iPhone 4 Screens Break 82% More Than 3GS 348
A surprising number of readers have submitted linkage to a story discussing a recently released study that
proclaims that iPhone 4 glass breaks way more often than the 3GS's. Although the chart that I found more surprising was the one that said almost 9% of iPhone 3GS screens crack after a year.
Re:Gimme a break! (Score:5, Insightful)
This is good unbiased, peer reviewed, wholesome and all-American goodness coming from a company that sells warrantees.
Good times
Re:My 3g iPhone hasn't cracked yet (Score:1, Insightful)
You take it the wrong way. iPhone screen break reports are underestimated because of people like you who buys screen protector and cases. The average user shouldn't need to buy anything extra so that its phone continue to work after 1 year with regular usage.
That's funny (Score:3, Insightful)
Taking Apple's side on this one... mostly (Score:5, Insightful)
Unless the glass is breaking all by itself, I'm going to go with "people who spent too much money on a phone don't know how to take proper care of them."
Fact is, I spent like $100 (and renewed my contract with tmobile) to get a samsung vibrant. The first thing I did was slap a protective case around it and put on a screen protector. Following that, a visit to eBay showed me some nicer things to protect the phone and I also got one of those belt holders for the phone. Why?
1. I spend what I consider to be a lot of money for a phone.
2. Things I spend money on, I try to take care of
3. Keeping a phone in your pocket will cause problems starting with dust and ending with who knows what else
4. In spite of all the care I want to give it, things fall, slide off, whatever.
If I had an iPhone (and people who know me know the LOOONG list of reasons why I will never own an iPhone) I would do the same thing to it -- protect the shit out of it. It's frikken expensive and needs to be protected.
People need to get over complaining about how durable something is or isn't and start simply being careful for a change.
Re:9% after a year? (Score:2, Insightful)
Could it have something to do with the fact your nicad-powered monster only had a screen ~1 sq. inch, coupled with the fact that it was (probably) some kind of impact-resistant plastic?
iPhones - how I hate typing that - and newer phones have, big glass screens. Toughened or not it's a lot easier to crack a piece of glass than it is plastic that's 1/10th the size.
For my two-penneth I'd say it's because we're used to them now; the novelty has worn off and we just aren't taking as much care of them as we used to.
Re:Gimme a break! (Score:4, Insightful)
Preferably someone who isn't standing to make a buck from the claim, which rules out the insurance company AND the manufacturer. Maybe someone like Consumer Reports?
Water damage too (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Taking Apple's side on this one... mostly (Score:5, Insightful)
But if it's wrapped in a protector how are you supposed to enjoy the beauty of the industrial design?
Of course, my feeling is that if you can't design an attractive product that is also durable then you're not a particularly good designer.
Re:Taking Apple's side on this one... mostly (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:Water damage too (Score:3, Insightful)
Or that the iPhone 4 is slipperier, or any manner of other things.
Re:Gimme a break! (Score:3, Insightful)
Right, which gives them all the incentive in the world to get money from as many of the other 91% as they can.
Something people forget about glass (Score:5, Insightful)
In particular the toughened stuff is that it is fairly brittle. So yes, it may well be stronger than plastic, but when it fails, it does so in a more catastrophic fashion.
You can see this with knives. Most knives are steel, of course. However with a little research you discover you can buy more advanced, harder knives. Ceramic knives that more or less never go dull. They are the real deal too, I own a couple. You can't believe their sharpness, the hold their edge forever, food washes right off them, etc. Brilliant things. So why then are they not used all over? I mean they are pricey, but not much more than a forged steel knife.
Reason is they are brittle. They are indeed much harder than steel, however they don't flex. So you apply pressure to them and they are unmoving until a certain point, when they shatter. A steel knife can bend and flex a bit, and be just fine. Mean that ultimately, a steel knife is much more resilient. They may lose their edge easier and so on, but they can do tough jobs ceramics can't (ceramic knives are for slicing, not for something lick carving meat on the bone).
Same sort of shit here. A good polycarbonate will scratch easier than a toughened glass, and is less strong, you can flex it just by pushing hard enough. However it has a lot of give. It can take some reasonably hard impacts and survive, whereas the glass will hold strong up to a given point, and then fail badly.
Max strength isn't always the most desirable characteristic. Surviving stresses can be as much about moving with them as resisting them.
Been an unfortunate thing with Apple (Score:4, Insightful)
They've been very big on form over function for some time now. Doesn't mean their devices aren't functional, it just means that they worry about how they look more than anything else and they don't give much thought to if it interferes with working. For example if you look you discover time capsules have a bad habit of dying early, all around the same time. Further research shows this is because they overheat. They cannot take the heat of the integrated powersupply. Well external power would be perfectly doable, most devices have it. However Apple just had to have the sleek, all in one, unit. A fan was not acceptable either, of course. Thus form took precedence over good design and there were functional problems in the end.
Same shit on the iPhone 4. It isn't like they didn't put function in the device. It is a high end smart phone, no question. However they had to make it pretty, that was requirement #1, and some functionality suffered because of it.
I really dislike that way of doing things. I'm fine with good looking electronics, things shouldn't have to be ugly but function need to be primary. Make sure everything works first and if the design interferes with that, change it. Make shit work first, look good second.
Re:9% after a year? (Score:3, Insightful)
There seem to be a lot of people who are on their 3rd or 4th iPhone. Some return them for various defects, where the guy at the Genius Bar just gives them a new phone instead of trying to trouble-shoot the problem, or there was some hardware issue.
For a product that's only been out a few years, you wouldn't expect to see so many people go through 4 of them. On the other hand, my iPad Touch has been remarkably sturdy, though in its second year the battery capacity seemed to drop off. But now the new ones have cameras so maybe it'll work out.
Waiting for .... Apple Special Event (Score:4, Insightful)
I am awaiting the announcement of an Apple Special Event on this problem soon.
At the event Mr. Jobs will bash with a hammer the screens of competing cell phones from RIM, Motorola, Sony, Nokia, etc. The results of this vigorous laboratory testing will be presented with a pie-chart to show that the iPhone screen is more resistant to hammer blows as long as you hold the hammer carefully with a finger or two and not grip it with your whole hand.
Re:9% after a year? (Score:1, Insightful)
I have both phones in front of me right now. Looking at them, the reason for increased screen breakage seems obvious. The 3GS, like the 3G, etc. have a plastic back and sides that surround the glass up to the top edges of the glass face. The iphone 4 has a metal band on its sides that is both thinner and less elastic than the plastic on the 3GS. In addition, it does not extend to fully to the edges of the glass faces of the phone. These glass faces are surrounded by a very thin casement of black plastic. Thus the edges of the glass are much more likely to come in contact with the ground or at least encounter a hard impact if the phone is dropped. I have just upgraded my phone from the 3GS to the 4. I like the new phone, but I have no illusion that it is physically superior to its predecessor. While the new phone looks shinier and sexier in many respects, it cannot be as resilient and it is not as comfortable to hold as the 3GS. However, the longer battery life, better performance, the sharper, brighter screen and the other electronic features make it basically superior for anyone who wants a smartphone. If you want a more rugged phone with similar smartphone features, buy or keep the 3GS or buy a nice protector for the iphone 4.
All things being equal, I probably would have gone for one of the Galaxy S phones from Verizon, but as I have subsidized group service from AT&T and their Android phones are less compelling than the iPhones, I will stick with what I've got. It works well and contrary to the hype around the antenna-gate issue, I have yet to encounter a dropped call on it. I know that I'm not representative of all customers, but for me, AT&T service is consistent, fast, and usually reliable. Perhaps if I were the type to use more minutes than data, I'd be more compelled to switch, but that's just not the case for me.
Re:Statistics FAIL (Score:4, Insightful)
Note the complete statistical fail: the iPhone 4 has *two* glass screens - that means that all the fucktards that used to just scuff the hell out of the metal back are now dropping and breaking their back glass.
In that case, switching from metal to glass backing was an incredibly stupid design decision. Still Apple's fault.
Re:Taking Apple's side on this one... mostly (Score:2, Insightful)
Really, don't do this. Please.
I'm not saying this to be snarky or mean, and I'm not trolling. Just... don't wear your phone on a belt holder. That's about as bad as a fanny pack.
Don't walk with a bluetooth earpiece in, either, and especially don't walk around talking to someone on it, making yourself like a schizo.
Don't wear white socks pulled up to your knees while wearing shorts, either. Nor is the potential safety of a pocket protector worth the certain damage to your reputation. Wear contacts instead of glasses, too.
And for the love of god, don't wear a phone on a belt holder.
Re:Taking Apple's side on this one... mostly (Score:2, Insightful)
nope. parent was correct.
Re:IPhone haters be off with you! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Because there are two planes of glass (Score:3, Insightful)
What is all this apologetics?
Are you telling me that it's Squaretrade's fault that iPhone 4 has twice as much glass and is twice as likely to break?
I don't see you arguing that the numbers they provided are wrong, so how are they being deceptive? They simply reported that in the 4 months since iPhone 4 came out, almost twice as many suffer breakages as 3GS, which is numbers from their own customers. I totally fail to see how this is deceptive.
Do you mean they should have reported a lower (and false) number just because iPhone 4 is ... more fragile?
Why are Apple users often so irrational?
Re:9% after a year? (Score:2, Insightful)
sitting next to someone that is on his 3rd iphone due to screen breakage
So... this person broke 3 phones and didn't give up? Do me a favour, will you? When you get a chance break this one and let me know if he/she gets a new one.