i've always wondered why there isn't more work done with ceramics.
they can be tough and they don't interfere with radio signals.
Apple does have a patent on the use of zirconium dioxide in mobile device enclosures. This is the material that ceramic knives are made of. It's very tough and radio transparent. But it might be impractical because of cost and / or difficulty in recycling.
This is done on the stanchions of high-performance mountain bike suspension forks and the body shafts of rear shocks.
Pretty cool stuff. RockShox has their own nitriding machines out in Colorado; huge bastards! Fox Racing Shox also does this new one called Kashima Coat, from the Miyaki Coporation of Japan.
Fox Racing Shox is about a half hour's drive from Apple HQ. What a logical corporate connection: mountain bikes and computers.
A variety of the Nanos have come in anodized colors, so Apple already has a good track history of testing and producing coatings. Nitriding the surface should (in theory) be even less of a risk, since it's colorless.
Does anyone have a 'dope-slap' smilie? Apple does more than just aesthetic design.
Incorrect. Anodizing chemically changes the outer surface of the aluminum to increase surface hardness (and color can be added). Coatings are much different... and are much prone to all sorts of flaking over time.
So in theory, no, the fact that it is "colorless" doesn't decrease risk in flaking.
The solution for the iPhone 4 antenna-shortcut problem?
But according to everyone defending Apple on this, Apple already made their decision. Why do anything more about a "non-issue"? As for applications for other products, why invest millions of dollars in research when you can just tell your customers "Just don't scratch it that way"?
Yup... nitriding stainless steel is nothing new in itself (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitriding), and Titanium can also be nitrided - in any case, it is NOT a coating (not in its usual sense - think of it as a surface treatment).... the nitrogen bonds/diffuses at the surface layer of the metal and chemically changes/alloys the steel surface layer (increasing hardness and corrosion resistance of the surface while retaining the main steel bodies strength/elasticity).
I've a titanium watch with a nitrided finish - first watch i've bought that wasn't scratched within hours of purchase - the nitriding is very effective.
Interesting that you mention titanium. Didn't the original titanium Powerbook G4's have a problem with paint flaking off?
While nitriding will make the surface harder and more impact resistant, it also makes it more open to chemical attack as it essentially deposits reactive species on the surface of the metal.
With this in mind, you're unlikely to see it being used on a product made by apple - i don't think they want devices that slowly turn black with age.
As opposed to white plastic keyboards and laptops that turn yellow with age?
They must be wanting to use this to coat the new liquidmetal technology that they have licensed, which would be a natural for the iPhone 5 and the 2nd gen iPad, making it lighter, and resolving the glass breakage issue on the back cover of the iPhone. I doubt this would solve the antenna issue, but a wrap around casing may solve all the issues in one fell swoop.
Plus, you can watch it morph back into its original shape after it gets dented (think "Christine" and "Terminator II")
I know this isn't exactly the same, but the DeLorean comes to mind here. Sales of the car were not meeting expectations and one reason was that consumers had only one color choice - stainless. Researchers at DuPont (I think) came up with a paint for the car that apparently looked fantastic. It was transparent so you could see the stainless underneath. One problem. After about a year it would start peeling off the stainless substrate. They could not use it and not long after the car failed in the market place.
This nitride coating is not the same as paint of course, but Apple should be very sure that it will behave as expected in the real world. I would be bad to have customers returning their devices after 6 months because the coating was flaking off.
Something about the head of Delorean making horrible "investments" may have had more to do with the fall of that company. But I get your point about trying to paint stainless. Just an FYI, there are ways to paint metal, the problem is the transparency, not the adhesion.
This is done on the stanchions of high-performance mountain bike suspension forks and the body shafts of rear shocks.
Pretty cool stuff. RockShox has their own nitriding machines out in Colorado; huge bastards! Fox Racing Shox also does this new one called Kashima Coat, from the Miyaki Coporation of Japan.
Fox Racing Shox is about a half hour's drive from Apple HQ. What a logical corporate connection: mountain bikes and computers.
While nitriding will make the surface harder and more impact resistant, it also makes it more open to chemical attack as it essentially deposits reactive species on the surface of the metal.
With this in mind, you're unlikely to see it being used on a product made by apple - i don't think they want devices that slowly turn black with age.
No, they want it to start slowly after the one year warranty expires and then accelerate as soon as your two year contract has expired.
I remember a former engineer from Apple saying, Jobs gets on "color" kicks. Like everything has to be blue, no clear, no foggy clear, no white. And then no, everything as to be titanium, no aluminum with black, keyboards, black logo, black raccoon border on the screens.
Dell's and HP's are "Corporate" funeral black and pallbearer gray...Sony's are frostbite death blue....the aluminum macs are although very elegant look somewhat mainstream as far as color...especially when compared to the black...
iMagine if Apple changed from "silver" aluminum to an anodized brushed gold finish....I mean every thing...from the entire, laptop, desktop, iPad, iphone, iPod touch and all the ancillary devices like keyboards, mice, routers, TimeMachines, etc?
Brilliant, if I do say so myself! I might even respond to this post and say, "Brilliant!"
Best
And then they change the color scheme of their stores to rich maroon carpet with rosewood/cherry finished tables with warm brass lighting and then have all these brushed gold items sitting on the tables? Brilliant!
I remember a former engineer from Apple saying, Jobs gets on "color" kicks. Like everything has to be white. And then no, everything as to be titanium, no aluminum with black, keyboards, black logo, black raccoon border on the screens.
Dell's and HP's are "Corporate" funeral black and pallbearer gray...Sony's are frostbite death blue....the aluminum macs are although very elegant look somewhat mainstream as far as color...especially when compared to the black...
iMagine if Apple changed from "silver" aluminum to an anodized brushed gold finish....I mean every thing...from the entire, laptop, desktop, iPad, iphone, iPod touch and all the ancillary devices like keyboards, mice, routers, TimeMachines, etc?
Brilliant, if I do say so myself! I might even respond to this post and say, "Brilliant!"
Best
And then they change the color scheme of their stores to rich maroon carpet with rosewood/cherry finished tables with warm brass lighting and then have all these brushed gold items sitting on the tables? Brilliant!
Interesting that you mention titanium. Didn't the original titanium Powerbook G4's have a problem with paint flaking off?
Yes, but its titanium surfaces weren't the problem. The problem was paint applied to the plastic, which flaked off from the areas where one's palms would tend to rest while typing. Later iterations improved the paint's adhesion (mine hasn't flaked yet, but it's only 8 years old ).
For all the marketing hype, there was a lot of plastic on the Ti Powerbooks - unlike the aluminum models that followed.
iMagine if Apple changed from "silver" aluminum to an anodized brushed gold finish....I mean every thing...from the entire, laptop, desktop, iPad, iphone, iPod touch and all the ancillary devices like keyboards, mice, routers, TimeMachines, etc?
Apple's competitors would have a heyday with it. "About time Apple's overpriced stuff came in gold!", etc. etc.
Unless Apple can make it drop-dead gorgeous, they should think twice about this can of worms.
iMagine if Apple changed from "silver" aluminum to an anodized brushed gold finish....I mean every thing...from the entire, laptop, desktop, iPad, iphone, iPod touch and all the ancillary devices like keyboards, mice, routers, TimeMachines, etc?
Eeew! Bling!
How about a softly pulsing multi color fading keyboard background light and making the Shift lock light shine through a tiny zirconia?
Comments
i've always wondered why there isn't more work done with ceramics.
they can be tough and they don't interfere with radio signals.
Apple does have a patent on the use of zirconium dioxide in mobile device enclosures. This is the material that ceramic knives are made of. It's very tough and radio transparent. But it might be impractical because of cost and / or difficulty in recycling.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zirconium_dioxide
Pretty cool stuff. RockShox has their own nitriding machines out in Colorado; huge bastards! Fox Racing Shox also does this new one called Kashima Coat, from the Miyaki Coporation of Japan.
Fox Racing Shox is about a half hour's drive from Apple HQ. What a logical corporate connection: mountain bikes and computers.
A variety of the Nanos have come in anodized colors, so Apple already has a good track history of testing and producing coatings. Nitriding the surface should (in theory) be even less of a risk, since it's colorless.
Does anyone have a 'dope-slap' smilie?
Incorrect. Anodizing chemically changes the outer surface of the aluminum to increase surface hardness (and color can be added). Coatings are much different... and are much prone to all sorts of flaking over time.
So in theory, no, the fact that it is "colorless" doesn't decrease risk in flaking.
Source: I'm a mechanical engineer.
The solution for the iPhone 4 antenna-shortcut problem?
But according to everyone defending Apple on this, Apple already made their decision. Why do anything more about a "non-issue"? As for applications for other products, why invest millions of dollars in research when you can just tell your customers "Just don't scratch it that way"?
Yup... nitriding stainless steel is nothing new in itself (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nitriding), and Titanium can also be nitrided - in any case, it is NOT a coating (not in its usual sense - think of it as a surface treatment).... the nitrogen bonds/diffuses at the surface layer of the metal and chemically changes/alloys the steel surface layer (increasing hardness and corrosion resistance of the surface while retaining the main steel bodies strength/elasticity).
I've a titanium watch with a nitrided finish - first watch i've bought that wasn't scratched within hours of purchase
Interesting that you mention titanium. Didn't the original titanium Powerbook G4's have a problem with paint flaking off?
While nitriding will make the surface harder and more impact resistant, it also makes it more open to chemical attack as it essentially deposits reactive species on the surface of the metal.
With this in mind, you're unlikely to see it being used on a product made by apple - i don't think they want devices that slowly turn black with age.
As opposed to white plastic keyboards and laptops that turn yellow with age?
Plus, you can watch it morph back into its original shape after it gets dented (think "Christine" and "Terminator II")
I know this isn't exactly the same, but the DeLorean comes to mind here. Sales of the car were not meeting expectations and one reason was that consumers had only one color choice - stainless. Researchers at DuPont (I think) came up with a paint for the car that apparently looked fantastic. It was transparent so you could see the stainless underneath. One problem. After about a year it would start peeling off the stainless substrate. They could not use it and not long after the car failed in the market place.
This nitride coating is not the same as paint of course, but Apple should be very sure that it will behave as expected in the real world. I would be bad to have customers returning their devices after 6 months because the coating was flaking off.
Something about the head of Delorean making horrible "investments" may have had more to do with the fall of that company. But I get your point about trying to paint stainless. Just an FYI, there are ways to paint metal, the problem is the transparency, not the adhesion.
This is done on the stanchions of high-performance mountain bike suspension forks and the body shafts of rear shocks.
Pretty cool stuff. RockShox has their own nitriding machines out in Colorado; huge bastards! Fox Racing Shox also does this new one called Kashima Coat, from the Miyaki Coporation of Japan.
Fox Racing Shox is about a half hour's drive from Apple HQ. What a logical corporate connection: mountain bikes and computers.
like a bicycle for the mind.
While nitriding will make the surface harder and more impact resistant, it also makes it more open to chemical attack as it essentially deposits reactive species on the surface of the metal.
With this in mind, you're unlikely to see it being used on a product made by apple - i don't think they want devices that slowly turn black with age.
No, they want it to start slowly after the one year warranty expires and then accelerate as soon as your two year contract has expired.
Dell's and HP's are "Corporate" funeral black and pallbearer gray...Sony's are frostbite death blue....the aluminum macs are although very elegant look somewhat mainstream as far as color...especially when compared to the black...
iMagine if Apple changed from "silver" aluminum to an anodized brushed gold finish....I mean every thing...from the entire, laptop, desktop, iPad, iphone, iPod touch and all the ancillary devices like keyboards, mice, routers, TimeMachines, etc?
Brilliant, if I do say so myself! I might even respond to this post and say, "Brilliant!"
Best
And then they change the color scheme of their stores to rich maroon carpet with rosewood/cherry finished tables with warm brass lighting and then have all these brushed gold items sitting on the tables? Brilliant!
I remember a former engineer from Apple saying, Jobs gets on "color" kicks. Like everything has to be white. And then no, everything as to be titanium, no aluminum with black, keyboards, black logo, black raccoon border on the screens.
Dell's and HP's are "Corporate" funeral black and pallbearer gray...Sony's are frostbite death blue....the aluminum macs are although very elegant look somewhat mainstream as far as color...especially when compared to the black...
iMagine if Apple changed from "silver" aluminum to an anodized brushed gold finish....I mean every thing...from the entire, laptop, desktop, iPad, iphone, iPod touch and all the ancillary devices like keyboards, mice, routers, TimeMachines, etc?
Brilliant, if I do say so myself! I might even respond to this post and say, "Brilliant!"
Best
And then they change the color scheme of their stores to rich maroon carpet with rosewood/cherry finished tables with warm brass lighting and then have all these brushed gold items sitting on the tables? Brilliant!
Brilliant!
Interesting that you mention titanium. Didn't the original titanium Powerbook G4's have a problem with paint flaking off?
Yes, but its titanium surfaces weren't the problem. The problem was paint applied to the plastic, which flaked off from the areas where one's palms would tend to rest while typing. Later iterations improved the paint's adhesion (mine hasn't flaked yet, but it's only 8 years old
For all the marketing hype, there was a lot of plastic on the Ti Powerbooks - unlike the aluminum models that followed.
Apple's patent application describes a variety of methods to place the nitride on the surface, ...
Fascinating flowchart. I should patent cooking spaghetti
iMagine if Apple changed from "silver" aluminum to an anodized brushed gold finish....I mean every thing...from the entire, laptop, desktop, iPad, iphone, iPod touch and all the ancillary devices like keyboards, mice, routers, TimeMachines, etc?
Apple's competitors would have a heyday with it. "About time Apple's overpriced stuff came in gold!", etc. etc.
Unless Apple can make it drop-dead gorgeous, they should think twice about this can of worms.
Apple's competitors would have a heyday with it. "About time Apple's overpriced stuff came in gold!", etc. etc.
Unless Apple can make it drop-dead gorgeous, they should think twice about this can of worms.
Yep, you're probably right!
Oh well, what the hell do I know!
iMagine if Apple changed from "silver" aluminum to an anodized brushed gold finish....I mean every thing...from the entire, laptop, desktop, iPad, iphone, iPod touch and all the ancillary devices like keyboards, mice, routers, TimeMachines, etc?
Eeew! Bling!
How about a softly pulsing multi color fading keyboard background light and making the Shift lock light shine through a tiny zirconia?