iPhone or Sex?
Written by Haitham Sabbah on 15. October 2007, 2241hrs // Part of Haitham Sabbah's adventure in (Mis) Use of Technology, Failures, Science and Technology // Other posts by Haitham Sabbah
In the last two months I received countless spam emails, ads and invitations to join iPhone groups such as those at Facebook, all of which entice me to buy the new Apple mobile called, iPhone.
Until couple of weeks ago I didn’t even think of it, when a friend of mine showed me his new iPhone which he just got ‘unlocked’ to work on our Zain network. To be honest, I liked the phone and the crazy feature I tested. In fact I was waiting for the 16G iPhone to purchase it. All until I came across this disturbing news from Greenpeace.
According to “independent laboratory” tests cited on Greenpeace’s International’s website, about half of 18 tested internal and external components of the iPhone contain bromated compounds. What does this mean? Let’s first have a quick look at this short clip:
“An independent scientific laboratory tested 18 internal and external components of the iPhone and confirmed the presence of brominated compounds in half the samples, including in the phone’s antenna, in which they made up 10 percent of the total weight of the flexible circuit board. A mixture of toxic phthalates was found to make up 1.5 percent of the plastic (PVC) coating of the headphone cables.” [Source: Greenpeace]
Here is the scary part:
Dr. David Santillo, Senior Scientist at the Greenpeace Research Laboratories, commented, “Two of the phthalate plasticisers found at high levels in the headphone cable are classified in Europe as ‘toxic to reproduction, category 2′ because of their long-recognised ability to interfere with sexual development in mammals. While they are not prohibited in mobile phones, these phthalates are banned from use in all toys or childcare articles sold in Europe. Apple should eliminate the use of these chemicals from its products range.”
Greenpeace reveals that “The tests uncovered two types of hazardous substances, some of which have already been eliminated by other mobile phone makers.” They called upon Apple to truly revolutionize the mobile phone by producing an environmentally friendly handset for the iPhone’s European launch.
OK. We might not agree with Greenpeace on everything, but it safer to stay away until proven else.
But what if it was true? Yes, iPhone is sexy, but can’t give it the chance to replace MY SEX? 
Greenpeace post includes a slide show, pointing to various iPhone internal components and noting where the hazards might be.
Do you like - iPhone or Sex? - 
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October 16th, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Crazy! Im in love with these gadgets, but I’m more in love with doing it, so I’m going to have to look into this case a bit more. I’m prone to evangelize about Apple stuff, but not willing to go forced celibate as a result of their stuff. Usually I wait for the second generation of their products to come out just to avoid tech. woes. This time I think I’ll wait for v2.0 for biological ones. Geeze.
October 16th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
How well does the iPhone work on Zain? Can the inet be configured?
October 16th, 2007 at 4:25 pm
10:24,
I haven’t tested all feature, so the answer is sorry, I can’t confirm or deny.
Anyway, since these phones are unlocked without authorization by Apple, Zain will not support them until they are soled officially unlocked.
October 17th, 2007 at 4:21 pm
Thanks Haitham for the reply but then again how come the internet and all the other features works fine on Batelco and not Zain?
October 17th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
10:24
Again, unofficially, all the features work now fine on Zain. As far as the iPhone (or any other phone) is not promoted through Zain’s sales networks, the operator has no obligation to activate/deactivate any special feature for particular handset vendor unless and until a mutual agreement is signed between operator and handset vendor. In fact doing else is unethical business practice and contradict with GSM international standards and consortium regulations, which Zain Global Group respects and abed to. If someone else decided to work around these conditions, that does not mean that Zain has to follow. Keeping in mind that iPhone is still sold as a ‘network locked’ handset…
(read between the lines)
October 18th, 2007 at 3:07 am
These phones are all about money.
It seems that everything is about money.
If I am wrong, tell me.
The quran is not about money but the people.
Bush is about the money.
Big business is about the money.
Islam is about the people. It is not perfect, but it is learning.
Get rid of big business and we could all work together!
Simple solution that would never work, but Islam would accept it.
January 24th, 2008 at 2:28 am
The video states that Nokia has removed all of the PVC from its phones. Apple never had PVC in its phones. The PVC is in the headphones. When Nokia makes headphones that contain no PVC, then we can compare Apple’s use of PVC to Nokia. Green is good, don’t get me wrong, but misusing facts to strengthen our argument only lessons our credibility. Which will cause us to lose the fight.