There are two suggestions I would like to make in the discussion about the display, while the second one is more abstract.
First, what do you think about offering the option to go with a electronic paper display? The OS could detect the display and change to a black-white optimized and simplified interface.
Second, has anyone thought about arranging the display’s glas to the same level as the cover, in a gapless transition on the front? Imagine a wooden cover - an excellent material in any case - framing the display with a good thickness - that the wooden structure is visible, and the architecture stable. The display is frameless and the glass blend to the wood seamlessly.
Thank you Stefan.
I have informed me about the functionality of the display first (and missed to search for existing discussions on my suggestions) and tried to implement this in my idea.
I am a user with limited experience, so my list of cases the phone needs to withstand is maybe incomplete.
First case, the phone falls from a usual hight, the drop would be absorbed by the whole cover. With a well calculated width of the wooden wall framing the glas, the shock would be - instead of passing directly to the fragile corner of the glass - absorbed by the cover. Oak and a fiber direction related to the corners, to overcome the shear stress, could make it possible. Additionally the display could be stabilised by the core module, and connected to the cover by flexible parts.
The rim instead uses the flexibility of the material and slows the drop by stretching as well as taking the shock from the fragile glas corner.
Second case, scratches from inside the pocket. The rim protects from long items like single keys. A bunch of keys or round and small objects would have the same impact on both constructions.
There also could be found some space to implement magnets, allowing a flip cover on the front. Making this cover from well traded leather, and the wearing part gets even more beautiful with the time.
Third case, the phone has been laid screen first onto the table. Here a rim has the most advantage.
Are there many people doing this? I wouldn’t do so.
By initially writing this contribution I focussed on the first case. I would like to hear if I missed some cases.
I don’t know what Fairphone designers Seymour Powell had in mind when they decided for that rim, and you seem to have more insight into the distribution of the forces when a phone drops to the ground.
I think case 1a might be: Falls to the ground and slides on concrete. That would do more damage, I guess, if the rim wasn’t there.
If the phone falls onto a not entirely flat surface - e.g. an edge, a rough terrain, … - with the rim chances are very low that the the glass itself impacts that surface, without the rim it’s very high. A cover that only protects the sides of the glass only helps if the floor is perfectly even or if the phone falls on it’s backside.
I do think that lots of Fairphoners do that. No matter if you have an interesting transparent (regular) cover or a beautiful (slim) cover, showing the backside of the Fairphone often gets people interested.
Also some people use apps that utilize the proximity sensor to make the screen fall asleep and wake up. So you can put it glass down and it will fall asleep and as soon as you pick it up it lights up again. → Less button-wearout! (But more battery drain)
Oh, if that case is part of the functionality of the display and feature of the phone it should be especially implemented in the design.
Would it be enough space with the wooden corner lift a little up, assumed half a millimetre?
The back of the phone should adopt this lift up to the corner, to avoid a bulky look.
The table shouldn’t be sandy!
(But more