Glass Partition Shatters at Store

December 15th, 2007

A large glass partition separating the display sections of the Montgomery Mall (Md.) Apple store shattered for an unknown reason, creating a pile of pebble-sized pieces on the stone floor. Visitor jjsixty6 said he heard a cracking sound, turned and saw the tempered glass partition begin to crumble and drop. He took an iPhone photo of the aftermath which shows the debris that employees had to clean up.


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    Which store was this? [IFO -- I'm trying to find out.]

    Timmay D December 16, 2007 at 4:41 am

    Wow! I’ve always wondered what it would look like if one of those things broke. I’m surprised that it hasn’t happened sooner.

    Howie Isaacks December 16, 2007 at 9:37 am

    This can happen to toughened glass for no apparent reason. Frameless toughened glass doors have been known to fail in exactly the same way. Tension is created within the glass as a result of the toughening process (exposure alternately to blasts of hot and cold air -putting it crudely). The usual trigger is damage to or impact at the edge. As I understand it the components of Apple’s ubiquitous stairs are laminate glass -a sandwich construction of annealed glass and clear tough plastic which does not shatter in the same way. An essential element of this method of construction is that all bolt-holes through the glass are lined with fibre or plastic grommets and fibre washers are fitted between all metal / glass surfaces. Used correctly glass is as strong as steel - and Apple and their suppliers would be as knowledgeable about how to design and build these structures as anyone in the Construction Industry.

    R Justham (UK) December 16, 2007 at 10:17 am

    I too am surprised that it hasn’t happened sooner, however I would’ve thought that they wouldn’t shatter like this just because of such a situation. This is during the holidays and imagine if the store was physically packed with people which wouldn’t be unheard of and then it shattered. Ok so it’s not like anyone’s gonna die, but numerous cuts wouldn’t be unheard of. Maybe this is one of the reasons Apple is taking those out, maybe they heard of this possibly happening so they were trying to be proactive and remove them before this exact scenario did happen. Now the question is, will they receive a replacement one, or just leave it out?

    -Brian

    Brian Kaemepn December 16, 2007 at 6:11 pm

    Tempered glass shatters into chunks ie “safety glass”; it doesn’t bust into long shards as a window would. It would require some concerted efforts to cut yourself on the shattered pebbles.

    danieleran December 16, 2007 at 9:42 pm

    This is probably why they’re taking the glass partitions out of stores gradually. They removed the glass partition in my local Apple Store Dec 8 and according to the Mac Specialists there, they Apple has been removing them in other stores up and down the East Coast. Why they add 6 $400 glass partitions that they take out a year later-who knows.

    Rob G December 18, 2007 at 7:18 pm

    “Tempered glass shatters into chunks ie “safety glass”; it doesn’t bust into long shards as a window would.”

    Or a mirror.

    Partners in Grime December 22, 2007 at 12:42 pm
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