Arguably, the greatest thing about the initial release of the Wii—Nintendo’s faux-next-generation console that makes use of motion control for most of its games—was the subsequent release of many, many videos of ‘Wii accidents’. Looking up this simple phrase in YouTube will reap hundreds of pages of results of various videos showing how not to hold onto a Wii remote while interacting with the Nintendo console. Glass is shattered, family members are hurt and, worst of all, LCD screens are damaged by the projectile otherwise known as the Wii remote. I could embellish further, but you should really just check out the montage video below (my favourite is at 2.20).
Pretty funny stuff, right? Naturally, I only find this particularly hilarious because it’s never actually happened to me (or anyone I know for that matter). Maybe it’s because I always wear the attached wrist band to keep the Wii remote firmly connected to my arm at all times. Maybe it’s because I don’t get so palm-sweaty as to turn my Wii remote into a dangerous projectile. But I like to think it’s mostly because of the extreme death grip I have on the controller that ensures it will splinter and implode long before it will ever fly at my TV screen.
This article on the PopSci front page tells the story of Gorilla glass LCD panels that are rather resilient to scratches, abrasions and, potentially, aerial Wii remotes. While this presents some fantastic possibilities for the average user—imagine not having to treat your LCD screen with the same reverence that you do with scratch-attractant current-generation panels—it also presents some upsetting possibilities too. First and foremost is the sharp decline in the ‘Wii accident’ videos that will inevitably follow the popularisation of such a screen.
But the half-seriousness of the aforementioned con is also indicative of the encouragement of the disheartening and increasing advent into the world of over-the-top warning labels. Take the Wii for example: every time you start up a game the console reminds you to grip the Wii remote tightly and wear the strap to avoid Wii-remote projectile syndrome. As most technologically paranoid folk should be able to relate, even without the warning, I would be very aware that any device that requires me to fling my limbs around could result in some potential damage to the items or people around me.
The extra-tough Gorilla glass LCD screen isn’t merely providing a more durable product; it’s also validating the folk among us whose lack of logic towards the potential harmfulness of technology (e.g. Wii remotes, hairdryers that shouldn’t be used in water, etc.) warrants the existence of bizarrely obvious warning stickers.
What do you all think?
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I break things. Like, a lot. Anything that limits my ability to break things is AAALLLRRIIGHT in my books
Haha, yes this is true. I’m not against the idea of having tougher materials for objects that you don’t want to break, but I am against the idea of pandering to the ’sue first, think about what I did later’ type folk.