Rumored iPhone 5 "asymmetric screw" was phony, attempt to dupe media
Reports that Apple would be moving to a new "asymmetric screw" design to make it virtually impossible for users to take apart iPhone 5 were based on a fake rumor designed to dupe reporters, the source has admitted.
Lukasz Lindell of the Sweedish Day4 blog described plans to seed obviously false and factually unsupported information related to Apple's highly anticipated iPhone 5 to judge how quickly and widely it would be repeated.
The group created a 3D model portraying a new "asymmetric screw," which Lindell described as "a very strange screw where the head was neither a star, tracks, pentalobe or whatever, but a unique form, also very impractical."
The screw created the suggestion that Apple would begin using the "strange screw" to make it more difficult for end users to open up its devices.
The fake story was first posted to Reddit, a site where readers determine the credibility and newsworthiness of various stories by simply agreeing with an up vote or trying to bury them with a down vote.
Within 12 hours, Lindell reported, the fake story was reported by one Apple-oriented website under the headline "Apple May Be Working On A Top Secret Asymmetric Screw To Lock You Out Of Your Devices Forever."
Lindell cited a variety of news sources that all helped to perpetuate the story. AppleInsider declined to cover it.
"We must become more critical of what we read and think ?Is this reasonable?? or 'What?s the origin for this information?' Because it is not the last time any of this data will be upon us," Lindell wrote.
He added, "we just want to say sorry to you who feel cheated, but the meaning behind the experiment may provide a longer-term results, that we become more thoughtful about things we see on the Internet."
Lukasz Lindell of the Sweedish Day4 blog described plans to seed obviously false and factually unsupported information related to Apple's highly anticipated iPhone 5 to judge how quickly and widely it would be repeated.
The group created a 3D model portraying a new "asymmetric screw," which Lindell described as "a very strange screw where the head was neither a star, tracks, pentalobe or whatever, but a unique form, also very impractical."
The screw created the suggestion that Apple would begin using the "strange screw" to make it more difficult for end users to open up its devices.
The fake story was first posted to Reddit, a site where readers determine the credibility and newsworthiness of various stories by simply agreeing with an up vote or trying to bury them with a down vote.
Within 12 hours, Lindell reported, the fake story was reported by one Apple-oriented website under the headline "Apple May Be Working On A Top Secret Asymmetric Screw To Lock You Out Of Your Devices Forever."
Lindell cited a variety of news sources that all helped to perpetuate the story. AppleInsider declined to cover it.
"We must become more critical of what we read and think ?Is this reasonable?? or 'What?s the origin for this information?' Because it is not the last time any of this data will be upon us," Lindell wrote.
He added, "we just want to say sorry to you who feel cheated, but the meaning behind the experiment may provide a longer-term results, that we become more thoughtful about things we see on the Internet."
Comments
I've already had experience with soft screws on the iMac. Much the same.
So, how many new Apple employees were fired for leaking this?
Asymmetric screw... lmao
Considering such a screw is a type of 'Penrose Illusion' that is impossible to implement... who would believe this?
Anyone who has ever used a screw before would just laugh at this.
Funny stuff.
In unrelated news, Samsung is allegedly creating a new and unique design for its rumored Galaxy iV phone, a sequel to the Galaxy III. The sources indicate that TouchWiz will be using a tile based GUI.
Actually a screw like that might be easy to remove. It has so many traction points you could probably use a piece of plastic to mold it into the grooves with pressure. I don't think those screws need much torque to release. Not that it matters since it is fake.
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider
He added, "we just want to say sorry to you who feel cheated, but the meaning behind the experiment may provide a longer-term results, that we become more thoughtful about things we see on the Internet."
Not just that, but people that purposely put out misleading information out on the Internet and try to claim it as fact should be outed and plastered all over the Internet too as the lying idiots they are.
This is not the same as what Apple (supposedly) does when creating false prototypes to flush out internal leaks, so don't try spinning my story.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mode
[quote]Asymmetric screw... lmao
Considering such a screw is a type of 'Penrose Illusion' that is impossible to implement... who would believe this?
Anyone who has ever used a screw before would just laugh at this.
Funny stuff.
I don't think it was in relation to the threads (with threads going in opposite, conflicting directions...that would indeed be a useless, non-working screw design).
It seems they're talking about the screwhead itself, with its weird design that no existing, regular screwdriver of any type would fit into (asymmetrical, as in no right angles or straight-across lines that an existing Phillips or flat-tip driver could work with, and certainly none of the torx or pentalobe(?) drivers). Note the illustration and the silly head/slot design.
If you were making a broader, drier point - and you're fully aware of the above - my apologies. My sarcasm detectors don't always fire on all cylinders...
Here's a "news" update on this screw:
the fact that most blogs will post and hype anything just to get hits is nothing new
Quote:
Originally Posted by sflocal
Not just that, but people that purposely put out misleading information out on the Internet and try to claim it as fact should be outed and plastered all over the Internet too as the lying idiots they are.
How many times does this happen accidentally? Someone publishes some inaccurate info and it gets repeated over and over. I think perhaps there should be a new search algorithm that can track stories back to their source, That would be something very useful. People sometimes say, I searched for this or that in Google and got 5,000 hits, not realizing that 99% of those hits are just regurgitating the same text found some where else on the Internet. Meanwhile the original article could be completely bogus. It is very frustrating when you are trying to find something and every link is the same incomplete or erroneous information all linking to a document that is 404.
By the way, isn’t it about time for the "Apple engineer loses prototype iPhone in ________" marketing campaign?
This year my money is on left in a restroom of a restaurant.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mstone
Actually a screw like that might be easy to remove. It has so many traction points you could probably use a piece of plastic to mold it into the grooves with pressure. I don't think those screws need much torque to release. Not that it matters since it is fake.
If you have to mold an object around the screw... then it's no longer a 'screw' by definition.
You do realize it's impossible to have an asymmetrical screw right? Unless you were screwing it into a malleable substance... but then you wouldn't need it to 'screw'.
It would at that point become an 'anchor' or 'anchor screw', since it would be impossible to un-screw.
I just hope that all the "leaks" of parts of the new iPhone that emerges every single day are false too, and Apple shows a completely different design.
This is not how Apple does things.
They would opt for the most direct and simplest screw possible--to maintain a zen about the product.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mode
If you have to mold an object around the screw... then it's no longer a 'screw' by definition.
You do realize it's impossible to have an asymmetrical screw right? Unless you were screwing it into a malleable substance... but then you wouldn't need it to 'screw'.
It would at that point become an 'anchor' or 'anchor screw', since it would be impossible to un-screw.
We must not be looking at the same image. The one I see is a regular screw with a non traditional head. Think of a screw in a motorcycle crankcase which snaps off while trying to unthread it. We use a screw extractor (easy-out). You drill a hole into the shaft of the broken screw and then FORCE a reverse threaded harden steel twisted bit into the hole. Same idea. I know it is not worth going very deep into this subject since it serves very little purpose but from a physics point of view you could use a pointed piece of plastic and FORCE it into the screw head grooves. The malleable plastic is soft enough to conform, somewhat, to the unusual fastener head yet hard enough to produce the necessary friction to loosen the screw (theoretically)
You want a symmetrical screw head that lines up fast in an assembly plant, which is why self centring screws replaced the original slotted ones.
A screw head like that would create a production bottleneck of nightmarish proportions as each screw would have to be precisely lined up with the driver..
I've commented on this screw when it first came out.
From an engineering standpoint, this "screw" is just about an impossible part. The threads are very impractical. The threads would be very hard to cut into a hole. They are way too weak, and wouldn't hold. The screw head is impractical for two reasons. The first is that it's too complex. It would be almost impossible to make a screwdriver fastener to fit it in the small sizes it would supposedly be made in. And secondly, the head is too shallow. There isn't enough metal depth for the tip to hold and not strip the head.
Absurd design. I coulld have come up with a much better one.
None, as this has nothing to do with Apple.
I love it!!
There should be more of this. Sites who find this garbage and repost it should be embarrassed and understand that what they do has nothing to do with actual journalism, where you perform fact checking, quote sources, etc.
I would love to see a kind of "political correctness" that says that it's not cool to re-tweet other people's tweets or re-post other people's youtube videos, etc. When will people understand that such clutter makes our lives worse, not better. I think news sites should, as a matter of policy, not quote sites that in turn have quoted other sites. They should always do the research to find out which site originally posted the material and post to that. Otherwise, it becomes like a game of telephone.
But that is one cool looking screw (even if it wouldn't actually work). I bet something very much like it shows up in movie set design for the next sci-fi blockbuster. But they shouldn't have let us know it was phony so soon. They should have let Samsung try and make such screws first. I always thought Apple would start such disinformation campaigns, leaking all kinds of ridiculous information to confound the competition ("the next iPhone will be shaped like a hockey puck", "the next MBP will have a holographic display", etc..)