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Agreed. There are 1000s of items that are not sold in the Apple store, that pertain to Apple and their products. Are they also considered "banned"?

Such a non story, about a non issue.

Agreed, but every time one points out the non issue of the non issue it again makes it an issue..... Like I just did. See how this works?:rolleyes:
 
Cool Demo @ the Apple Store

When I got my first iPhone, 3G in Canada from Rogers there were no accessories available that day at the location I bought it from (who's kidding who, there were enough bigger problems that day than a lack of accessories, remember?) Being a bit of a klutz and recognizing the obvious glass face on my new iPhone, I went to the closest Apple store to buy a case, or at the very least a screen protector.

The Apple store associate, asked me why I felt I needed one, and I proceeded to say, that I always had put my previous phone in my pocket with my keys, and it had got scratched and I was concerned about the glass on my iPhone getting marred by my keys.

The Apple associate asked me for my iPhone, and my keys, and with a mischievous glint in her eye, proceeded to "key" the front of my brand new, minutes old, waited in line for ever iPhone...I nearly died. "Take a look," she said, and held up my iPhone with nary a scratch!!!!

To this day, I've left a screen protector off my iPhone, kept it in my pocket, at all times, and 2 years laster, not a scratch on the glass at all. (The back black plastic parts are nicely protected by my Vaja ivolution Grip)
 
Apple's obsession to control the lives of its customers appears to know no bounds...

You are being so overdramatic. :p. So has the all mighty controlling Apple's corporation actually stopped you from buying a screen cover for your Apple product? NO. You can just as easily buy it from the creators website. Is that so hard? Is that too much to ask? All Apple or any company is required to stock is their own merchandise.
 
Grandma's sofa covered in plastic!

I'm not very good at putting them on without bubbles! :p But at least it will look as good as new when I get the 4G (if I get it) and sell the 3G for a few pennies. ;)

Reduce the aesthetics of a product merely for its resale value? Form vs. function means nothing, it's resale value above all else? Good thing the people that buy the products you once used will enjoy them as they were meant to be enjoyed!

No judgement here, please understand this, but it smacks of grandma's sofa covered in plastic. Take care of your things, yes, but enjoy them - and bubbles on a touch screen, in my mind, not acceptable, but that's me. I'm willing to risk a scratch to enjoy the product as it was designed to be used, without the awful plastic under your ass.
 
I would say it's because of the return rate, in conjunction with people always asking the specialists who work there (which takes more time away from the sales floor) to put them on for them. Who in turn almost always will botch the installation and will have to return them and give them another one.

What's really amusing about this is that at the local (to me) Apple Store, which is inside a mall, there's one of those stand-alone kiosk things right outside the Apple Store, 10 feet from the door. All they sell there are iPhone cases and screen protectors. They put the protectors on for you in about 30 seconds: spray, wipe, apply, done.

I've never seen any Apple employee installing these in the store, but I don't hang in one 24/7. LOL.

This move will certainly drive more business to those kiosks.
 
I hate all cases and screen protectors for iPod Touch and iPhone. ALL OF THEM. Why? The screen protector makes the screen look scuffed and scratchy after awhile and all the bubbles -- yech!

The cases cover up Apple's beautiful design. Jobs, Ives and Co. go to a lot of trouble and care to create the most beautiful stuff on the planet. Why would you cover that up?!

They also actually CAUSE small scuffs and scratches on the outside of the phone they're supposed to be protecting! My wife's iPhone is scuffed up on the edges where the case is pressing and rubbing the device; she's had a case on it from Day 1. Mine, bought at the same time (and never went into a case), looks practically out-of-the-box. Cases also add bulk (size and weight) to the device. A heavier, bulkier phone is not appealing to me. The only way I would consider a case would be if I was a serious road warrior and needed a case like a Morphie's Juice Pack for the extra battery power. I'm not a road warrior so it's moot.

A couple of ways I keep my iPhone looking great are:

1) Never putting the device in a dock. I have the original phone and a dock will scratch the black border that's at the bottom of the phone.

2) I never, ever lay my phone down unless it's going on a handkerchief, napkin, or a soft surface -- ever.

3) I take special care to always have a firm grip on the device and not handle it casually. This avoids drops.

4) The iPhone goes in my left pants pocket with the screen toward my leg. Nothing else EVER goes into the pocket with it -- ever. The friction of the screen to the soft inside of the pocket keeps the screen shined up and completely free of fingerprints. I never have to wipe off my phone.
 
He's talking about the oleo-phobic anti fingerprint coating.

Ahh...thanks. His point was interesting, though, why didn't Apple put the oleophobic coating on the latest round of iPod touches? It's really nice.

...Take care of your things, yes, but enjoy them - and bubbles on a touch screen, in my mind, not acceptable, but that's me. I'm willing to risk a scratch to enjoy the product as it was designed to be used, without the awful plastic under your ass.

Until you get a scratch on your precious iPhone and realize that for $3 you could have avoided it! LOL.

That was my attitude with my first iPhone, which somehow got scratched (as posted earlier) - it was "heart breaking" (not really, but you know what I mean).

I don't think iPhone's need scratch protection, but despite the shaking in a bag of keys videos out there, I'm a bit more skeptical about you can just toss them in your purse or pocket with sharp metal objects with no concern. That said, I throw my iPhone in my pocket with little concern and it hasn't been an issue since the first phone.
 
I don't really care all much about this as it's no big deal. I have never used an iCondom and am fine. Screw iProtection.
 
When I first got my 3GS, the hot topic was the iPhone being easy to damage and expensive to replace. I've almost had mine a year and have only dropped it once, so far. Now that I've said it out loud....
There have been times I have taken off my clunky ifrogs case, but when I go out to a concert or an event with lots of people I put it back on. I prefer the iPhone without the clunky case but prefer some kind of protection.
If more iPhones get returned because of these items, Apple should just put a warning up about bubbles on these 3rd party accessories.
 
But is there really a flaw?

With my previous hand held devices from Palm and Handspring a screen protector would have been a very good idea. All of them got very scratched up from years of use. On the other hand, we have two iPod Touch in our family, both of which get a lot of use by the five of us. Neither has any screen scratches, dings, dents or otherwise. Both have been repeatedly dropped on concrete, one from ten feet up. I don't recommend this but they survived and seem fine. While I find Apple's move a little odd I'm incline to believe the theory that they want to get rid of the false perception of fragility.

Companies can still sell screen protectors via other avenues.
 
Who marked this down? I agree with quite a few other posters... The screens aren't nearly as fragile as perceived by the public.. Quite robust, mines in my pocket all day, i frequently knock it when at work ( i work in a retail warehouse) and am moving all day every day not a scratch!

I dont imagine that these screen protectors bring apple any profit particularly, so thus not worthwhile stocking them..

Strange decision? Yes. Logical One? Yes

PTP
 
while i like apple and their products, they have increasingly become very communist-like.
 
I use the InvisibleShield on my iPod Touch and my Samsung Instinct phone, and had a film on my 1st generation iPod Nano (aka The Scratch Magnet) and wouldn't think of not having one on my devices. I'm just weird like that. But Best Buy has a gang of these things on the shelves at all times, so it's not a big deal that Apple is taking these out of the stores. Chances are that there are probably two or three Best Buy stores within a reasonable driving distance from any Apple store.
 
Anyone ask how this is even a news story?

Soon we'll be getting news alerts when the ny apple store is out of toilet paper!


Fanboys have gone to far!

This is a more of a story than where Jobs' rank on the richest list or how much Tim Cook got in bonuses.

This is a true debate. I, for one, believe that the iPhone should be used as is without case or screen film. I've dropped my iPhone many times without the screen cracking. Chanes are that, whatever technology in the iPad uses, will make it even tougher which should help the iPhone.
 
Apple banning bread and milk!

Unless I'm mistaken, Apple has banned bread and milk since the stores opened.

Please, people, "not selling" is not the same as "banning".

And, not selling useless crap seems like a good idea to me. It gives people who buy an iphone a little while to realize that the screen is perfectly fine as is, and to realize when they cover it, that it both looks worse and performs worse that way. Apple took some pains to optimize the surface. If people don't benefit from that, customer satisfaction and potential new sales suffer.

You can't buy frost shields from a Lexus dealer, and they won't give you ketchup at La Grenouille.
 
1) Never putting the device in a dock. I have the original phone and a dock will scratch the black border that's at the bottom of the phone.

2) I never, ever lay my phone down unless it's going on a handkerchief, napkin, or a soft surface -- ever.

3) I take special care to always have a firm grip on the device and not handle it casually. This avoids drops.

4) The iPhone goes in my left pants pocket with the screen toward my leg. Nothing else EVER goes into the pocket with it -- ever. The friction of the screen to the soft inside of the pocket keeps the screen shined up and completely free of fingerprints. I never have to wipe off my phone.

I do exactly what you do! But sometimes I hand my iPod Touch to a friend so they can see a photo or something, and when they're done, of course, they put it down on a glass table or better, slide it across the table, so now it's still full of scratches. I sometimes feel like telling them to be careful, but at the same time I feel like sounding stupid, especially if they don't understand why this would be important for me...

It's like when people point at your computer screen and touch it all the time. There should be a feature in every computer that sends 10 000 volts of electricity through anyone who touches the screen.
 
Apple goes through great lengths to make the iPhone as thin, elegant and durable as it is. Only to see stupid people put it in ugly cases or films that make it thick again. Apple needs to fight this pest.

I agree to some degree, but if people want to uglify their iPhones who is Apple to stop them?
 
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