Electron Microscope for Thumbscoop? Really?

[redaxe]

From Apple.com:

"Thumbscoop
The challenge of the thumbscoop was to create a crisply machined scoop that was still comfortable to use. The designers at Apple worked on hundreds of versions of the thumbscoop — even examining them under an electron microscope — to get it right."

Okay, so I understand that Johnny Ive and his buddies are amazing designers, but an ELECTRON microscope for a thumbscoop? Anyone who knows what an electron microscope does should know that that's incredibly excessive. How could that possibly help examine the thumbscoop which is gigantic at that scale?

 

[sushi]

Attention to detail ... literally it seems!

 

[MVApple]

I bet Ive just wanted to play with an electron microscope.

Seriously though, I'd love to hear what he had to say about it because as you pointed out, the only thing an electron microscope is going to reveal is the texture of the surface. The shape is visible with the naked eye.

And just for the record, the thumbscoop is the cutaway where you open up the screen from right?

 

[sushi]

And just for the record, the thumbscoop is the cutaway where you open up the screen from right?

AFAIK, that is correct.

 

[t0mat0]

From Apple.com:

"Thumbscoop
The challenge of the thumbscoop was to create a crisply machined scoop that was still comfortable to use. The designers at Apple worked on hundreds of versions of the thumbscoop — even examining them under an electron microscope — to get it right."

Okay, so I understand that Johnny Ive and his buddies are amazing designers, but an ELECTRON microscope for a thumbscoop? Anyone who knows what an electron microscope does should know that that's incredibly excessive. How could that possibly help examine the thumbscoop which is gigantic at that scale?

Imagine they wanted to look at the edge ofthe thumbscoop. Why not email Apple to ask?

 

[7even]

From Apple.com:

"Thumbscoop
The challenge of the thumbscoop was to create a crisply machined scoop that was still comfortable to use. The designers at Apple worked on hundreds of versions of the thumbscoop — even examining them under an electron microscope — to get it right."

Okay, so I understand that Johnny Ive and his buddies are amazing designers, but an ELECTRON microscope for a thumbscoop? Anyone who knows what an electron microscope does should know that that's incredibly excessive. How could that possibly help examine the thumbscoop which is gigantic at that scale?

Why not? They wanted the edge to be just sharp enough to annoy only 3.4% of the users