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A Joke iPhone Sticker Turns Into a Business
- frossie 16y agoWell deserved, if nothing for their funny advertising copy: For those who haven't seen it: http://antenn-aid.com/ http://antenn-aid.com/ "Technical Specifications: Uhm... it's a sticker"
- dpcan 16y agoFreakin brilliant. If there's one thing people love, whether they want to admit it or not, it's to show off that they have an iPhone. Now there's a colorful band-aid that goes on the base of the iPhone 4. It might as well just say "Look, I have an iPhone" right on it. Some iPhone owners would love a way for it to stand out even more that they have an iPhone - well, here you go. With this product, the FLAW in the iPhone has become a way for people to decorate their phone so that EVERYONE will notice they have an iPhone, and not just any iPhone, the latest and greatest iPhone! Little success stories like this are fantastic.
- tptacek 16y agoYep. I just paid $5 for a bandaid sticker for exactly this reason. And people think Apple's going to issue a recall. Heh.
- danh 16y agoI can't help but wonder if Steve Jobs wants to kill these guys, or give them a medal.
- pillsy 16y agoEasy: he wants to kill them and then give them a medal posthumously.
- jmatt 16y agoAs long as they can make them faster than bumpers - it'll be a win. I can't wait to gift the remaining 5 Antenn-aids to my other iphone4 compadres.
- hugh3 16y agoAre people still showing off their iPhones in 2010? To me, all an iPhone says nowadays is "I may be out on the town right now, but if my boss emails me I'll be able to reply within seconds." If you ask me, the next trend will be obnoxiously low-utility phones: no apps, no email, nothing that would appeal to your average fourteen-year-old girl. See this graph from my favourite fashion site, which ranks the awesomeness of phones as a combination of "exclusivity" and "senseless lack of utility": http://www.magnificentbastard.com/posts/ask-the-mb-portable-communication-conundrum http://www.magnificentbastard.com/posts/ask-the-mb-portable-... Personally, I really want a DynaTAC. Of course a DynaTAC won't work with modern cellphone networks, so I really want to get an old DynaTAC shell and insert the components from a new twenty-dollar phone. Maybe I could sell that on Etsy.
- masklinn 16y ago> Are people still showing off their iPhones in 2010? To me, all an iPhone says nowadays is "I may be out on the town right now, but if my boss emails me I'll be able to reply within seconds." I disagree for a number of reasons, but the main four are: * I am directionally challenged and informationally hungry. A smartphone is both a lightweight GPS (which saves my life) and a direct pathway into wikipedia in my pocket (which feeds my brain). Can't get that with a low-end phone. * I use my phone to keep up with various mailing lists (not my boss, professional mail account isn't even on the phone) * I use my phone for offline articles reading via InstaPaper, it's often far more confortable (and simpler) than doing it on a laptop, and I can get 10mn of reading any time I have no current activity * Because I have an iPhone (though it's a lowly 3G) I have quite a number of pretty nice video games, so the phone doubles up as a lightweight portable console and avoids having to carry around a DS or a PSP (though it does severely dent the battery life of the machine) And other, more social people, will no doubt be using their phones for their twittering, facebooking and all other multicast communication channels which are entirely unavailable on a Nokia 3310. Not saying this couldn't breed a backlash due to information overload, but seriously userland "smart" phones have been going strong for nearly a decade in basically every first-world country but the US. Only in the US was it confined to the business side until 2007 and the iPhone broke free from the idea that smartphone = business.
- nixy 16y agoNot mentioned in the article, but this band aid style sticker is a reference to Job's joke at the press conference (from memory): We will be giving bumber cases until September 30th. By then there might be some other solution, maybe Eminem will release a band aid for the iPhone which everyone will want to use.
- drawkbox 16y agoThis one is much better. Adding function to form: http://twitpic.com/262n5r/full http://twitpic.com/262n5r/full
- weaksauce 16y agoShouldn't that be the opposite(line through the "end call") when placed over the gap or placed next to the gap with an arrow?
- mcantor 16y agoIt's also thirty dollars. Holy crap!
- kmfrk 16y agoThat's how Apple would have priced it.
- snprbob86 16y agoHeh, but I think an accessory for an Apple product should have an Apple-level attention to detail: iOS 4 changed the text on that button to just "End", not "End Call". Granted, the joke works better when it is explicit.
- bvi 16y agoAbsolutely brilliant. Such a simple (and a very trendy+elegant!) solution to a well-publicized problem.
- AlexMuir 16y agoSimple maybe. But elegant? It looks ridiculous. Who wouldn't just put a bit of gaffa tape or sticky tape on. This is the sort of shit that Apple should dread - being perceived as a pretentious brand in mobile devices, as they became in personal computing.
- DrJokepu 16y agoAlso, there's not a chance in hell Apple would sell those things for $4.99 a six-pack. It would be more like $40 for a single sticker.
- callmeed 16y agoI'm reminded of Jason L Baptiste's comment/post about becoming a millionaire in 3 years: "Look for the accessory ecosystem ... " (http://bit.ly/cjXq8f http://bit.ly/cjXq8f) Good example
- india 16y agoProper link: http://jasonlbaptiste.com/startups/how-to-become-a-millionaire-in-three-years/ http://jasonlbaptiste.com/startups/how-to-become-a-millionai...
- blhack 16y agoJust out of curiosity, why did you go through the trouble of hiding the link behind bit.ly?
- callmeed 16y agoTo me, it looks cleaner–i.e. that link was a footnote, more or less, and I'd rather my comment be the focus (not a long URL) I have a bookmarklet, so I really didn't go through any "trouble"
- india 16y agoFair enough but url shorteners break the web[1][2]. That is quite clearly not a good trade-off. I avoid url shorteners unless they be absolutely necessary. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_shortening#Criticism_and_problems http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL_shortening#Criticism_and_pr... [2] http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1416090 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1416090
- philwelch 16y agoHN shortens URLs automatically when you paste them in. Obnoxious example: http://www.hugeurl.com/?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 http://www.hugeurl.com/?YzUxNzllMmZjNTk5ZDBjYzIwMjYwN2VlZjFk...
- ck2 16y agoI was thinking the other day that iphone users need a little handle that folds out (like a stand on a picture frame) so they can hold the phone from the back instead of the phone itself. You'd just slip your hand through the handle and never touch the phone.
- chadgeidel 16y agoSomething like this? http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Double-Locking-Suction-Hooks/dp/B000VKMMP0 http://www.amazon.com/Heavy-Double-Locking-Suction-Hooks/dp/... That's actually not a bad idea!
- ck2 16y agoYeah but instead of a hook, more like a suitcase handle that you can slip your entire hand through.
- tlrobinson 16y agoI wonder if a thin coat of clear nail polish would accomplish the same thing in a less ugly way.
- Tichy 16y agoIt looks a lot better than the official bumpers.
- tamersalama 16y agoHow did the handle supplies/manufacturing? Is it already available bandaid with narrow dimensions?
- pwim 16y agoThey are vinyl stickers, so there are already many places that will make custom ones.
- kujhygtfghj 16y agoThe interesting point is the infrastructure behind this. Have an idea and instead of needing to build factories, employ salesmen, visit customers - you can build an online store in minutes (all the billing and payment handled by a dozen sites), get the stickers printed by another online store and advertise on HN, Reddit etc. Build a business empire (ok a small principality) in an evening!
- billmcneale 16y agoIt looks like there might be a few more people unhappy with their antenna than Steve Jobs wants us to believe.
- Tichy 16y agoJust curious, how do they produce them? Or is it just repackaged generic band aids? It's one thing to come up with a joke, another to come up with a production channel...
- DavidPP 16y agoUnless I'm mistaken, it's only a decal and not a real band-aid.
- fuzzythinker 16y agoHmm, I wouldn't touch it unless I know it will come off w/o much residue, which the site doesn't say.