CJustin Duke on X says he cancelled his preorder for Apple's first foldable, the iPhone Duo, and asked, “Did I cook myself?”
MIf he got out before the defect reports piled up, he cooked fine.
CThe man sold his Apple Vision Pro and says he got all his money back. He's not cautious, he's an exit liquidity genius.
MHis post says he's not in a rush anymore. PhoneArena reports some buyers are canceling after early quality issues.
CEarly quality issues, sure. Crease complaints, a few bad units. Every first-gen foldable has that.
MNo, wait— this is Apple. If the hinge fails in week one, that's a real product problem.
CIt's a new form factor. The tolerances are brutal. You don't catch every pocket sand grain in the lab.
MOh, come on. They've watched Samsung battle this for years. Cybernews says users are second-guessing preorders after another issue cropped up.
CHold on— he also dumped his Vision Pro. That tells me he knows when to exit.
MExactly. He's not early-adopting for the sake of it anymore. That's rational.
CBut if you never early adopt, you miss the good stuff. You wait until it's safe, and then it's boring.
MThe Vision Pro wasn't boring, and he still sold it.
CBecause it had no killer app. The iPhone Duo has a reason: a real foldable in your pocket.
MA real foldable with real returns, apparently. That's not a killer app, that's a killer return window.
CThat's exactly why you wait, which is what Justin did. So why are we acting like it's a scandal?
MBecause a foldable iPhone that ships with defects makes the whole category look fragile. That hurts everyone.
COr it's the price of progress. Do you want Apple to wait another five years?
MI want them to ship a phone that doesn't get returned in the first month. That's not radical.
CBut if everyone refunded at the first bad unit, we'd never get new hardware.
MAnd that someone is you, apparently. You'd keep a cracked hinge and call it patina.
CI'd put tape on it and call it a repair story.
MRight. But for now, by his account, Justin's money is safe.
CFair. But the foldable future is coming, with or without him.
MThe foldable future can come after the warranty terms improve.
CYou're not wrong. But you're also no fun.
MI'm the one holding the warranty card.
MDifferent world entirely: Roger Douglas Ware posted on X that Apple's eye tracking should revive Blastar.
CBlastar, the 1984 space shooter Elon Musk wrote at age twelve and sold for five hundred dollars.
MHe thinks a gaze-aimed version on the Vision Pro would actually work.
CIt would. Eye tracking is already built in. Look to aim, maybe blink to shoot. Perfect demo.
MStare at aliens for an hour? That's a migraine with a scoreboard.
CYou don't play it for an hour. It's a five-minute retro throwback. And it proves the input method.
MIt proves a 1984 game can be ported. Groundbreaking.
CNo, it proves gaze control can work for games. Accessibility folks have said this for years.
MSo now it's an accessibility breakthrough, not a nostalgia project.
CIt's both. Old game, new input. That's exactly the sweet spot.
MFine, it's a neat weekend project. But I'm not buying a Vision Pro to play Blastar.
CNobody buys a Vision Pro just for Blastar. But if it's already on there, you'd try it.
MBut you'd buy a Vision Pro to play a 1984 game with your eyes?
CNo, but I'd demo it. And I'd admit the input tech is cool.
MCool for five minutes. Then the headset goes back on the shelf.
CThat's all I'm asking. Not a purchase, just a proof of concept.
MFine. Retro Blastar as an eye-tracking demo. I'd watch that video.
CSee? Progress.
MProgress would be a foldable iPhone with no returns.