Apple iPhone 4 bumper – fit for purpose?
You would expect a mobile phone case to last at least a year. This Apple iPhone 4 bumper is only three months old, but is about to fail.
The first two images show how the edge around two diagonal corners have worn away. Interestingly, this has only happened on the rear, the front is OK.
On one of these corners, the hard section between the mute switch and the headphone socket has parted company on both sides, leaving the top of the case loose and floppy.
So what arduous conditions has this case been subjected to? Nothing more than in and out of my pocket during normal use.
These bumper normally retail for £25. Fortunately, this was one of the free ones issued by Apple after antennagate (something that doesn’t seem to matter outside of the US anyway). Had I paid for this, I would have returned it under the sales of goods act as not fit for purpose. When it fails I’ll have to replace it with something but I don’t like the idea of shelling out £25 every three months for one of these.
Horwich Fog
This was taken this afternoon from George’s Lane. While Horwich was languishing in the fog, we went for a walk around Wilderswood. This was the view looking west towards the cemetery on Chorley Old Road. Click the photo for a larger view.
Interesting multi-socket design, but is it needed?
Here’s an interesting design from Damjan Stanković (Relogik). What looks like a single European socket outlet transforms into five outlets at a press of the front.
Good design should satisfy a need, however, I don’t see one being satisfied here. While the design is undoubtedly elegant, it does not replace a multi-way trailing socket; this has to be professionally installed as part of the original electrical installation or as part of a rewire. In which case, I would just install additional sockets; single sockets should never be installed anyway where a double can be fitted. If, as is usually the case, the builder does want to cut corners and not install sufficient sockets, then he’s not going to bother with this either.
Even if it was installed where you would expect to have a higher than normal demand for socket outlets (behind the TV, or around a desk) I’d far rather have these plugged into proper sockets that are firmly attached to the wall, than have everything dangling precariously from this, especially as this type of arrangement always suffers from the problem of oversized plug-mounted transformer/chargers.
The whole thing also looks rather deep, and with the back box it would seem to be deeper than the thickness of a studded wall or the inner skin of a cavity wall.
Nice design, but simpler, better solutions already exist.
Click on the image for more pictures.
Coal Tit on the Bird Feeder
Boy Scouts – IKEA style
Pairing iPhone 4 and TomTom Go 500
I get a lot of search engine hits on a previous post about pairing the iPhone 3G with the TomTom Go 500, so this is just a quick blog post to confirm that the iPhone 4 (iOS4.1) also pairs with the TomTom Go 500.
6201 Princess Elizabeth Cumbrian Mountain Express
6201 Princess Elizabeth heading north past the site of the ‘Horwich South Fork’ signal box and former Hilton House line junction with the Cumbrian Mountain Express Railtour.
and the return through Blackrod Station
This photo and these videos have also been added to the railtour section of the Horwich Station website.