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Android Hardware Technology

iFixit Pulls Galaxy Fold Teardown At Samsung's Request (theverge.com) 76

Posted by BeauHD from the latest-development dept.
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: What in the world is going on over at Samsung in the wake of the Galaxy Fold delay? The whole situation keeps refusing to normalize, and instead gets weirder nearly every day. The latest is that iFixit has decided to honor a Samsung request to pull its Galaxy Fold teardown off the internet, even though Samsung apparently didn't ask iFixit to do so directly. This oddity follows AT&T's seemingly arbitrary decision to email a potential ship date for the Galaxy Fold despite the fact that Samsung hasn't officially set a new release date. By requesting that iFixit pull the teardown, Samsung is apparently willing to risk the Streisand effect when it comes to people clamoring to see the innards of its device. Here's what iFixit has to say on the matter: "We were provided our Galaxy Fold unit by a trusted partner. Samsung has requested, through that partner, that iFixit remove its teardown. We are under no obligation to remove our analysis, legal or otherwise. But out of respect for this partner, whom we consider an ally in making devices more repairable, we are choosing to withdraw our story until we can purchase a Galaxy Fold at retail."
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iFixit Pulls Galaxy Fold Teardown At Samsung's Request More

iFixit Pulls Galaxy Fold Teardown At Samsung's Request

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  • no Streisand effect. (Score:4, Informative)

    by Gravis Zero ( 934156 ) on Friday April 26, 2019 @09:09AM (#58495278)

    The Streisand effect is triggered by perceived bad faith demands. Since only a request was made, there is little chance of this being contorted into a Streisand affair.

    • I looked at it today--mostly because it had been taken down. I think that Samsung is not such a victim, as they were willing to sell everyone a phone that they must have known to be flawed.

      • Re: You are Wrong (Score:1)

        by Anonymous Coward

        The only people who got these phones were journalists and reviewers. None have been sold to paying customers.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Daimaou ( 97573 )

      I don't know. I generally don't have any interest in Samsung phones because I hate Android and would never buy a phone running it. Now, however, I want more than anything to see the inside of a Galaxy Fold. Dammit!

  • So ... anyone has a mirror of that page ?

  • It's the right thing to do (Score:5, Insightful)

    by burningcpu ( 1234256 ) on Friday April 26, 2019 @09:16AM (#58495300)
    Civil and mutually beneficial relationships are the crust of industry. Pissing on a partner over a minor issue would be short-sighted.

    • Agreed (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      I think it would be more of an issue if it were a released product, but since it was a pre-release I don't see a problem with it.

    • While Samsung obviously goofed, I'm glad iFixit honored the request. There is such a thing as honor.

      Now could someone just crack iFixit and steal the research? Isn't that the crux of the late Glen Frey's "Dirty Laundry"? Is the head dead yet?

      • I'm glad iFixit honored the request. There is such a thing as honor.

        If they had that, I somehow bet they wouldn't have sent out review units. I just can't imagine that they realistically tested this internally.

        • The race to be first has time-honored results. Bypassing QA to be first is hugely tempting, the damage done.

          Will the competition learn from this mistake? Certainly. Will we see what iFixit and the journalists saw? Never. Making the same mistake twice under these circumstances would be suicidal. Each subsequent release will be scrutinized with a microscopic examination, and rightly so.

          • Sure, I guess. They were the first ones to start the hype over it - if they hadn't started hyping the idea so much there wouldn't even be a race. The fact that Huawei will likely be first to market - and with a better product makes it all a joke. But I have strong doubts that folding phones are any more than a very short-lived fad.

            • We agree. The next foldables will take root, however. Gone will be magazines and newspapers, and we'll become swipers like nothing before.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by MikeMo ( 521697 )
          Would you feel the same if these were Apple?

          • The same Apple that doesn't put strain relief on power cords because it doesn't look pretty? Yes. But Apple would just pretend the problem didn't exist and release it to the public anyway.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by Anonymous Coward

      Pissing on a partner over a minor issue would be short-sighted.

      I agree that this is the right thing for iFixit to do.

      But I really have to wonder what boneheaded idiocy was going through the brain of whomever at this "trusted partner", that a hardware device given to iFixit, wouldn't end up posted on iFixit!

      What possible other options did they think would happen? What could possibly have been said to make them think this wouldn't happen?

      There is literally one alternative possible here, and that would be for the partner to explicitly ask iFixit to not do what iFixit doe

    • And, in this case, iFixIt had nothing whatsoever to lose: once the teardown was published, it was instantly replicated. iFixIt taking it down will make no difference - and the idiots from Samsung are just proving that do not understand how the Internet works.
    • Samsung was going to sell people a phone that will break.

  • This seems strangely reasonable (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Friday April 26, 2019 @09:18AM (#58495308)

    "We don't have to do it, but we want to so one of our friends (and perhaps ultimately us) doesn't get screwed."

    You rarely see behavior that reasonable these days.

    • Yes, it's weird that eminently reasonable, dare I say polite, behavior seems so out of the ordinary nowadays. I was already prepped for a barrage of knee-jerk extremists posts, the requisite politics posts, and other nonsense. Well done iFixit.

    • Re:This seems strangely reasonable (Score:5, Insightful)

      by pz ( 113803 ) on Friday April 26, 2019 @10:33AM (#58495646) Journal

      Option 1: "we've been asked by a third party to take down our article. NFW!! They'll have to screw us with lawyers first!!! NEVAR!!!"

      Result: Lawyers get involved, DMCA, C&D, and lots of other acronyms. IFixit and their partner maybe go out of business since Samsung has vastly deeper pockets. Ugly all around. No one wins.

      Option 2: Samsung issues C&D letter without prior notice.

      Result: again, bad.

      Option 3: Samsung asks nicely. iFixit responds reasonably.

      Result: Samsung gets a chance to have its actual product reviewed rather than a pre-release version; iFixit strengthens its relationship with the unnamed 3rd party *as well as* Samsung; Unnamed 3rd party doesn't get egg on its face; the right to repair movement remains strong and perhaps gets stronger through more PR. Everyone wins in a civil exchange.

      Moral of the story --- in business, as with much of life, start out with a friendly inquiry before reaching for the nuclear option.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by jeremyp ( 130771 )

        Except I think the third party has screwed their relationship with Samsung. They won't be getting pre-release devices to test ever again. All this means is they won't get sued to oblivion for violating their NDA.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by eth1 ( 94901 )

      "We don't have to do it, but we want to so one of our friends (and perhaps ultimately us) doesn't get screwed."

      You rarely see behavior that reasonable these days.

      You could argue that it would be reasonable for iFixit to take it down even without the request. Since it's unlikely that Samsung will now release it in the state that they tore down, it could just serve to muddy the waters once/if it is actually released.

    • Also, the phones seem to need a major rework before they are ready for sale. iFixit would probably prefer to show the version that customers will actually encounter.
  • Not sure how this one's going to do. If I'm paying 2 grand for a phone (and I'm not) it had better be the greatest product I've ever purchased in my life, yet I keep seeing all these reviews where the hinge gets easily worn and even half the screen stops working.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by guruevi ( 827432 )

      It's always been the case that the complex mechanical bits that are used daily wear out fast. This was the case with old flip phones, stretching a semi-rigid crystalline structure is bound to break, if nothing else it will eventually fatigue and snap. That's why the iPhone was partially such a huge success.

  • First hand reasoning on iFixit's website (Score:5, Informative)

    by Mortimer82 ( 746766 ) on Friday April 26, 2019 @09:37AM (#58495390)
    From iFixit's own website [ifixit.org]:

    After two days of intense public interest, iFixit has removed our teardown of Samsung’s Galaxy Fold. That analysis supported our suspicions that the device provided insufficient protection from debris damaging the screen.

    We were provided our Galaxy Fold unit by a trusted partner. Samsung has requested, through that partner, that iFixit remove its teardown. We are under no obligation to remove our analysis, legal or otherwise. But out of respect for this partner, whom we consider an ally in making devices more repairable, we are choosing to withdraw our story until we can purchase a Galaxy Fold at retail.

    Our team appreciated the chance to look inside this ambitious device. All new products face challenges—this one perhaps more than most. We’re grateful to have shared a glimpse of how Samsung’s engineers addressed some of those challenges, and we look forward to sharing more as soon as possible.

    • i dont think dust would have murdered the screens as fast as these phones died. there is lots of problems with these devices.
  • This word needed to be coined.

  • Respect gained (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward

    Samsung gains some respect from me for not trying to get legal on this thing.
    iFixit gains some respect from me for being respectful, polite, and considerate.

    • well it was a pre release and now canceled product. say they do bring it back and people saw this old video.
  • iFixit gets some PR and will get the traffic later when a general release product available. Helps nudge OEMs to consider repair cost of ownership too.

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