driveway and to my amazement every time the phone kept going with no problems and still works fine to this day after almost a year of HARD abuse.

[Question Riddle]

.... I agree it is a stupid article but... come on? Why complain about the article so much? If I hadn't read the comments I would have just left and lived my peaceful life 'till I turn old and gray, then die. Come on people, it isn't that big a deal. So what if someone wrote and article on whether the I-phone is slippery. You don't have to go and flame everyone's work just because you want to complain about something. Come on get a life. Buy the stupid phone or not, just stop whining. It gets annoying!!

I myself might get the I-phone. I'm not 100% sure yet though. It looks really good though.

*~:-:Question R.:-:~*

[danninator]

There is no doubt in my mind that we will see a deluge of analyst downgrades as a result of this investigative journalism.

[Gary]

I've read about the first dozen or so comments to this article and was surprised at how overwhelmingly negative they were. If all Apple products were perfect then there would be no motivation to improve and innovate. We would have stopped with the original Apple.

Perhaps the next iphone will be a contoured model, one that conforms to our hands like a TV remote. Although I do not own an iphone I have experienced the difference between using the rectilinear remote control to my cheap dvd player that is more slipperly that my universal remote that is more contoured to my hand with a better located center of gravity making it easier to grip and harder to drop.

[Sid]

a Goat friend of mine thinks you are crazy for wanting to be a goat
he wishes he could drive

[Sid]

a Goat friend of mine thinks you are crazy for wanting to be a goat
he wishes he could drive

[Dave Ladd]

Pack effect. You see more distinct presentations in wild, or domesticated dogs. One starts to bark at a jogger then they come running from all over just to see what's going on. One takes a bite and before you know it, nothing but tennis shoes. (I started to add, "and ipod" but figured that might detract from the pack of dogs dissertation.) So... any of you guys want to go down to the park, maybe mark a few trees and chase some joggers?

[john]

what this is just a phone... lets all move on with life.. Its a phone.. a glorified toy ... comeone when are we going to figure that out... you call home from it.. its a phone.. Do not tell me it does this and that.. because who really cares does it make you cool... oh ya did i mention you dial a number and say hi

[luca]

wow. this article is on the front page of cnn.com

and i thought that fox news was crap

[Jordan Brueckner]

$500 and it slips out of your hand. Stupid Apple! think they can do anything!

[David Michael]

The real issue with the iPhone isn't dropping the phone, it's dropped calls on Cingular, the absolute worse service out there.

[Derek]

you can download an iphone one that won't break here!

http://www.buyappleiphone.com/index.php?id=freeiphone

[Ginvites.com]

Amazed to see so many posting for such a stupid subject.

Would the blog have been this large if it would of been sticky?

I guess in resume Steve Jobs even thinks of the slippery/sticky factor when creating a product and always produces the one which will get the most comments.

http://www.ginvites.com/

[nwford]

The competition got hit with the ipod now here comes the knock out punch !! Three for the office 7 for the board !! Placing an order for 10 please !!

[nwford]

The competition got hit with the ipod now here comes the knock out punch !! Three for the office 7 for the board !! Placing an order for 10 please !!

[iphone blog]

I've got my $500 ready for my nice new phone.

[Peter S Magnusson]

PED, you get no love writing anything remotely bad about Apple! lol. Well I'm working on a blog to SLAM the iPhone, so I guess I should change my name.