Wave Hoax Tricks Gullible iPhone Users Into Microwaving Their Phones

[Azure23]

So what I'm learning from this thread and its replies is that it's perfectly ok for other people to suffer if said people are "inferior"

I don't think not having a smart phone anymore counts as suffering. I can pretty much guarantee that if this had resulted in someone's house burning down it'd be roundly condemned here, probably be one or two edgy kids pushing social Darwinism but hey, this is the internet.

 

[ckam]

I mean, I know I'm blaming the victims here, but you're a fucking idiot if you put metal in a microwave.

 

[Voulan]

I think we're all focusing on the wrong thing to hate here. Instead of going on at the victims of the scam, shouldn't your anger be directed to the people that think it's perfectly fine to do this sort of thing in the first place to trick people? Regardless of whether people fall for it or not, it takes one pathetic person to think making this was a great idea.

 

[Strazdas]

Anyone dumb enough to put his electronics into microwaves (i know people who managed to fit desktop towers inside too) does not deserve to ahve said electronics.

Well I guess a bunch of people never watched Brainiac.

damn the hamster was so young in this brainiac. too bad the show was repetitive as hell and even LRR crew did more and better microwave experiments.

I guess I'm a bad person because this makes me so, so happy.

Look at these idiots. Now imagine this. Conservatives say that you shouldn't waste the money on science education. The world is already full of morons. Do you really want to create more?

fighting agiasnt idiots is futile. universe just makes a better idiot.

It's hard to believe someone would be stupid enough to actually try it, but for some reason I'm not surprised when it comes to Apple users.

Conspiracy time! *puts on tinfoil hat*

Maybe Apple are behind this hoax and they did it to get their users to buy a new iPhone quicker.

not limited to apple users. you know the heat reseating technique of putting motherboard into oven and heating it up? well i know somone that decided microwave will do the trick and put his whole tower in. you can guess how that turned out.

So what I'm learning from this thread and its replies is that it's perfectly ok for other people to suffer if said people are "inferior"

It is ok for said people to loose an object that is not necessary for their survival of they loose by by their own action that no sane human would have performed. stupid people are not inferior, they are just stupid.

Also, they bought an Iphone. if anything, this saves them from suffering of having one.

I get the feeling I'm surrounded by a lot of psychopaths sometimes.

You are. Statistically vast majority of management position workers are psychopaths.

It's okay! Say it was an accident and you're covered by Applecare+!

Grumble grumble.

there actually are applecare plans that cover anything, even intentional destruction. my condolences goes to people that have a shift workign in phone repair today.

I'm not surprised that some people fell for it. Knowledge is not something everyone automatically picks up even if they hear or see it and if you have no experience about microwaves and how different materials react to it, then someone is bound to do something stupid... and hopefully learn from it.

Its not some mysteriuos "knowledge". reading first page of instructions for any microwave will tell you not to put electronic devices or anything containing metal traces in it, even plates with metal coating will make it go boom (well not really but it sparks like hell). this isnt lack of knowledge, this is basic illiteracy.

 

[Nergui]

How monumentally stupid do you need to be to put a delicate electonic device into a microwave.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rX7wtNOkuHo

 

[Azmael Silverlance]

Hahahahaahahah this is too funny to be true!

Who made this fake poster i wanna shake their hand What a great way to start my day. Now i just hope i have a friend who did this omg that would be hillarious They will never live this down

 

[Strazdas]

Because a software update will change the physical characteristics of the device...suuuuure.

you wont believe the amount of people ive met that claim that a software update will make Xbox One play games in 4k. yes, people are that stupid.

Seems we need mandatory basic science classes before anyone obtains any electronics, or at least a free little booklet saying not what to do with 'em. Bloody Oath.

or people just need to learn at least first page of instructions of microwaves? but no, apperently, thats too hard for them. I can understand an illiterate 6 year old falling for it, not grown up people.

Just because many of us here on the Escapist are tech-savvy enough to know that this doesn't hold up doesn't mean everyone else is (especially those lacking a physics background). And I'd like to add that if the tech companies out there (Apple first) didn't try their best to advertise their products as magic boxes that "just work", without letting anyone in on the hows and whys, we may not be having this kind of problems in the first place...

i too found it funny how someone suggested plastics as dangerous material, but thats beside the point. its not about being tech savy. its about being able to read first page of microwave instruction that clearly states - no electronic devices inside.

also wireless recharging may use microwave frequency (and so does wifi btw) but the working principle is vastly different. just like you would fry RFID card in microwave oven you would a phone and its not being tech savy, its having basic literracy.

The photos?
How were they taken?
Someone probably had a new phone, put their old phone in the microwave, used the new phone to take a picture of the result.
After all, its just one additional step on the path Old Phone -> Trash Can.
And you get a nice humorous reaction.

Or they could use their old phone for the photo once the new one is fried?

Also who the hell instantly throws away old phones? what kind of billionaire you have to be to be able to go with no backup phone around?

Surely people willingly decide to be weak? You can always get stronger - just keep lifting the heavy thing (which, in this scenario, is replacing the research that stupid people aren't doing). Why should the strong care that the weak are so lazy?

if you are so weak you cant stand up yes start lifting those weights to be able to walk. just like you should get literrate if you want to use electronics. because, you know, a 2 minute reading of microwave instructions would have already saved them from it. whats their excuse for being illiterate? should we tollerate people who are choosing to be stupid?

However, Campbells has microwaveable soups with metal rings in the packaging to speed up the heating process, so it's not totally unheard of. I'm just saying that it's not so far fetched a concept as all that. Recharging the battery sounds like a real leap, on the other hand...

1) you should not be heating soup with packaging.

2) metal rings in liquids in microwave would make said liquids inedible.

Instead of going on at the victims of the scam, shouldn't your anger be directed to the people that think it's perfectly fine to do this sort of thing in the first place to trick people? Regardless of whether people fall for it or not, it takes one pathetic person to think making this was a great idea.

no, you shouldnt. because nothing was "Done" here. there was a joke about apple posted ala the waterproof iphone 7 style and some people thought it was real. it wasnt a campaign meant to destroy iphones. thats like believing that this cat carrier [http://www.manbottle.com/pictures/cat%20carrier.gif] is real. are you going to blame authors of this picture for harmed kittens?

It was agreat idea. it was a funny joke and a jab on how apple advertisement works. except some people were stupid enough to think it was real. assuming these arent fake i mean.

 

[Nazulu]

Seems we need mandatory basic science classes before anyone obtains any electronics, or at least a free little booklet saying not what to do with 'em. Bloody Oath.

or people just need to learn at least first page of instructions of microwaves? but no, apperently, thats too hard for them. I can understand an illiterate 6 year old falling for it, not grown up people.

You think I can wrap this idiocy around my head? My post is really just a epidemic joke, but maybe there are enough slow people out there that need a big sign on the box saying "Read The Fucking Instructions Before Use".

 

[Harry Mason]

Fairly certain this would not have worked on Android users.

People think Apple is MAGIC.

 

[dumbseizure]

I don't even know where to begin talking about this except holy shit people need common sense.

If my fucking 78 year old grandmother can tell this is a load of shit, and she can barely use her iphone or computer, then it is pretty god damn impressive people fall for this.

 

[s_h_a_d_o]

Mmm-mm... gotta love them baked apples!

 

[MerlinCross]

-snip-

No offense to your friend, but if someone is that bad off educationally, how would they be able to fall for the prank? I mean if some of these people are illiterate(which makes no sense if they can text) they couldn't fall for the written prank. At the very least, and this goes with everyone and every bit of tech, if you're unsure either Google it or if you're that behind educationally(No offense to your friend again) just ask someone. Friend, family, that guy working the phone stall at the mall, someone.

No I'm laughing at those that photographed their destroyed phones and put them online for the world to snicker at. Because let's be honest, what else where they actually thinking when they went to take the photo? Actually to really define that; What did they expect the internet's reaction to posting said pictures and tweets of "I just nuked my phone"?

 

[elvor0]

Mostly the smarter-than-thou attitude and the unnecessary spite on display is what grosses me out about some of the responses. I don't generally think of adults as being spiteful, but I guess that's because offline most people aren't.

Lets just think of it this way. Regardless of whether or not you know that putting metal and electronics in a microwave is a bad thing,(This IS very common knowledge regardless of how you want to spin it. Almost as widely known as fire is fucking hot, it is not unreasonable to expect people to know this, or arrogant or anything else, the expression "common sense" is being used for a reason) what does a microwave do when you put things in it? It COOKS the thing. Why on earth would you expect a different outcome after the hundreds of times you've used your microwave to cook things?

 

[RA92]

Just wait until I introduce these people to my wonderful friend Naziim, a member of the long-standing Nigerian Royal line. I hear he needs you to send him some money to help him out.

But don't worry; he's good for it, I swear.

If you see the first Tweet, it appears not even Nigeria's finest have escaped this electromagnetic firestorm.

 

[Saika Renegade]

I want to feel some sympathy, but the best I can muster up is vaguely contemptuous pity. Anyone who does something 'just because they heard it worked on the internet' without spending even a fractional second of time spent looking up the concept deserves the consequences for their lack of research. Cor, I lived in a village where we didn't even know microwaves existed until I was about six years old, and I still knew better than to stick a metal object into one when I saw it because I'd generally learned that an appliance that causes heat and any item with metal in it would probably be a bad combination if you put the two near each other.

Maybe this is proof that there really are people simply shouldn't have access to any communications technology more complex than a crayon.

 

[the December King]

However, Campbells has microwaveable soups with metal rings in the packaging to speed up the heating process, so it's not totally unheard of. I'm just saying that it's not so far fetched a concept as all that. Recharging the battery sounds like a real leap, on the other hand...

1) you should not be heating soup with packaging.

2) metal rings in liquids in microwave would make said liquids inedible.

I don't want to get too into it, but the microwaveable soups that come in cups are supposed to go in the microwave, as is... so yeah, pretty sure this is a thing: http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/archive/index.php/t-217023.html

I'm not saying it's an excuse for tossing any metal into the microwave, just that it isn't as verboten as some seem to think.