14 DAY TRIAL // One would think that a new type of consumer electronic gadget would appear as soon as the technology for it exists, but this does not seem to be the case as far as flexible gadgets go.
True, there have been some prototype gadgets on display at various electronics shows around the world, so the concept is closer to reality than before.
Sadly, it turns out that the existence of glass capable of bending is not enough to spark a wave of flexible consumer gadgets.
As such, the Willow Glass that Corning released last summer will sit back and wait to be called upon for a few more years.
According to the company's newest press announcement, device designers don't have enough to work with right now.
While the glass can bend easily enough, the same cannot be said for PCBs (printed circuit boards) and other components.
“People are not accustomed to glass you roll up,” Corning Glass Technologies president James Clappin told Bloomberg. “The ability of people to take it and use it to make a product is limited.”
If anything with Willow Glass ships before 2016, it will be flexible solar panel barriers. They might actually debut before 2013 is over.
Nevertheless, tablets, smartphones and any other items with malleable forms will not come out before 2016.
Until then, Corning will have to make a living off its Gorilla Glass panels, which provides nigh-indestructibility to LCDs, or whatever display it is placed over.
Granted, nigh-indestructibility might be laying it a bit thick, but the glass does withstand a lot of damage. It doesn't get scratched unless people really put effort into it, and it definitely won't break easily.
Willow glass won't exactly be vulnerable either, but its damage resistance will still be inferior. Then again, if people are even mildly careful in their handling, their gadgets won't need that protection anyway.