Adjustable smartphone car mount Instructable

Computers & Mobile
Adjustable smartphone car mount Instructable
car_mount.jpg

Check out this adjustable smartphone car mount indtructable posted by niftycurly. For about $2 in parts and in about 10 minutes time you could cobble together one of these for use with your new turn-by-turn navigation enabled smartphone.

26 thoughts on “Adjustable smartphone car mount Instructable

  1. pff says:

    Anyone who can afford one of these cheap phones definitely won’t be able to afford one of those deadly expensive phone holders either so it makes economical sense.
    Looks really stylish too!
    Who doesn’t want pieces of toilet in their car holding up their phone in a distracting way is obviously a mental!

    1. Anonymous says:

      Wow indeed. Did you wake up today cuddling a cactus?

      1. pff says:

        Sorry, i thought these comments were here to allow users to express thoughts about the entry, not to allow personal attacks on other users, which you clearly seem to think is appropriate here.

  2. jammit says:

    It seems anonymous expressed his thoughts. No need to be sorry. QED.

    1. pff says:

      I understand that he has expressed his thoughts, i just thought that perhaps they should have been geared more towards the article instead of just pathetic abuse at other users.

  3. Simon says:

    I used to work for an in-car GPS navigation company. Am glad to be out of that business now these smart phones can do it all. Someone just needs a standard interface to hook the phone into the display/sound system most new cars already have so you have a decent screen size and voice. Then the phone doesn’t need to be stuck to the screen like that. No more phone holders needed.

    1. pff says:

      I Agree. This does seem to be quite useless, indeed a waste of resources, and as i pointed out earlier, not many people would want their flashy new phone held up by old pieces of toilet pipe. I only hope the pipes were new and not used, who knows what could have gone through them.
      Certainly i don’t know anywhere that sells even a T-piece for less than the equivalent of $2USD, so i don’t see how the total cost of the project can fall below this value without resorting to recycling used parts, and i for one would not find the smell of urine soaked pipes in my car pleasant at all.
      The question of the legality of this device also causes great concern as it is obviously very distracting to the driver, and clearly impares the view of the road ahead to the driver.
      I only hope you can live with yourself after you mow down your first innocent victim because you were too busy paying attention to your precious iphone to watch the road ahead.
      Personally i find that road signs often point me in the right direction, and i don’t have to resort to such ridiculous efforts to find my way around.
      I find it disgusting that items like this are allowed to be used by anyone, and i cant see how any self respecting motorist would choose to use one, never mind build one.

    2. Andy L says:

      But … if the car already has a display system, and a user-interface system, why not spend a few bucks more on a GPS chip so that I can use that functionality even if my phone is out of batteries, or lost, or whatever?

      It’s great that phones are becoming versatile, and can be used as a general-purpose machine, but I don’t use my Swiss Army Knife when I’m at my workbench in arm’s reach of my real tool box.

  4. Anonymous says:

    Dear pff, I am a different anonymous who’s completely puzzled by the ferocity of your commentary.

    One: your original comment was nothing more than an attack on the writer, who incidentally had nothing to do with the decision to post a link
    here.

    Two: did you bother to read the actual instructable? The author included pics of the store shelf tags clearly showing the prices of the parts which do indeed add up to less than $2.

    Three: what kind if toilet uses 1/2″ pipe?

    Four: why does your hatred of the device also include hatred if the author?

    1. pff says:

      I am oblivious as to how you could take my first comment as anything but an attack on the item itself.
      I did of course read the article, as i was in disbelief that someone could possibly think such a project was appropriate for actual use while driving.
      I am certain however that these prices are unattainable in any shop that i frequent in my area, which is why i came to the conclusion that they must be second hand
      Unfortunately i am not a plumber, and i cannot tell you the exact uses for altering pipe dimensions, however i do know that i wouldn’t want an old smelly piece of pipe in my car.
      I fail to see where i have indicated any hatred for the author specifically, although you may be confused by my dismay and incomprehension at anyone who thinks that this dangerous work of insanity is a safe addition to their vehicle.

  5. niftycurly says:

    Hi there, I wrote that instructable and have been a a little shocked how quickly it’s been making the blog rounds.

    For pff – you did call me “a mental”. And if you do indeed have astronomically expensive PVC parts in your area then I’m sorry for you. However, I can be certain that the parts listed were purchased just a few days ago at the prices illustrated at Anawalt Lumber at Pico and Sepulveda in Los Angeles.

    I love my ridiculously shaped car and moderately enjoy my iPhone. Over the last two years I’ve tried about 8 different commercial mounts that don’t work for me. When I bought the phone I had a cushy corporate job, as of a few months ago I do not so I’m need to be a little more frugal. So I now have a free navigation app and a strange looking $2 mount which I never said was pretty.

    It’s very firm and doesn’t impair my view of the road and is far less distracting than trying to hold it in my hand or prop it up on the dash for navigation. (My new employ requires much driving around the city) Navigation is all I use the mount for.

    So lambast and express all you like, just be aware that you don’t quite have all your facts right.

    BTW – the web at large seems to think the instrucatable author is a guy. I’m actually a girl – who frequents hardware stores and owns power tools.

    1. pff says:

      I made no assumption about you personally, sexual or otherwise.
      You seem persistent in your attempts to protect your device, and i admire the love you have for your creations, if only more people were like you the world might be a better place.
      I suppose i can only hope that the casualties caused by the use of this device only sustain the minimum amount of injury before the user realises how dangerous an idea this could be.

  6. Volkemon says:

    @niftycurly – As far as I can translate the attempted use of english, pff did not call you a ‘mental’.

    But I agree, that appears to be the ‘snarky’ attack contained. Who knows…try to reconcile the next two comments:

    “I find it disgusting that items like this are allowed to be used by anyone..although you may be confused by my dismay and incomprehension at anyone who thinks that this dangerous work of insanity is a safe addition to their vehicle.” and “You seem persistent in your attempts to protect your device, and i admire the love you have for your creations, if only more people were like you the world might be a better place”

    Hm. As passionate as pff may be, I see this as amusement more than an intellectual exchange. But hey- that’s why the comments are so much FUN!!!

    Had a 4 day weekend, so late to this post :) I now expeect all grematical and speling errers in my comment to be dysected.

    And I just remembered that I have MAKE: 21 waiting to be unwrapped and read. Woo-Hoo! Seeee Ya!

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