New Manufacturing Techniques: A ride into the past
flexible display. Both of these devices house new hinge mechanics that might be a challenge to future techs trying to get their feet wet. On top of that, learning to set in a flexible display might present its own challenges such as how to properly put the display in so that it bends properly. Anyone who’s ever fixed and iPad Mini knows about folding flex cables. So, in the future, at least for the next five-to-ten-year cycle, it is going to be important to flex those dexterity skills. Also, make sure your team stays up to date on this stuff. A good way to do that, is to share your ideas with the community and talk to one another. Also, do not isolate your shop from others. Working together here is key, do not rely on YouTube teardowns as your only source anymore.
The golden age of phone repair might be over. Over the past ten years or so, we have seen overly com- plicated devices that were designed to be as com- plicated and cool as possible, turn into designs that were about as dang near identical as possible. Whe- re nobody was really taking much risk. But oh boy, are things about to change again. Personally, I feel like with the advent of flexible displays and flexible circuit design coming into full swing, we will start seeing companies experiment again. Probably with many types of designs to set themselves apart from the rest. An example would be the Samsung Galaxy Fold, or the rebooted Motorola Razor phone with its
Displays are becoming more durable, but is glass?
earlier. They have almost soft displays that can be easily damaged. Not because the displays are not durable, but because the normal protective layer, the front glass, is not up to the challenge. Either it is not included, or it prevents movement of the display itself. Overall glass has been making improvements in its flexibility, especially in the tempered glass area. How- ever, we are not seeing glass that is thick enough to be used in display tech that can hold its own in
Development cycle of flexible displays. Before they really hit mainstream with wearables and other new types of devices, I think it is important to look at both sides in terms of what that means for displays. Personally, I think that we have seen actual display panels gaining strength and flexibility, but the glass side of things has not quite caught up yet. We can see this in the current flexible phones mentioned
59
JUSTIN ASHFORD: THE FUTURE OF REPAIR
Made with FlippingBook Digital Proposal Creator