The ugly bin icon: are companies FORCED to do that?

[7412]

Ever looked at your brand new smartphone's back and thought: "wow, it looks reaaaally good", and then...noticed that there were a garbage bin printed on the damn thing for some reason?

As if a large amount of the global population was stupid enough to throw a smartphone in the bin? Is that reaaaaaaaally needed?

 

[Electronics Wizardy]

Well It probably depends on market.

 

But my phone(iphone 11 pro) doesn't have any logos or marking on the back other than the apple logo.

[Bombastinator]

3 minutes ago, 7412 said:

Ever looked at your brand new smartphone's back and thought: "wow, it looks reaaaally good", and then...noticed that there were a garbage bin printed on the damn thing for some reason?

As if a large amount of the global population was stupid enough to throw a smartphone in the bin? Is that reaaaaaaaally needed?

 

If there is a lithium battery in the device, yes.  Lithium is wildly flammable.  In e-cigarettes it’s referred to as the “dont vape in a bin” symbol.  It means that the device should be considered hazardous waste of thrown away.

[lewdicrous]

It's part of the "WEEE Directive", it also has to be there by law in some places.

This has been a thing for at least a decade and a half.

[homeap5]

OMG, that's horrible!

Even more - I saw so many keyboards with letters prited on keys! That looks really bad like people don't know what these keys do. Good that I'm using one with blank keys. But maybe not everyone knows what letters or symbols are assigned to which key? Oh, the same about throwing smartphone in the bin and information printed on back. It's just for people who don't know.

 

[GDRRiley]

these are all needed and required by law in most places. it is there for a reason, most people are too stupid and don't know you shouldn't put electronics into general trash after 40 years of reminding people to not do it

[TomvanWijnen]

6 minutes ago, homeap5 said:

OMG, that's horrible!

Even more - I saw so many keyboards with letters prited on keys! That looks really bad like people don't know what these keys do. Good that I'm using one with blank keys. But maybe not everyone knows what letters or symbols are assigned to which key? Oh, the same about throwing smartphone in the bin and information printed on back. It's just for people who don't know.

 

I do wonder though, if someone wanted to throw their smartphone in a bin, would they really look at a tiny sign on the back before doing so? And if they looked, would they care?

[Bombastinator]

5 minutes ago, TomvanWijnen said:

I do wonder though, if someone wanted to throw their smartphone in a bin, would they really look at a tiny sign on the back before doing so? And if they looked, would they care?

Think about it from the other direction.  You’re a smartphone maker and some people who buy smartphones are idiots.  Suppose one of them tosses a smartphone in a bin, and starts a fire that takes down a building full of people.  With the picture it may still happen but the idiot can’t try to blame it on you. 

[TomvanWijnen]

3 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Think about it from the other direction.  You’re a smartphone maker and some people who buy smartphones are idiots.  Suppose one of them tosses a smartphone in a bin, and starts a fire that takes down a building full of people.  With the picture it may still happen but the idiot can’t try to blame it on you. 

Fair point - so realistically it's largely a matter of "if we put this there it won't be our fault when something bad happens".

[Jurrunio]

If there's any phenomenon that can describe infinity, that will be people's stupidity

[Arika]

43 minutes ago, 7412 said:

As if a large amount of the global population was stupid enough to throw a smartphone in the bin?

A large amount of the global population is stupid enough to just throw it in the bin. In fact I would go as far to say that more than 80% of phones end up in a regular bin instead of being disposed of correctly

[7412]

40 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

Think about it from the other direction.  You’re a smartphone maker and some people who buy smartphones are idiots.  Suppose one of them tosses a smartphone in a bin, and starts a fire that takes down a building full of people.  With the picture it may still happen but the idiot can’t try to blame it on you. 

You could achieve the same thing by having a similar message displayed when booting up your phone. Or on the phone's box. You really don't need to print a bin on your phone and ruin the design to achieve that.

[GDRRiley]

3 minutes ago, 7412 said:

You could achieve the same thing by having a similar message displayed when booting up your phone. Or on the phone's box. You really don't need to print a bin on your phone and ruin the design to achieve that.

you maybe tossing it cus it doesn't work and you aren't going to keep the box forever

[Jurrunio]

5 minutes ago, 7412 said:

You could achieve the same thing by having a similar message displayed when booting up your phone

What if it's broken?

 

6 minutes ago, 7412 said:

Or on the phone's box

Not all (if not few) people keep the box, especially if they plan on using the phone till it stops working

 

besides, who looks at the box for that icon if they didnt even look at the phone?

 

Btw some brands do have this icon inside the phone with detachable rear shell

[Bombastinator]

6 minutes ago, 7412 said:

You could achieve the same thing by having a similar message displayed when booting up your phone. Or on the phone's box. You really don't need to print a bin on your phone and ruin the design to achieve that.

I don’t know about the legality.  There’s probably a technical reason.  I wonder if there might be something about that symbol for British people.  Every complaint I have seen about it comes from britian. 

[Jurrunio]

6 minutes ago, Bombastinator said:

I don’t know about the legality.  There’s probably a technical reason.  I wonder if there might be something about that symbol for British people.  Every complaint I have seen about it comes from britian. 

drinking excessive amounts of tea makes people sensitive and whiney

 

that's why they complain about the weather all the time

[Bombastinator]

1 minute ago, Jurrunio said:

drinking excessive amounts of tea makes people sensitive and whiney

 

that's why they complain about the weather all the time

I bought a lot of tea.  I’ll have to test this.

[jiyeon]

3 hours ago, Electronics Wizardy said:

Well It probably depends on market.

 

But my phone(iphone 11 pro) doesn't have any logos or marking on the back other than the apple logo.

UK here, every iPhone I've purchased - and for that matter, seen in my country - has the markings. They're ugly, but they're law.  iPhones look so much cleaner without the markings

[7412]

11 hours ago, Jurrunio said:

What if it's broken?

 

What do you mean, what if it's broken? Unless it ships broken, you'll have seen the warning plenty of times already if it's displayed whenever you boot up your phone.

[dalekphalm]

2 hours ago, 7412 said:

What do you mean, what if it's broken? Unless it ships broken, you'll have seen the warning plenty of times already if it's displayed whenever you boot up your phone.

How many people “boot up” their phone? Once? Maybe a handful of times if they own the device for years. 
 

Unless you have a shit phone that constantly requires rebooting, or you let it die on you constantly. 
 

If you buy one used, it would likely not have a box, and it’s conceivable you’d never need to “boot” it up. 
 

And let’s say it was your kids phone and you never paid attention to the boot screen and then it died so you need to dispose of it. 
 

These are regulatory markings - it’s different by area. My Canadian iPhone XR doesn’t have them. Hell it doesn’t even have the SN on the back. 

[Bombastinator]

5 minutes ago, dalekphalm said:

How many people “boot up” their phone? Once? Maybe a handful of times if they own the device for years. 
 

Unless you have a shit phone that constantly requires rebooting, or you let it die on you constantly. 
 

If you buy one used, it would likely not have a box, and it’s conceivable you’d never need to “boot” it up. 
 

And let’s say it was your kids phone and you never paid attention to the boot screen and then it died so you need to dispose of it. 
 

These are regulatory markings - it’s different by area. My Canadian iPhone XR doesn’t have them. Hell it doesn’t even have the SN on the back. 

I reboot my phone maybe once a month. It’s shit apps not shit phone though.  

[Curious Pineapple]

Who really cares? It's not laser engraved into the front glass, most phones are in cases anyway. If you buy a phone for how the R-send of it looks then I'd assume you plan on dropping it on the floor face first a lot.

[Monkey Dust]

12 hours ago, sowon said:

UK here, every iPhone I've purchased - and for that matter, seen in my country - has the markings. They're ugly, but they're law.  iPhones look so much cleaner without the markings

Top tip, on the red ones it's barely visible, though it does say (PRODUCT)TM on the back for reasons...

 

[TomvanWijnen]

3 hours ago, 7412 said:

What do you mean, what if it's broken? Unless it ships broken, you'll have seen the warning plenty of times already if it's displayed whenever you boot up your phone.

Booting takes "long", so I often go do something else while it boots, so I wouldn't see the warning.

[dalekphalm]

1 hour ago, Monkey Dust said:

Top tip, on the red ones it's barely visible, though it does say (PRODUCT)TM on the back for reasons...

 

It actually says (PRODUCT)RED.

 

The red ones have the product red branding. Source: I have one. 
 

Granted, there’s possible for regional variation.