CROWDFUNDING NEWS – For iPhone users, especially the ones who put their iPhones in a pocket (isn’t that everyone?), the curse of pocket lint and random moisture tends to fill the ports of those devices with a substance that refuses to be extricated, especially once you’ve jammed the plug into it a few times when it wasn’t connecting. I can’t tell you how many times I saw this when I was working at an Apple Store. It was always such a surprise to the customer – I’d usually take the lint out to show how much had accumulated because they’d not believe it otherwise. (Photo from @DrDrang’s blog “And Now It’s All This” – highly recommended!)
We used soft bristle brushes and non-conductive tools, which prevented damage, but short of a toothpick and an old toothbrush, most folks don’t have access to this. Enter a new KickStarter campaign called PurePort. It’s a set of 7 tools that are designed to safely maintain your ports and the cable plugs as well. Even with less than 50 supporters, they are already past six times their funding goal, so there must be a LOT of folks who put in more than the $20 EarlyBird special!
Apple’s Lightning port was introduced in the fall of 2012 and caused gnashing of teeth as well as rejoicing. The gnashing of teeth was due to the huge investment customers and manufacturers had made in 30-pin connector cables and accessories. (Fast-forward seven years and the specter of change is visible with the advent of USB-C, but Apple seems relatively certain to stay on this train for the iPhones and lower-end non-Pro iPads.) The rejoicing was due to being able to plug in the cable either way, which is also part of the joy of USB-C. The small deep port is much more difficult to see into, so getting little bits of stuff in there is much more of a problem than it was with the 30-pin connector, which was wider and more open. If you’re not worried that Apple will abandon their proprietary port soon, you may want to get a set like this to protect yourself. Just be aware that you can void your warranty with aggressive poking into the ports!
