The spookiest thing I've seen on a manufacturing line was firing up an early prototype of the first white iPod touch -- it glowed! Anyone who's worked with white plastic knows that the TiO2 in it diffuses light, and when you combine that with an LCD that makes the inside of the device brighter than day, you get an eery glow. The buttons glowed, the connector opening glowed, the plastic frame that held the glass and supported the camera also glowed! I guess we should have expected that. 😆
What was supposed to be an easy program ("just make it white!") turned into a (mis)adventure in making white parts black. One unit is the first step to many -- so I sat on the line and Sharpied everything I could -- all of the internal white plastic, the backs of the buttons, the shiny metal frame behind the bright LCD, the white mask on the glass, etc -- to get one unit that didn't glow. Next: millions. For months, the small team working on the program tested and qualified a series of tapes, paint, and pad-prints to make white iPods that disappear in a dark room. I learned a ton about light leakage, which plagues most electronic devices with bright displays, as well as a healthy fear of TiO2 and white plastic.
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Client Executive @ Atmosera
3wAtmosera & Microsoft - the 'key' to success 🔏