Slashdot Mirror
Apple Explains Face ID On-stage Failure (bbc.com)
Apple has explained why its new facial recognition feature failed to unlock a handset at an on-stage demo (see around the 1:35:58 mark here) at the iPhone X's launch on Tuesday. From a report: The company blamed the Face ID glitch on a lockout mechanism triggered by staff members moving the device ahead of its unveil. Apple's software chief dealt with the hiccup by moving on to a back-up device, which worked as intended. But the hitch was widely reported. "People were handling the device for [the] stage demo ahead of time and didn't realise Face ID was trying to authenticate their face," an unnamed company representative is quoted as saying by Yahoo's David Pogue. "After failing a number of times, because they weren't Craig [Federighi], the iPhone did what it was designed to do, which was to require his passcode."
I am pretty sure Bill Gates did a rehearsal before connecting a scanner to his W98 PC on the stage when he got a BSOD... Shit happens, and it sometimes happens with the worst timing possible.
A device the police can unlock by just showing it to you? pass.
The Kruger Dunning explains most post on
No one asked for this feature, but Apple wants to give it to us anyway. They have really lost touch with their user base, IMHO, and stray further and further afield. I think it may be time for another visionary but I doubt that Apple's culture will promote one as the old guard holds on for dear life.
Reception issues? You're holding it wrong
You iPhone 6 display touchscreen stops working? You must have dropped it
Video display on your Macbook flickering? Isolated, non-systemic incident
I didn't think you were supposed to remove it from its shrine. Just gaze at it with admiration. If it deems you worthy, it will unlock.
Have gnu, will travel.
here's another truth to consider.... companies won't tell the truth if it makes them look bad.... they spin it so it's somehow okay or at least insignificant; in this particular context of a 'big release event,' how much pressure do you think there is regarding truth vs perception?
Apple's explanation sounds like people simply moving the phone around caused the phone to try to authenticate via Face ID, and because the authentication attempts failed, the phone required Craig Federaghi to enter his passcode.
Seems like the phone could waste electricity trying to face authenticate when no such authentication is wanted.
I mean, who would ever move a mobile phone? Clearly this is an extreme corner[1] case that bears no resemblance to typical usage.
[1] Rounded, of course.
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
As a former Sales Engineer, I always hated doing live demos in front of (potential) customers. Yeah, it's like Milli Vanilli lip syncing, but I would always always push for doing canned demos, or ones that depended on my skill. When something has a 0.1% surprise rate, that means it will happen in a demo 100% of the time.
...si hoc legere nimium eruditionis habes...
I can just hear the NSA drooling over this feature now. A phone that tries to facial-recognize everyone who gets in range? It must be one of their wildest dreams come true.
Accurate demo of just how frustrating it will be to use this stupid feature.
... couldn't go back to passcode-only because they already told everyone how bad that is ... iris scanning didn't pan out for whatever reason ... so ... facial recognition it is. Oh yeah, and swipe up to go home, because it hadn't dawned on anyone to try that before and turns out it's the best approach.
They obviously started with the idea of removing the home button, and worked backwards from there. Let's see: no home button means no fingerprint scanning