Galaxy Fold's bad press just disappeared: Should you care?
It would seem that Samsung aimed to remove certain Galaxy Fold articles and features from the web this week. Since we are a news publication that aims to benefit not only readers, but discerning consumers and early adopters of new technology, it's become time to have a chat. Is it sensible to attempt to control public perception of the Samsung Galaxy Fold at this moment in history? And what'll it mean if Samsung succeeds?
In favor of full transparency
It's important that news publications are able to print (or in this case tap the "publish" button for internet) articles that tell the full truth. It's important that if a public figure or a private company takes action that could affect the public, that news publications have the ability to publish information about that action. Just because something is removed from the internet* doesn't mean it didn't happen.
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We strive to inform you, the reader and the consumer, about the many positive and negative aspects of devices like the Galaxy Fold as in-depth as possible, whenever it makes sense to do so. Sometimes it doesn't make sense to go too in-depth simply because, for example, it doesn't always matter which kind of screws hold a phone together.
If you take a peek at the latest from iFixit, you'll see that they've taken down their Samsung Galaxy Fold teardown guide. They explain there that they've been asked to remove the teardown until they're able to get a final retail version of the device, assuming the device's perceived flaws are fixed.
In favor of perception control
Remember that device called Google Glass? Google didn't do the best job controlling the message – the public perception of the device – when the device had some bad press. Google Glass "became the poster-child for wearables' intrusion on privacy" and failed to become a consumer product worth owning.
Samsung has a lot riding on the success of foldable displays. The company called Samsung Display has Foldable Display manufacturing ready to roll. Samsung Mobile needs foldable displays to be a fad so they're able to prove they've got the best model in the mix.
Now, if Samsung allows the Galaxy Fold to be delayed for an amount of time the public perceives as troublesome, the foldable display phone might go out of style before it becomes a trend. If that happens, it might be years before the average consumer forgets (or stops caring) about this debacle, and we might be on to the next sort of device – so we might never have a foldable display-toting smartphone.
The reality of internet apathy
Nothing can truly be deleted from the internet – the phenomenon pre-dates the internet with the Streisand effect. Censorship of any event in our modern world can lead to a wider publicizing of said event. But Samsung might not be dealing with this sort of situation at all, if the subject isn't perceived as important enough to act on.
If people don't care enough about the first release of the Galaxy Fold to keep alive the memory of this too-early release, we'll forget. Forgetting is easier today when most of our information is fed to us, rather than discovered. Assuming Samsung's next attempt at releasing the Galaxy Fold (if they keep that name) is without mishap, new news stories may well bury the old.
And we'll forget. We'll all forget. (Unless we don't).