BYU – Hawaii students said they are pleased to hear that the fragile glass screens of smart phones may be fortified with a durable material made from a man-made version of sapphire in the coming years.Manufactured sapphire is a highly durable material already used in various military armored vehicles, but now the smartphone screens will be just as durable says a report in the MIT Technology Review.“I think that is a fabulous idea because I hate paying so much for a phone and then have it break. If I’m paying that much money I want it to last and have no problems with it,” David Johnson, a freshman in sports science from Canada.“Sapphire, a crystalline form of aluminum oxide, probably won’t ever be as cheap as Gorilla Glass, the durable material from Corning that’s used to make screens on iPhones and other smartphones,” Kevin Bullis, senior editor for the MIT Technology Review wrote in the report. A nearly invincible smart phone like that comes at a 5-10% price increase.BYUH students said they would pay the extra price for an extra strong phone that would prevent cracks and breaks.Makela Solomon, a freshman majoring in biology from Missouri, said, “That would be great because I swear the smallest drop and my iPhone would shatter.” Solomon said it would be better to buy a phone with the glass that costs $30. “I think in the long run it would pay off, especially since I just replaced my phone from a cracked screen with insurance I paid $50,” she added.“I would buy it so that I would not have to worry about my screen cracking from dropping it, especially since I have had my screen broken before and it's annoy to use with a broken screen,” said Megan Connor, an undeclared freshman from Japan. Connor said she dropped her iPod touch over 50 times, having it break only once out of those times, and is now using her iPod touch with a cracked screen.“A Gorilla Glass display costs less than $3, while a sapphire display would cost about $30. But that could fall below $20 in a couple of years thanks to increased competition and improving technology,” says Eric Virey, an analyst for the market research firm Yole Développement. “And since sapphire performs better than glass, that price could make it cheap enough to compete,” he says. Virey said the cost for a sapphire screen could fall to in the next few years, which might be affordable enough to make consumers give it a shot.Stephen Rallison, a junior in history education from Idaho, said he feels the investment would be worth it, but in the meantime uses a protective case for her iPhone. He said, “I never have cracked my [smartphone] but I know tons of people who have – especially iPhones and iPods. For that very reason, I bought a strong durable case to protect my iPhone ‘cause I drop it all the time.”
Writer: Dylan-Sage Wilcox ~ Multimedia Journalist
