iSmudge No More
Despite all the money I’ve put in Tim Cook’s cookie jar over the years, I don’t update my phone often. My approach is simple: I buy the most expensive phone I can afford, then run it into the ground over six or seven years.
Lately, though, my old iPhone X had been on its last legs. The battery would be gasping for life by about 10:30 in the morning, which felt like a sign. So, I upgraded to the latest 16 Pro—the compact version, not the aircraft-carrier-sized fondle slab.
When you hold onto a phone for more than half a decade, the upgrade is noticeable. It’s a serious technological leap. But the thing I notice most? The screen doesn’t pick up fingerprints!
The case? Sure, that thing needs a wipe-down every few hours. But the screen? No matter how greasy or grubby my hands get, it stays remarkably smudge-free. I’m kind of amazed.
I know we’re all supposed to be raving about Apple Intelligence, but beyond a few useful photography tricks, it’s all the usual nonsense. The fingerprint-proof glass, though? That’s something I can actually appreciate. I could spend all day mashing my fat little fingers all over this thing, and it wouldn’t get so much as a smudge.
Try doing that, AI.
This is the sort of improvement in day to day tech that I love to look up as it helps understand how letting clever people who are passionate about science and understanding have the resources and time to discover shit can produce useful stuff unplanned. Apparently this stuff has been around for decades known as self-cleaning glass and whilst the uses were obvious the initial formulations came from glass chemists (and have we as a society thanked chemists enough for all they have done for us?) who were curious about the glass surfaces and how they can be modified to interact/not interact with different types of oil/water mixes.
i am unable to relate, being one of the enemy androids. But i also do that run devices into the ground thing. The trick is not to leave it so long that the technological leap isnt too great to wrap the brain cells around. I havent noticed smudging as a thing on my phone - but i usually get those screen protector thingies to stick on the front (and it has paid off over and over again. I'm squeezing the last drop out of mine at 5yrs and most probably could go for a few more years except for the camera. The low light capability sucks. And i'm not too impressed with the results in broad daylight especially when compared to other phones out there. There's too much digital manipulation inhouse going on for my liking. I do photography as a hobby and the comparison is telling when side by side. Saying that though, I kind of treat phones these days as a camera that happens to be a phone and a computer attached.