Submitted 3 weeks ago by avidamoeba@lemmy.ca to technology@lemmy.world
https://lemmy.ca/pictrs/image/03fa16ac-1754-4c78-b257-a193554fe3fc.jpeg
Those gonna get jam packed FULL of dead skin and gunk within days.
Watches, generally speaking, have a twist off back plate for that exact reason. And smart watches tend to add glue because it is more reliable than rubber gaskets for water resistance (and because it means you need to contact Apple for replacement parts…).
Doesn't a little solvent and some gentle brushing usually clear this issue up?
The benefits for simple access through simple mechanisms, for me, is worth this bit of work.
But everyone clearly has different requirements. 🤷♂️
Go look at how watches are actually disassembled.
You basically need something to twist it off (magnet, friction, a dedicated tool, or honestly just two properly sized prybars) and then you are set.
This is just yet another case of a tech company “disrupting” because they can’t be bothered to look at what the actual state of the art is and realize there is no point.
There are lots of watches with screws on the back, like the Casio F91
I love my Casio for exercising and hiking and the like.
Casios are, by and large, disposable items. They are not meant to be serviced. They are meant to be replaced. And there are countless stories of Casio putting a LOT of threadlock on those screws for that reason. And the higher end Casios have twisting backplates that ARE meant to be repaired/maintained have the same twisting backplates as the rest.
I have a Garmin Fenix 7s. This watch also has torx screws on the back. I wear it day and night for 3-4 years now, even when working in the garden etc. and the screw heads are completely clean. So I don’t think it’s an issue.
Fenix 6 and I’ve never not been able to clean the little bit of dead skin that ends up in the screws with the tip of a pine needle or an unfolded paperclip.
I feels like all these is really non-issue for dailly user, you’re not gonna open the stuff up every week, most likely you’re gonna need to do it once in a year or two to change some part. If you have any skill repairing stuff, cleaning it up is just a matter of having a toothbrush and some toothpick to clean up the gunk before doing the work, and you will already own a set of driver.
And smart watches tend to add glue because it is more reliable than rubber gaskets for water resistance
Debatable. Some car’s waterpump rely on rubber o-ring to seal up the cooling system, and those run at around 12/16psi and in high heat constantly while car is in working condition, and it can last for years before it leak. Rubber o ring also played an important role in sealing International Space Station. It’s the quality of the rubber o ring that is important, it can easily pass ipx7 or even ipx8 rating if the casing is properly designed, and lasted longer than the battery would if quality o-ring is used. My guess is glue is often used because it’s cheaper, as you can apply it in any shape you wanted, instead of having to manufacture a shape that fit the use case.
The ISS (and most engines) also kind of need to be field maintainable. Having to transport a maneuvering thruster back to JPL every few years is obviously a no go.
But also? O-rings (and many kinds of press fits and gaskets) ARE more “single use” than not. That… almost never happens.
Its similar to those wax rings for toilets. Anyone who has ever had to remove/replace a toilet will tell you: Get the actual wax rings because ANY kind of leakage is just hell. But… anyone who has ever actually had to install/replace a toilet will tell you to spend like 5x as much (so… 20 bucks instead of 4) for one of those rubber+wax rings. Technically that is ALSO single use/attempt only but… you actually get a few tries before you need to replace it and find a new helper. You’re going to regret it in 5-10 years when you realize the seal wasn’t great and that smell that wouldn’t go away is a slow leak of piss and shit gas but… it took you five minutes instead of fifty as you kept having to lift the toilet back up to replace the ring.
I feels like all these is really non-issue for dailly user, you’re not gonna open the stuff up every week, most likely you’re gonna need to do it once in a year or two to change some part. If you have any skill repairing stuff, cleaning it up is just a matter of having a toothbrush and some toothpick to clean up the gunk before doing the work, and you will already own a set of driver.
My issue is that it just doesn’t make any sense from an engineering perspective.
Yes, the vast majority of owners will never open their watches up. Hell, they will buy a new smartwatch LONG before they would need to. Like most “right to repair” style topics, we are really talking a very small subset of power users and repair shops.
But what does this get you over the industry/artisan standard? You need one less tool… except now you need a toothpick/brush to properly clean those screw heads. Arguably you always needed one since you SHOULD be deep cleaning your watch before any maintenance, but you technically don’t need one to remove a backplate. And while you probably COULD unscrew without cleaning, you are drastically increasing the likelihood of deforming the screw head and/or outright stripping it.
At best it is a sidegrade. But just look at some of the more… reddit-y responses to this. It is marketing influenced design. People think “screws? I can fix that!” and want to Believe in it.
And, generally speaking, I REALLY dislike stuff like this because it inevitably leads to “enshittification” where things get worse for everyone.
True, but it shouldn’t be a huge deal to clean them up once every few years.
Everyone hates Japanese Philips screws until they learn there’s Japanese Philips screw drivers. Decades of stripped motorcycle screws because the angle is different.
I’ve got a Timex Expedition that I’ve had since high school. That means I bought it some time during the early Triassic. Its stainless steel backplate is held on with four Phillips screws and I have never in many decades had any problems undoing them when I need to replace the battery every six years or so. It remains resolutely waterproof. I know this because it lives outside rather frequently: at the moment I have it stuck to the gauge cluster on one of my motorcycles with Velcro.
I think it depends on screw design. GShock also have screws and they just don’t get dirty enough that you couldn’t unscrew them.
bring back screws
ECX?
Yep, torx or allen (around 1mm it’s just as good).
Love this.
The more I’m hearing about the Pebble Time 2, the more I’m liking it and looking forward to my delivery.
But fuck the 30 day warranty. Stuff sold in the UK is usually 6 years of cover (albeit only 5 for Scotland). 30 days is actually pathetic.
30 to 90 days is standard for a defects in workmanship and materials warranty, which is only there to cover something not working right because it came faulty from the factory. It’s basically one step up from an “as-is” sale just so you can request a replacement if it’s dead on arrival.
It is bullshit and straight up illegal in the EU, but as the watches are shipped straight from the Chinese factory and sold by a US based company, it might technically be allowed? The legalese is very confusing when I tried to figure it out - if you sell something directly to an EU customer, you are supposed to follow EU laws to a point.
If they knowingly sell to EU customers, then EU law applies. 2 year warranty, and first 6 months burden of proof on the seller for defects.
That’s a concern for me as well, in Germany every new Product has to come with basically a 2 year warranty. 30 days is nothing.
Some devices are exempt (i.e. smart watches)
What happened to screws? Why is everything frikin glued together???
Cheaper manufacturing costs with the added “benefit” of making it hard to repair so users buy another one if it breaks
waterproofing and cost savings
Water proofing is a good reason though, I want and need my devices water proof
However, at least there are phones that are water proof and still let you exchange the battery
This is sold by the same guy that created Pebble and then sold and killed it screwing the entire community, right? And it’s the same guy that later sold messaging app based on breaking e2e encryption and worked for like a week before being killed by Apple? Do I remember this correctly? I think I will pass.
Ran out of money, went belly up, and sold the software assets to Fitbit so they could refund all the Kickstarter orders they couldn’t fulfill, that guy.
Difference is that this time he is doing the watches with a 5 man team, not a bloated 100+ employee company with investors breathing down their necks, and the software is fully open source.
Same guy. This time the whole thing is open source though, even the hardware. So that’s insurance for what it’s worth.
So it’s best to wait for some other manufacturer to show up. If no one else is able to setup the manufacturing process it’s still up to this one guy to keep making them or sell and kill it again.
I was a backer of the first version of the Pebble, and by the time mine came in they had released a newer, better, cheaper version which made mine feel a lot less cool. Doubt I would buy one again no matter what they did.
Haha, you remember the past! I guess we all learned our lesson about supporting products from companies that screw us over. Cheers to avoiding the same mistake twice!
My grandpa bought a 1984 Oldsmobile Delta 88 Royale 25 years ago. He kept it up, and now it’s mine. It was a top trim luxury car when it was new, and it has screws exposed on things like the A pillars. My 1993 Subaru Loyale also has exposed screws everywhere. It’s so fucking nice, as compared to my newer vehicles where I break 17 plastic tabs off trying to remove the A pillar trim. It’s asinine, exposed screws look dope.
Its corner-cutting to save assembly costs. Plastic tabs take sub-seconds to whack into place vs screws which take 20+ seconds each.
Theyre saving ~$100 on your car assembly process and the end result is you have a vastly more annoying car to work on and repair for its entire lifetime. Its beyond annoying.
But they pass the $100 saving onto the consumer, right?
….right?
Soldered in battery still…
This is not the final design, it might gain a connector in the final. It might not. But even if it doesn’t, splicing the wires shouldn’t be too difficult for most who’d dare open their watch.
True. Although I’d still find a way to mess it up somehow.
I’ll change 100 of those batteries before I do another Apple Watch battery or lcd
At this size battery connectors as way too much bulk.
I mean you see a connector right there for the daughterboard, but yeah, maybe it’s too bulky for the current case design.
Excellent. I pre-ordered mine. Looking forward to seeing it on my wrist.
There’s a new pebble? Wow!
Yes baby.
Man if I ever get a smartwatch again this is where I’m headed. I love my little Casio’s though.
I hope they make a one or two more options aesthetically. I think their current design is a good design, but really not my personal taste. I’d love to see another option or two as time goes on if its financially feasible for them!
MehBlah@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Nice. A return to sanity.
ozymandias@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
someone needs to tell the EU to require all devices to be serviceable with screws….
PissingIntoTheWind@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
That’s what they did with onboard usb C drives. New computers now have screwed in USB C ports in case they need to be replaced.
rmuk@feddit.uk 3 weeks ago
Wasn’t that actually on the cards at one point?