Filed under: Flickr Find, iPhone
iPhone vs. gravity is no contest
Apple's MagSafe power cords have probably saved thousands of laptops from untimely impacts -- too bad there's no such insurance policy for the iPhone. Brett Peters' phone had an unfortunate encounter with his young son and moments later, with the floor, and the result is as you see above. While the screen glass is shattered, Brett was able to lay a piece of clear packing tape on top of the phone and keep all the shards in place. You can see all the photos on Brett's blog and here on Flickr.
Believe it or not, the phone is still functional; more surprisingly, except for the most seriously damaged spots, the touchscreen still works. Brett is considering a screen replacement via this procedure, but in the meantime I'm sure he's having a heart-to-heart with his son about the facts of physics. 9.8m/s^2 -- it's not just a good idea, it's the law.
[via Twitter]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Bill G said 11:27PM on 4-09-2008
32 ft/sec^2!
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mentalsticks said 3:09AM on 4-10-2008
what shoe size?
pscs said 10:48AM on 4-10-2008
lol, 9.8m/s/s is usually taken as 10m/s/s. (read as "ten metres per second squared).
I'm not the know-all but... "ft/sec^2"... oh please. and the SI unit for time is 's' not 'sec'.
back to the phone story. I think he should send it in for Apple rather than trying to replace it himself...
luis said 11:46PM on 4-09-2008
My iPhone screen had a scratch so i went over the apple store, to see if they could replaced, and they told that the scratch was nor covered by the warranty, but is i wanted to change the screen, it would have a cost of just 215 bucks.
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Speddy said 11:50PM on 4-09-2008
I have to live with a 1cm scratch that was made when my unit slipped out of my shirt pocket, and slid on the tile floor, face down. This happened the day my case came in. :(
Thank you for the PDA take apart vid. Too bad YouTube vid quality is that of looking through an aquarium, filled with ballistic gel.
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Andrew said 11:56PM on 4-09-2008
I just recently dropped my iPhone from waist height putting two long cracks on the screen. I went to the Apple store the next day and told the iPod Bar what had happened. The guy said that since I obviously was trying to protect it (I have a case and screen protector) and since I was "being real cool about it" he would go ahead and replace it for free.
Worth a try...
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tundraboy said 8:59AM on 4-10-2008
I think this is what is called a hidden warranty and it's illegal. If a mfr gives such a favor to one customer it has to give it to all. I just shelled out $199 to fix my son's broken iPod Touch screen . Oh, I am steamed.
Tony said 12:06AM on 4-10-2008
BAM $249+tax if its an 8GB at your local Apple Store! heh
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pickleman77 said 12:09AM on 4-10-2008
Same thing happened to my iPod Touch. The shards aren't protruding out or anything, though. You can't even feel 'em. It still works fine.
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Justin said 12:12AM on 4-10-2008
to add one more story I went out one night last term and cracked my iphone. Went to the apple stores in Atlanta and Birmingham but both said it wasn't covered. Two huge cracks but still fully functional, and I got used to seeing them.
Oh, and i looked it up, apparently because of the way they make the iphone, you can't replace the screen without replacing the touchscreen, etc. Costs like 279 to replace, basically what i paid for the phone
Andrew, you are one lucky bastard.
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JedixJarf said 2:00AM on 4-10-2008
Same thing happened to my iPhone about 4 months ago, told apple care on the phone that I had battery issues and they replaced it for free.
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petey said 2:09AM on 4-10-2008
the real problem here is the ultimate lack of insurance available for the iphone for instances like this. not from apple, the manufacturer. not from att, the service provider. not from state farm, the largest insurer in the us.
and to add insult to injury, if your iphone goes dead and you pay the $29 for a loaner while you send your broken one back, they suggest you get accidental insurance for the loaner while you have it incase you drop it or something. EXCEPT YOU CAN'T GET ANY KIND OF INSURANCE FOR THE THING through normal channels.
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Jon said 3:02AM on 4-10-2008
Careful careful... same thing happened to me and I tried screen replacement... the result? A great looking, touchless screen. :(. Spent 50 on the screen and then 270 on a new iPhone with Apple's replacement program for dropping.
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Michael said 3:54AM on 4-10-2008
That's pretty hopeless for a phone. I was dropping my old brick Noika very often a few years back and it would always cope the the hash treatment. I out at the pub a lot less often now so it doesn't get thrown around as much any longer.
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Iggy said 4:56AM on 4-10-2008
O2 in the UK provide iPhone insurance, its £6.50 a month, but it covers against accidental damage, even water damage.
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Michael said 12:19AM on 4-11-2008
You lucky BLOKE
UK birds are the hottest in the world !!!!!
check out (the real chad smith) on youtube
J said 5:16AM on 4-10-2008
I've got another with cracked screen, to add to the list. Dropped it from waist height onto the road while heading for the tube near Warwick Ave. Still works, but I'm much less likely to show anyone my phone now. Thankfully I hadn't taken the screen plastic that it ships with off yet.
Annoying thing is I did the same with my last Treo (680) in the 1st week of owning it. I had to do major surgery and replaced it with the touchscreen from my 650. No-one was more surprised than me when it worked!
I have since bought the icase rubber enclosure for it. I REALLY dislike the idea of needing to keep my gadgets in a protective case - it totally ruins the aesthetics. I would suggest that Apple make the casing a bit more rubberised. The current version is just too slippery and gets away on you too easily.
The price for fix in UK is £169 - but they insist on it being activated (with 02) and not jail-broken - which pretty much rules most of us out. I might try again after the 3G version is out. £169 for an upgrade doesn't hurt quite so much...
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Mitch said 7:09AM on 4-10-2008
I've dropped my iPhone probably 5 times - twice on a driveway on a hill and it slid down the concrete about 15-20 feet. I've got guardfilm on the thing tho and the places not covered by the guardfilm are dinged and nicked, but the screen and the back are intact and beautiful. Nothing beats guardfilm in my book and no i don't work for them. I'm not saying that the glass wouldn't crack like in the story here, but so far i've been lucky.
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robogobo said 7:40AM on 4-10-2008
hmm, I don't have an iPhone yet, planning to get one. But all these stories worry me since I drop my Treo every other day. It's pretty dinged up but no screen cracks and it still works perfectly. Maybe the plastic case absorbs the impact. I too hate protective cases.
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KeynoteKen said 8:10AM on 4-10-2008
Just from the other side of the aisle, I usually carry my phone in my shirt pocket. I've had it fall out of my pocket on several occasions as I'm getting something off the ground and once, my jacket snagged on the headphone cord as I was taking off my jacket. It was yanked up and out of my pocket before it hit the ground.
Currently, my screen is AOK, though I do wonder if the drop damage is cumulative... those first videos posted at the iPhone's release had me thinking it was pretty tough.