P
I was speaking to my father at lunch today, and we got to talking about plastics. Plastic is ubiquitous everywhere, but the overwhelming majority of it is incredibly flimsy. This is why many people equate 'plastic' with 'breaks easily'. Yet many polycarbonates are among the hardest, strongest and most temperature resistant materials known to mankind.
Now I understand that there are issues of cost here, as well as practicality. Nobody cares if the tiny plastic buckets they keep knickknacks in can hold up a car, and nobody wants indestructible Pop-Tart wrappers. But what about phones and computers? A decent phone or laptop will cost hundreds to thousands of dollars. I don't know about you, but if I am spending that much on something I would much prefer it be made out of Glock plastic instead of the flimsy, shatter-prone stuff they DO make it out of.
When I was younger I was taught to shoot using an H&K USP (which was WAY too big for my hands), and while reading the manual I discovered that the pistol could basically be put into a fireplace, thrown off a building and land in liquid oxygen and still function. Yet my phone stops functioning when I drop it more than 5 feet. Why not build them more robust? The weight and bulk of metals puts an upper limit on using them to reinforce small devices, but no such limitation exists for polycarbonate materials.
At the time, the USP cost about $600 which is not far off what a tablet or nice phone will cost you.
Do other people just not care? Just not know? Have the manufacturers not thought of this? I don't know about you, but if I am going to pay half a grand I want the thing to be able to resist some rough treatment; especially given that cellphones can be important tools in personal safety and navigation. I would certainly pay another $50 to get one that could survive a hammer.
Now I understand that there are issues of cost here, as well as practicality. Nobody cares if the tiny plastic buckets they keep knickknacks in can hold up a car, and nobody wants indestructible Pop-Tart wrappers. But what about phones and computers? A decent phone or laptop will cost hundreds to thousands of dollars. I don't know about you, but if I am spending that much on something I would much prefer it be made out of Glock plastic instead of the flimsy, shatter-prone stuff they DO make it out of.
When I was younger I was taught to shoot using an H&K USP (which was WAY too big for my hands), and while reading the manual I discovered that the pistol could basically be put into a fireplace, thrown off a building and land in liquid oxygen and still function. Yet my phone stops functioning when I drop it more than 5 feet. Why not build them more robust? The weight and bulk of metals puts an upper limit on using them to reinforce small devices, but no such limitation exists for polycarbonate materials.
At the time, the USP cost about $600 which is not far off what a tablet or nice phone will cost you.
Do other people just not care? Just not know? Have the manufacturers not thought of this? I don't know about you, but if I am going to pay half a grand I want the thing to be able to resist some rough treatment; especially given that cellphones can be important tools in personal safety and navigation. I would certainly pay another $50 to get one that could survive a hammer.
