Ever seen carbon fiber bikes or bike parts? Most of them do not show a carbon fiber weave (unless they want it to). They can be easily coated with whatever you like. The main advantages of carbon fiber is not the look, but the weight savings and strength. Also, it allows better wireless transmission than aluminum.
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Apple's Rumored Carbon Fiber Part Shipments Said to Be Result of Multi-Year Partnership
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Ever seen carbon fiber bikes or bike parts? Most of them do not show a carbon fiber weave (unless they want it to). They can be easily coated with whatever you like. The main advantages of carbon fiber is not the look, but the weight savings and strength. Also, it allows better wireless transmission than aluminum.
Looked at the picture before the title, thought apple was going to make tires
"They only last 5,000 Miles and are $800 a tire but people still buy them because the look good."
Yeah, and with a proprietary, chip-authenticated air valve that is incompatible with all gas station air hoses. Adapters will be available at $30/valve.
You're talking about software interfaces. Totally different than hardware aesthetics in this case.
regarding this
i was in schenectady new york a few years back visiting a company that worked with carbon fiber weaving and they demoed a number of of various applications and systems. the company ceo mentioned that they were in talks with apple on the then would-be ipad 2 to use their carbon fiber as a ring that either went around the screen or possibly around the device's edge. he revealed this excitedly but refrained from disclosing anything else. to my knowledge no ipad has used this, but that's my 2 cents
i was in schenectady new york a few years back visiting a company that worked with carbon fiber weaving and they demoed a number of of various applications and systems. the company ceo mentioned that they were in talks with apple on the then would-be ipad 2 to use their carbon fiber as a ring that either went around the screen or possibly around the device's edge. he revealed this excitedly but refrained from disclosing anything else. to my knowledge no ipad has used this, but that's my 2 cents
Obviously
It's for Batman. BTW, Bruce Wayne, a billionaire CEO, was declared dead, only he wasn't actually dead. Hmm....
Alfred Pennyworth: [referring to ordering the separate cowl pieces from Asia] They'll have to be, uh, large orders, uh, to avoid suspicion.
Bruce Wayne: How large?
Alfred Pennyworth: Say, uh, 10,000.
Bruce Wayne: Well, at least we'll have spares.
[Alfred smashes a prototype cowl with a baseball bat]
Alfred Pennyworth: It's a problem with the graphite, sir. The next 10,000 will be up to specifications.
Bruce Wayne: At least they gave us a discount.
Alfred Pennyworth: Quite. In the, uh, meantime, Sir, may I suggest you try to avoid landing on your head?
It's for Batman. BTW, Bruce Wayne, a billionaire CEO, was declared dead, only he wasn't actually dead. Hmm....
Alfred Pennyworth: [referring to ordering the separate cowl pieces from Asia] They'll have to be, uh, large orders, uh, to avoid suspicion.
Bruce Wayne: How large?
Alfred Pennyworth: Say, uh, 10,000.
Bruce Wayne: Well, at least we'll have spares.
[Alfred smashes a prototype cowl with a baseball bat]
Alfred Pennyworth: It's a problem with the graphite, sir. The next 10,000 will be up to specifications.
Bruce Wayne: At least they gave us a discount.
Alfred Pennyworth: Quite. In the, uh, meantime, Sir, may I suggest you try to avoid landing on your head?
I have a beautiful carbon fiber acoustic guitar. It's not as durable as it's made out to be though.
The eventual release of the Apple Television should have a carbon fiber body. Here's why:
The only thing better than a flat screen is a wall mounted flat screen. But how many people don't wall mount? It's a lot of work. You have all that drilling and installing a mounting bracket... I know... it's not THAT crazy (I've done it several times), but many people just don't. They leave it on the base that it comes with. Now what if Apple found a way to make the TV so light that you could hang it with nail (like a picture) or they come up with some crazy simple way to hang a super light television that's more secure than a nail but less pain than a traditional wall mount? They would have reinvented wall-mounting and put it into everyone's hands. This isn't THE killer feature, but it's a feature and it's something that no competitor has done. Another thing for the news to talk about. Combine the fact that they've been removing layers on their mobile screens and making them thinner and you've got potential of a big screen that weighs 3lbs. I think they will still ship it with a base, or if they're REALLY confident then they'll charge you for the "base accessory".
This light wall hanging feature informs a lot more of the design. I'd like to see a beautiful carbon fiber body and AC adaptor that is able to beam power a short distance to the TV for no wires at all (here's to the crazy ones), in addition to the apps and beautiful software.
Listen, we're not going to get the great shows that people love without the cable networks and the cable networks have no reason to give it up. They make a lot of money. This is not like the flailing music industry was before iTunes came along. Apple is not going to reinvent the distribution. It's the design, it's the interface, and it's the use cases. Big push on FaceTime. Big push on wall-mounting, wireless power, and design. Big push on apps. Big push on gaming. This could be a boon to podcasting for free content, putting further pressure on content makers to go direct and then finally we will have a la carte show buying. But for now, reinventing everything besides the distribution is enough for a hit.
The only thing better than a flat screen is a wall mounted flat screen. But how many people don't wall mount? It's a lot of work. You have all that drilling and installing a mounting bracket... I know... it's not THAT crazy (I've done it several times), but many people just don't. They leave it on the base that it comes with. Now what if Apple found a way to make the TV so light that you could hang it with nail (like a picture) or they come up with some crazy simple way to hang a super light television that's more secure than a nail but less pain than a traditional wall mount? They would have reinvented wall-mounting and put it into everyone's hands. This isn't THE killer feature, but it's a feature and it's something that no competitor has done. Another thing for the news to talk about. Combine the fact that they've been removing layers on their mobile screens and making them thinner and you've got potential of a big screen that weighs 3lbs. I think they will still ship it with a base, or if they're REALLY confident then they'll charge you for the "base accessory".
This light wall hanging feature informs a lot more of the design. I'd like to see a beautiful carbon fiber body and AC adaptor that is able to beam power a short distance to the TV for no wires at all (here's to the crazy ones), in addition to the apps and beautiful software.
Listen, we're not going to get the great shows that people love without the cable networks and the cable networks have no reason to give it up. They make a lot of money. This is not like the flailing music industry was before iTunes came along. Apple is not going to reinvent the distribution. It's the design, it's the interface, and it's the use cases. Big push on FaceTime. Big push on wall-mounting, wireless power, and design. Big push on apps. Big push on gaming. This could be a boon to podcasting for free content, putting further pressure on content makers to go direct and then finally we will have a la carte show buying. But for now, reinventing everything besides the distribution is enough for a hit.
That's what I'm thinking. Usually, CF is impregnated with clear resin like one does with fiberglass. What if instead, they fuse it with LiquidMetal?
One of the drawbacks of the LiquidMetal material was that it was supposedly brittle and shatter-prone... but in a CF matrix... that would be freakin' awesome.
27 inch? Oh man imagine putting that on your lap. Ouch! Something with the screen size of an A4 page would do me.
I think most of the weight in large (flat screen) TVs are the screen itself (especially plasma), electronics, power supply (and maybe fans/motors). I don't know that the cost of CF vs. the weight savings would be all that great. Plus I would still think it would have some sort of metal based internal skeletal structure for mounting/grounding points[?]
Really. That's why one of their earliest public demos of LiquidMetal involved having a ball of it dropped onto a hard surface and bounce repeatedly (while two balls of other substances, like stainless steel stopped bouncing sooner).It's "brittle and shatter-prone".
Recycling?
Say what you want about aluminium, but at least it can be recycled practically indefinitely. I don't even know if carbon fiber can't be recycled at all.
Given the quantities of Apple devices manufactured, switching from aluminium to carbon fiber could possibly be the worst decision ever done by Apple.
Say what you want about aluminium, but at least it can be recycled practically indefinitely. I don't even know if carbon fiber can't be recycled at all.
Given the quantities of Apple devices manufactured, switching from aluminium to carbon fiber could possibly be the worst decision ever done by Apple.
I'll go with the iMac group. It is probably a logical move, with reduced costs over aluminum. Lower costs would be nice, as would increased performance.
The iMac appears to me tho be the best desktop for the change.
What we need now is a product announcement.
The iMac appears to me tho be the best desktop for the change.
What we need now is a product announcement.
It's "brittle and shatter-prone".
Well, I could well be wrong... I did try to soften my statement with "supposedly", but your description doesn't negate what I had read, since it dealt with its use in thin extrusions. A ball of any material is going to be about as robust as it can be... a sphere of glass for example is going to be pretty strong, while a thin sheet of same will shatter quite readily.
Did a little digging, and found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidmetal
So even if you're right about the current iteration of the technology, it's hardly worthy of an eye-roll, since at one time, I was right.
In any case, I stand by the ultimate point of my statement, which was that a CF/LiquidMetal composite would be a killer material.
The only problem with this theory is that most TV's are already made of plastic. Which means they are as light as they can be already. CF is usually used to replace components that made of metal for their rigidity. A TV is stationary 99% of the time and is unlikely to require such efforts. All the CF efforts in the I.T industry so far have been for cosmetic purposes. Laptops is the only viable product as they are constantly being carried around and dropped in bags etc.
Also, the heavy parts of TVs are not the outer cases, but the internal components, and the LCD Panel itself.
Baloney!
First we don't even know if the woven surface is visible. Second, a woven surface gives a device an organic feel. Considering some of the design cues in iOS 6 Apple may very well want to give future devices a different "feel". Frankly a feel could be a real physical quantity as a textured surface on something like iPad Mini would lead to better handling.
The smooth metal surfaces we have today are the result of the machining processes involved. That doesn't mean they are the optimal surfaces for hand held devices. Think about common hand tools and the efforts gone into designs over the years to make their use compatible with the human hand.
First we don't even know if the woven surface is visible. Second, a woven surface gives a device an organic feel. Considering some of the design cues in iOS 6 Apple may very well want to give future devices a different "feel". Frankly a feel could be a real physical quantity as a textured surface on something like iPad Mini would lead to better handling.
The smooth metal surfaces we have today are the result of the machining processes involved. That doesn't mean they are the optimal surfaces for hand held devices. Think about common hand tools and the efforts gone into designs over the years to make their use compatible with the human hand.
Of course they will
Considering some competitors already used carbon fibre in their devices, because Apple's carbon fibre pattern will "zig" instead of the usual "zag", Apple can then boast that they were the first to use a completely new form of "superior material" to revolutionize the industry and appear like they actually invented carbon fibre device casing. I can just see the Jonathan Ives' video going on and on about how he spent years perfecting the perfect zip pattern that allowed him to create the most perfect device in this history of electronics.
However Apple's carbon fibre will be prone to easy scratching and chipping and Tim Cook will then claim that this is just an unavoidable property of the same crappy carbon fibre material used by everyone else in the industry and then quietly remove the language "superior material" from their online marketing and hope nobody notices. Maybe issue an apology letter if people complain enough.
Considering some competitors already used carbon fibre in their devices, because Apple's carbon fibre pattern will "zig" instead of the usual "zag", Apple can then boast that they were the first to use a completely new form of "superior material" to revolutionize the industry and appear like they actually invented carbon fibre device casing. I can just see the Jonathan Ives' video going on and on about how he spent years perfecting the perfect zip pattern that allowed him to create the most perfect device in this history of electronics.
However Apple's carbon fibre will be prone to easy scratching and chipping and Tim Cook will then claim that this is just an unavoidable property of the same crappy carbon fibre material used by everyone else in the industry and then quietly remove the language "superior material" from their online marketing and hope nobody notices. Maybe issue an apology letter if people complain enough.
Well, I could well be wrong... I did try to soften my statement with "supposedly", but your description doesn't negate what I had read, since it dealt with its use in thin extrusions. A ball of any material is going to be about as robust as it can be... a sphere of glass for example is going to be pretty strong, while a thin sheet of same will shatter quite readily.
Did a little digging, and found this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liquidmetal
So even if you're right about the current iteration of the technology, it's hardly worthy of an eye-roll, since at one time, I was right.
In any case, I stand by the ultimate point of my statement, which was that a CF/LiquidMetal composite would be a killer material.
Might have to go with a higher temp ceramic fiber (basalt or boron as examples) due to the Liquid Metal process temperatures. Or not. Either way, it looks like a metal infusion process of a fiber preform.
It's "brittle and shatter-prone".
Not sure this says anything for or against it being shatter proof, but in that demo i think it was the surface the balls were bouncing on that was various materials (steel, liquid metal, titanium) while the balls themselves were all one material (steel?).