The "specialness spiral" leads us to not use some ordinary objects (2021)
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An example is that professional photographers don't "baby" their cameras. The corners are dinged, everything is worn, and they pick them up in one hand without putting the strap around their neck to stop it falling. If it's too fragile to use, it's too fragile.
My application of this philosophy is that I don't put a protective case on my iPhone. I typically buy the most expensive model, and I have dropped them, and even scratched the screen.
But here's the thing: the bare phone is beautiful. It has a very well designed glass and metal body. It's shiny. It's elegant. It's as small as it can be made.
If you put a plastic cover on it, the phone gets bigger, heavier, and uglier. You're sacrificing something (usability, comfort, appearance) for the benefit of the device, not for your own benefit.
PS: Everyone I know who has a protective case on their phone has broken the screen at least once. Typically they just get it repaired for ~$100 and then... they still have their unblemished pretty phone again, which they put back inside an ugly case.
For other people though, it might not be worth it or affordable at all. If one $30 case saves paying Apple care, or if helps use the phone for three or four years rather than two then that is a significant financial saving.
I make a fraction of what a typical IC in silicon valley might, and I'm not what you'd categorise as "rich" by any means. Middle class, more like.
My point is that I've seen people that only fly first-class put phones in plastic cases.
I didn’t read it that way.
Pointing out that being able to buy the most expensive model and then risking harm to it is something not everyone can afford is not stiffling the discussion. It is the discussion.
It is hard to be aware of one’s own biases due to personal circumstances. It is a “fish can’t see the water it is swimming in” kind of situation.
Many people I know don’t consider phone protectors on an aesthetic axis, but on the “what is the probability that this slippery brick falls and shatters and then I won’t have a phone for the next few years at all”. If you are financially in a situation where you can buy a new flagship phone at any time you might not even think about this viewpoint.
You might even feel attacked for being privileged enough when someone points that possibility
No, really. Just what is it with that fragility? Did people get all defensive back in the day when someone said "that's only valid if you are sufficiently rich"?
Might be that I just never noticed it, but it's getting real annoying just how often people get all defensive about what they said only applying to people who have it good enough
Comments like that are online bullying.
If you have a financial/wealth argument to make, by all means make it ... then let it stand on it's own merits.
They did.
> I absolutely DID read it that way.
What do you think is the cause of this fragility?
A professional photographer will have gear built to take that kind of abuse; most enthusiasts will not have that to the same degree (e.g. may have weatherproofing, but not to the same standards), and professionals will have insurance in case that goes wrong (and backups for the most important pieces), and there's something tangible to gain from taking the risk (getting the shot, getting a better shot, delivering better value, ...)
> But here's the thing: the bare phone is beautiful. It has a very well designed glass and metal body. It's shiny. It's elegant. It's as small as it can be made.
Phones are designed to be put into cases. They're as slim as possible at the expense of battery life, heat management and better hardware so they don't feel like bricks when put into a case because pretty much everyone will put them in one. My iPhone handles like crap without one, despite its sleek lines, and cases are actual fashion statements these days.
Casual photographers don't baby their cameras. They simply don't know the abuse tolerance their camera has as well as professionals that use them every day. It's perfectly reasonable to be careful with expensive tools that you aren't used to.
Phones are different of course, but mine is slippery and uncomfortable to use. A plastic case actually enhances its usability, as well as protects it.
Not sure what the mechanism of action is here, but I guess it's too smooth?...
The front is the issue. My current case is a hard plastic case that lifts up the screen, so it will never touch the table. Maybe a screen protector would work as well, but I really don't like those.
It will thank you by not failing when you need it most.
A proper craftsman takes care of his tools. Yes, they're banged up from many years of use, but they are otherwise in good state of upkeep. They are also never deliberately abused.
If a "craftsman's" tools are in a badly kept state, he's not worth your time or money to hire.
My iPhone 7 is slippery as hell. Even if money were no object and I had a stack of 100 spare ones, I would still absolutely hate for it to break when I'm randomly out and about just because it slipped from my hand.
Even just taking 30 minutes or however long to move everything to a new one would be a nuisance, let alone having to go to the apple store or wait for a delivery. I just want my phone to get out of my way. I don't use it often, but when I do, I want it to work right then and there.
Taking the 10 seconds to install a non-slippery cover helps tremendously with that.
I think there is a definite difference between babying something and being absolutely reckless with it. It may also depend on the device. My galaxy s5 wouldn't slip from my hands, so I didn't bother with a cover. I would also buy an iphone "rugged" instead of a "slim" if it were an option.
When I drop it, I just have to swap the screen protector (a 2$ consumable you can buy on aliexpress) which takes 10 minutes vs having to pay 100x as much and wait a few days to get my phone back to swap displays (and maybe get a knockoff display with inferior performance)
IMHO it’s just wasteful not to spend so little time and money to make the device last several years longer.
> I put my (slippery) iPhones in cases because if I don’t they stop working. Your phone might not care that its screen is cracked
I would be hugely bothered by a cracked screen or an otherwise non-operative screen. But Apple’s Pro level phones feature steel cases. This makes the phone very robust. I have yet to crack or otherwise damage my phone.
> have to pay several hundreds to put it back the way it was vs spending 20$ or less on a case and screen protector
Always get AppleCare Plus. It serves as my screen protector. If I ever did crack my screen service fee to fix a broken screen is $29.
> which takes 10 minutes vs having to pay 100x as much and wait a few days to get my phone back to swap displays
As per above the price difference between a case and AppleCare is minimal close to 0x as much.
And it doesn’t take days to have your screen replaced. Apple stores will do it in minutes within the space of a single service appointment.
iPhones are truly works of art and should be enjoyed without cheap plastic cases. Just make sure you have AppleCare Plus.
Same as sibling for me, there are no Apple stores near where I live, I have to send it to a service provider who will send it to their service center and back to me, turnaround is easily a week.
I also find iPhones very slippery and super easy to drop. I don’t think it’s on purpose but I also don’t think it’s not not on purpose. I’d rather have my iPhone be a few mm thicker if it meant it’s not as fragile, I don’t care for a glass back that will break and is very hard to replace without paying hundreds, etc. I’d buy a fairly priced utilitarian iPhone that lets me do phone things (calls texts emails browsing) if they made one.
I guess I’m on the opposite side of your argument. I see it as “if I can keep something fully functional, in excellent condition, and without having to pay for repairs or buy extra parts for the cost of maintenance/protective equipment that costs a tenth of the device it protects, it’s a no brainer to spend that tenth and save my money + time in the long run (and reduce waste)”
I agree they are beautiful to behold. Nevertheless, if I want art, I'll go and buy actual art. My iphone is, foremost, a tool. If I have to wait an hour for it to be fixed, it's failed its purpose.
> Apple stores will do it in minutes within the space of a single service appointment.
I don't know how it is where you live, but I had to wait the next day for an appointment, and they held onto the phone for something like four hours. They also didn't honor the appointment hour, so I had to wait in line for 30 minutes.
I love my iphone otherwise, but this was just horrendous. I've lost half a day waiting around to fix the phone. This was for a battery replacement, not a broken screen, but the process is likely similar.
My case literally has small chunks missing from a few plastic bits. If my case didn't take the direct impact, my phone would have. I don't buy the most expensive models, and I do want the phone to last as long as possible. Not taking care of it seems wasteful, and care - with my lifestyle - means having a case.
On the other hand with a good case, I can be more carefree. Lightly hold onto it with fewer fingers, throw it onto tables, use it as a hammer, etc. It gains robustness, which is valuable.
> PS: Everyone I know who has a protective case on their phone has broken the screen at least once. Typically they just get it repaired for ~$100 and then... they still have their unblemished pretty phone again, which they put back inside an ugly case.
That's just simply not true. I regularly hang out in a circle of rollerbladers who use their iPhones in the worst conditions, where they would most certainly not survive for even a week if not for cases.
I bought my current phone (pixel) and the previous one (pixel) very cheap from ebay, both with a cracks on screen, current one has broken corner. No protective casing. These don't hinder me in any way. Cracks are barely visible when phone is on. In early days of phones, I use to have a phone with a tape around it because back cover was loose and battery use to fall of.
Only I consider buying new electronic items like these is the uncertainty of if it will work well and how much life they might have left in them.
I agree with your observation. Let me add my own anecdote: We were practicing a low-pass over a grassy runway with a cessna-150 when the door opened on its own. (It seemed to be a thing with that plane.) We got a radio call from the ground that they have seen something fall out of the airplane. We quickly checked everything starting with the engine instruments, when my instructor realised that his iphone which was previously wedged between his seat and the door is missing.
We landed, tried to find it but couldn’t. Days later a glider pilot spotted it during a landing. It got back to my instructor and turns out it was in perfect working order. (Altough i don’t remember if he had a protector case or not.)
I'm sure someone else has already brought this up, but I feel remit to point out that the benefit to not damaging very expensive items is that the items were not expensive to themselves, but to the owner. There is a risk and cost analysis, in which adding a case is almost always worth it unless you are an edge case user like yourself.
What benefits the device benefits the owner, with 1:1 parity in the metric.
I took better photos by putting my camera into places where it could (and did!) take a little damage.
Its purpose is to take photos, not to remain pristine.
The point I was making is that the inference, from seeing examples of to worn gear to assuming rough handling is fallacious.
Inappropriate use usually leads to failure far before many signs of wear appear. The person who mistreats his tools is more likely to be seen with new tools, since they had to replace them, while the professional who takes care of his tools is most likely to be seen with worn tools, since they survived in his care long enough for wear marks to become obvious.
This is why I say you extracted the wrong lessons. System 1 thinking matches two intensities: wear and usage. The conclusion seems plausible but is wrong.
Professionals might appear to be unconcerned, but it's more likely the "making it look easy"-effect. The accumulation of decades of experience leads to a trained and steady hand, intimate knowledge of how fragile, grippy, heavy, etc. each part is, and an almost instinctive feeling of handling the tool as an extension of the human body. They won't drop the camera, but you might.
Putting a beautiful work of art in bubble wrapping May we’ll protect it, but would diminish its joy, beauty and sheer pleasure to that of bubble wrap.
For durable items (silverware, premium dishware) there is wear-and-tear that can dissuade daily use. But I think it is more that it makes the occasion itself feel more premium if you bring out the gold plated forks for that once a year meal, rather than concern over wearing that item out. On the other hand, for consumable items I think it is more of wanting to maximize the value from it (don't waste it on trivial things) rather than making the specific occasion more special.
I like things made of materials that lend toward gaining a patina of use, becoming more attractive with wear and imperfection. Wabi-sabi.
I don't think something like Christmas decorations would qualify. I don't use a hammer when I'm not pounding something and I don't use decorations when I'm not celebrating that holiday. "Restricted" would mean that you don't use it even in an appropriate situation.
I've always liked to have a coat of that sort of style in the winter, and have usually ended up buying a new one each year. They get a beating, as I wear them throughout the winter, workdays and weekends, and I generally only have one. It's a second skin. Coats usually can't stand up to that for long.
I'm reaching the end of the third winter with the Crombie and it looks as good as new. It has always looked way better than any coat I've had. On several occasions random passers-by have commented on it, and I live in London where people generally don't do that sort of thing. It is a really rather fabulous coat, and I love wearing it.
The thing is, after 3 winters the average cost of this coat per winter is now about the same as that of all the other coats I've bought over the years. Probably a bit less. As it weathers a few more years, which I'm confident it will, it will become cheaper than them.
My father has a Crombie that I think he's worn like twice. What's the point?
Buy well made, hardwearing clothes (if you can find them), and wear them. You and the world will be better off for it.
Those who don't much care about appearances won't make the same choice, and that's absolutely fine. There is of course a prominent contingent on hn who think dressing smartly and spending money on nice things are both somehow immoral in and of themselves, but I have no time for them.
Also quite seriously: Moleskines are garbage. Poor bindings, shit paper, absurdly overpriced - I honestly don't know how they sleep at night. A Mnemosyne N195A is $9 or $10 from a reputable seller, and much better made with quality paper. Or, for the same money as a ripoff Moleskine, you can get an A5 Rhodia Webnotebook and have something so beautiful and palpably well made that it's at least understandable not wanting to sully it with use. (But if you do get one, write in it anyway, dammit! The only way you misuse a notebook is to let it sit gathering dust.)
People have an idealized end state in their mind: buying the notebook they imagine what its pages could look like a year from now, filled with insightful notes and breezy sketches. By committing something to paper on the first page, they're breaking that mental image. The notebook of their dreams won't exist and something mediocre is inevitably creeping in its place.
I drive an old economy shit box that I beat like a rented mule. I'm indifferent to dings and scratches. It has been raced more than most Porsches. It cost the tenth of the price of one. I put the rest of the money into driving it to interesting places.
I took my not-adventure-bike halfway around the world and back with the money I didn't spend on a BMW. I shrugged after every fall, because it's not a BMW.
Tools are meant to be used. If you can't use them as you please, you have the wrong tools.
The 'specialness spiral:' Why we label ordinary objects as too special to use - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=28771893 - Oct 2021 (79 comments)