It also fulfills the 'bar of soap' design strategy, wherein, after time, users become less and less enamoured by their 'personal' device, because of the little

It also fulfills the 'bar of soap' design strategy, wherein, after time, users become less and less enamoured by their 'personal' device, because of the little knicks and dents and impersonal scratches and so on .. leading to 'upgrade desire' when the next model is released. Its not designed obsolescence, but rather a triggering with our general Western inclination to eschew any flaws in what is usually an extremely personal, desired object: the bar of soap. The more our gadgets progress towards 'soap' in terms of physical usability, the more this factor comes into the design. Slight dings in perfect surfaces beget more dings, until eventually the device requires replacement..