Rumored iPhone 5 "asymmetric screw" was phony, attempt to dupe media

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Comments

  • Reply 21 of 37
    melgrossmelgross Posts: 33,510member
    mstone wrote: »
    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) 

    I'm not sure which screw you're looking at, but this screw isn't regular at all. It's not just the head that's wrong, it's the threads as well. Highly impractical. Almost useless, in fact. The closest screw that looks like that fat shank with highly spaced threads is one for dental molar implants. But even there, the threads are sharp triangular spirals. This tiny, highly spaced, half round thread isn't strong enough. It was done by design people, not by engineers who actually know how screws work.
  • Reply 22 of 37
    modemode Posts: 163member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    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) 



     


    Hmm... i see what your saying...


    It looks like the threaded part (which should be round) is asymmetrical (like it has been squashed).


    That's how I interpreted the photo.

  • Reply 23 of 37


     


    VERNON


    Who closed that door?


     


    BENDER


    I think a screw fell out of it...


     


    ANDREW


    It just closed, sir...


     


    (Vernon looks at Allison in the back.)


     


    VERNON


    Who?


     


    (Allison lets out a squeak and slams her face onto the


    table, hiding in her jacket hood.)


     


    BENDER


    She doesn't talk, sir...


     


    VERNON


    (to Bender)


    Give me that screw...


     


    BENDER


    I don't have it...


     


    VERNON


    You want me to yank you outta that


    seat and shake it out of you?


     


    BENDER


    I don't have it...screws fall out


    all of the time, the world's an


    imperfect place...


     


    VERNON


    Give it to me, Bender...


     


    CLAIRE


    Excuse me, sir, why would anybody


    want to steal a screw?


     


    VERNON


    (to Claire)


    Watch it, young lady...
  • Reply 24 of 37
    jeffdmjeffdm Posts: 12,951member
    pscates wrote: »

    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.

    The image certainly doesn't imply impossible threads. I wonder if the journalist has never looked at a screw before, those threads are unlike any that I've seen before. Most screws have triangular cross section, not semi-circular. It looks like an inverse ball screw thread, which is stupid anyway.
  • Reply 25 of 37
    mstonemstone Posts: 11,510member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by melgross View Post





    I'm not sure which screw you're looking at, but this screw isn't regular at all. It's not just the head that's wrong, it's the threads as well. Highly impractical. Almost useless, in fact. The closest screw that looks like that fat shank with highly spaced threads is one for dental molar implants. But even there, the threads are sharp triangular spirals. This tiny, highly spaced, half round thread isn't strong enough. It was done by design people, not by engineers who actually know how screws work.


    I see what you are saying however the threads are not the aspect of the claim which was causing an issue. It was the head that was asymmetrical -  "a very strange screw where the head was neither a star, tracks, pentalobe or whatever, but a unique form, also very impractical.". The threads themselves although odd would not prevent someone from twisting the screw in either direction if the head had a conventional configuration. However, the threads in the fake screw would not have to be sharp as long as the material that they were screwed into had a matching thread. Impractical, maybe, but certainly not useless.


     


    If you want to get into discussing dental implants I can elaborate on that topic with a great deal of authority. Here are some that we use in our implant layout software. They do not all have sharp threads. It really depends on the condition of the alveolar or labial bone, the thickness and density. 


     


    image

  • Reply 26 of 37
    tallest skiltallest skil Posts: 43,388member


    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    They do not all have sharp threads. It really depends on the condition of the labial bone, the thickness and density. 


    image



     


    The words and pictures of this discussion are slowly taking a darker turn…

  • Reply 27 of 37
    desuserigndesuserign Posts: 1,316member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Mode View Post


     


    Hmm... i see what your saying...


    It looks like the threaded part (which should be round) is asymmetrical (like it has been squashed).


    That's how I interpreted the photo.



    Hmm, a shared delusion.


    What kind of drugs are you two taking?  ;-)


     


    (There's nothing asymetrical about the threads, although they are not a very practical design.) 

  • Reply 28 of 37


    It makes a LOT of sense though, but never being able to open your iPhone?! come on, we ALL know you'd just have to buy a new specialized screwdriver for a few dollars.


     


    It's NOT the threads that are asymetric people, come on, it's clearly the head that's asymetric in that picture.

  • Reply 29 of 37
    sddavesddave Posts: 24member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by al_bundy View Post


    the fact that most blogs will post and hype anything just to get hits is nothing new



    Wikipedia, anyone?

  • Reply 30 of 37
    desuserigndesuserign Posts: 1,316member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by mstone View Post


    image



    BTW, I have one of these in my head. something like a cross between the blue and green ones has let me have a nice porcelain capped gold upper left first bicuspid for the last 15 years or so. It's been a good thing (so relieved I didn't have to let them shave into the adjacent teeth and  put in a partial!)

  • Reply 31 of 37
    sennensennen Posts: 1,472member

    Quote:

    Originally Posted by jungmark View Post


    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.



     


    They actually had planned to use this asymmetric screw in their next generation of devices... back to the drawing board!

  • Reply 32 of 37
    mstone wrote: »
    I see what you are saying however the threads are not the aspect of the claim which was causing an issue. It was the head that was asymmetrical -  "a very strange screw where the head was neither a star, tracks, pentalobe or whatever, but a unique form, also very impractical.". The threads themselves although odd would not prevent someone from twisting the screw in either direction if the head had a conventional configuration. However, the threads in the fake screw would not have to be sharp as long as the material that they were screwed into had a matching thread. Impractical, maybe, but certainly not useless.

    If you want to get into discussing dental implants I can elaborate on that topic with a great deal of authority. Here are some that we use in our implant layout software. They do not all have sharp threads. It really depends on the condition of the labial bone, the thickness and density. 

    implants.png
    What size batteries do they take?
  • Reply 33 of 37
    Uhu,

    we all knew it was phoney or just another 'blank draw'.
  • Reply 34 of 37
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    mstone wrote: »
    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.

    So true. I have taken to starting searches at the likes of wikipedia rather than google these days for this exact reason. It was brought home to me in a big way when I was trying to prove to a guy that his money had been poorly invested in a hydrogen system for his truck. He had bought a large electrolysis system powered by his truck's battery and hooked up the H2 pipe to his carb and convinced he was getting a much better mpg. To my amazement a google search simply produced endless articles supporting his beliefs. I had to really try hard to bring up this subject with any reference to the laws of thermodynamics! Of course I couldn't dissuade him based on science.
  • Reply 35 of 37
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    The words and pictures of this discussion are slowly taking a darker turn…

    Agreed, bring up dentistry and I'm out of here / lol
  • Reply 36 of 37
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    What size batteries do they take?

    The Labial bone, believe it or not, is in the mouth! /lol
  • Reply 37 of 37
    All a fake to show how easy it is to fool the press.

    Obviously if you wanted to doubt the story you would have to bring Apple's use of glue.
    So it was always a sticky subject for the positive press.
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