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Comment by arkades | Hacker News Reader

The excellent engineers at Samsung failed to crack this problem. A little while ago people were saying Motorola must just be showing advertising mock-ups, because how could they solve the hinge problem that a Real(tm) cell phone company could not, with all that engineering talent and R&D funding.

Maybe moving the hinges to the side and using sliding supporting plates is more complicated and less obvious than it looks? Problems do tend to look a lot simpler once someone else has solved them for you.

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At a high level that’s literally the first idea that came to me for a creaseless design. The ultra thin hinge becomes a huge stress point, but flip phones prove it’s still reasonable.

However, the real issue is implementation. Trying to get the screen rigid over a void and fit all the components into a very confined space. IMO, this is what should be patentable not the idea of a void. Aka. Is it a viable phone or just a nifty demo.

PS: And looking at the patent that’s actually a big part of it. Their hinge design is has some very interesting tradeoffs, which might make this viable.

> Problems do tend to look a lot simpler once someone else has solved them for you

This is so true. I wonder if there's a law named for this phenomenon?

Off topic, but I find many managers fall into this trap. I.e. they don't recognize the difference between when someone exceptionally bright solving a problem very quickly and just moves on vs. a mediocre thinker who takes an inordinate amount of time to solve a problem, but then advertises their accomplishment like a metal of valor (and managers typically fall for it).

> This is so true. I wonder if there's a law named for this phenomenon?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egg_of_Columbus

> An egg of Columbus or Columbus' egg refers to a brilliant idea or discovery that seems simple or easy after the fact. The expression refers to an apocryphal story, dating from at least the 15th century, in which it is said that Christopher Columbus, having been told that discovering the Americas was inevitable and no great accomplishment, challenges his critics to make an egg stand on its tip. After his challengers give up, Columbus does it himself by tapping the egg on the table to flatten its tip.

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