R
Rene Ritchie
While some segment of the internet is still coming down off its yearly collective iPhone launch apoplexy, another big phone looks like it might be poised to make big headlines. Turns out the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 has a surprise bonus feature — it can double as a business card holder on your desk. How does that work exactly? Android Central:
some Korean Note 4s include a gap between the screen and the metal trim large enough to insert a business card.
It's a "manufacturing feature", rather than a "manufacturing defect", according to Samsung's manual:
A small gap appears around the outside of the device case
- This gap is a necessary manufacturing feature and some minor rocking or vibration of parts may occur.
- Over time, friction between parts may cause this gap to expand slightly.
Samsung did issue a statement to the Korean press:
The reported issue does not impact the functionality or quality of the Galaxy Note 4. We assure our customers that all Galaxy Note 4 units meet our strict manufacturing and quality control standards.
Can you imagine if the iPhone 6 Plus shipped with a similar gap in its screen, a gap that could rock or vibrate, and could expand over time?
Make all the jokes you want about fussy hipsters, but that would drive a huge segment of Apple's customer base out of their minds. It'd be called #gapgate or #thegappening, and be in a dozen YouTube videos, in the Wall Street Journal and New York Times, and Conan O'Brian would be stuffing his old NBC cards in there on national TV. It'd be the subject of endless tweets and subtweets, arguments and podcasts, editorials and "tests".
The Galaxy Note 4 hasn't launched in the U.S. yet, so it's quite possible that's exactly what will happen in the near future. If so, that'll tell us something about Samsung's place in the modern mobile media circus. If not, well then that'll tell us something about the modern mobile media circus.
However, if iPhone 6 Plus crazy was making you consider a Galaxy Note 4 instead, does Galaxy Note 4 crazy now make you reconsider again? Or does it make you want to put crazy aside and actually weigh these big phones based on their merits?
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