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My "Issue" with the shattered glass situation

jkrutch said:
I'm really sick of seeing the BS responses issued to people who dropped (or whatever) their phones and ended up with shattered glass.

Accidents happen....however is unimportant. I seriously doubt anyone dropped their new IP4 intentionally. Everyone should stop the "be more careful" crap and holier than thou BS and focus on the fact that Apple touts the new "Helicopter windshield" glass as super-strong. It shouldn't be breaking so easily. Why isn't anyone focusing on that?
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Cry me a ******* river.

You people who talk about this issue pretend that the iPhone 4 is the first phone that's breakable. Plastic is horrendously fragile as plenty of friends and myself have dropped their phones to see pieces fly every direction.

So, yes, no matter what damned phone you have, if you drop it, it'll probably break. So get over yourself and stop pretending that Apple suggested the phone is unbreakable. I think we should have a thread focusing on how stupid people like you are because having these threads keep popping up about impossible standards that no company could reach with their phone is beyond annoying.

If you don't want a broken phone, don't drop it. If you dropped it accidentally, then **** happens. Oops.
 
MassiveAttack said:
Typical Apple apologist reply. Not only that your "explantion" make no sense.
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Actually it makes complete sense. As a material is made stronger and harder, it's failure mode moves from plastic to brittle. This is especially the case with any ceramic, which all have very little elastic/plastic deformation before failing.

As the original poster of this comment said, unfortunately it is nigh on impossible to make very hard, very strong and very thin glass that would not have a brittle failure mode.

You can look at cast iron as another example. It is exceptionally strong, but when subject to a large force it will shatter. Aluminium on the other hand is nowhere near as strong or hard and so cannot take as much load, but will significantly deform plastically when it fails.

Just Chemistry/Physics/Engineerig I'm afraid, not a huge amount we can do about it.
 
SiskoKid said:
Cry me a ******* river.

You people who talk about this issue pretend that the iPhone 4 is the first phone that's breakable. Plastic is horrendously fragile as plenty of friends and myself have dropped their phones to see pieces fly every direction.

So, yes, no matter what damned phone you have, if you drop it, it'll probably break. So get over yourself and stop pretending that Apple suggested the phone is unbreakable. I think we should have a thread focusing on how stupid people like you are because having these threads keep popping up about impossible standards that no company could reach with their phone is beyond annoying.

If you don't want a broken phone, don't drop it. If you dropped it accidentally, then **** happens. Oops.
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From my experience, dropping a phone made of plastic puts a scuff in the plastic. The plastic doesn't crack. Sadly on an iPhone 3G and 3GS, the plastic scuffs, and then gets little hairline cracks forming around the scuffed area. This doesn't happen of those cheap phones, they just scuff.
 
ouimetnick said:
From my experience, dropping a phone made of plastic puts a scuff in the plastic. The plastic doesn't crack. Sadly on an iPhone 3G and 3GS, the plastic scuffs, and then gets little hairline cracks forming around the scuffed area. This doesn't happen of those cheap phones, they just scuff.
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This is another issue. Different peoples' experiences are different. My Treo and my friend's blackberry broke apart. Imagine seeing keyboard keys fly in all directions as you stare in horror.

Others on here have dropped their iPhone 4 and only received scuffs on their phone.

It depends on how and where you drop the phone. No phone is unbreakable. And please cut the crap about saying non cheap phones don't break. That's the most nonsensical and incorrect statement ever uttered.
 
MassiveAttack said:
Typical Apple apologist reply. Not only that your "explantion" make no sense.
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Typical hater response. If anything he is making a Gorilla Glass apologist reply. His response makes complete sense as GG has different kinds of strengths and it reacts to different kinds of forces in different ways. A materials strength and elasticity can change over time. Metals, for example, can be bent, but the more you bend the metal the less torlerant it is to bending until the point that it tears instead of flexing.

To sum up, if you don't like it, don't buy a glass phone.
 
This is one of those "problems" that is only a problem when it happens to you.

Fortunately I haven't had to deal with this. I dropped my 3G, without a case, and it landed face down on a rock. A hairline crack was all. Then I lost it. Problem solved.

Glass is glass. Whether it's helicopter, gorilla, or plexi, its still glass.

Blonde Buddhist
 
This isn't plexiglass. The glass is definitely stronger than past models but it's still going to break at times when you drop it on an edge. It's simple physics. Get insurance on your phone or get a good case. Sorry that you dropped it but apple made no claims that the phone wouldn't break when dropped naked. This is something you decided to assume from a presentation.
 
bunnicula said:
Well... hmm... you cannot show off your iPhone like jewelry unless you wanna treat it like jewelry.
With care.
Can't have it both ways.
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Exactly.

I believe I dropped my 3G about 3 times in all the years i had it , mostly from driving and forgetting it's on my lap.

I have dropped my 4 just once and it was a doozy. Running to catch the bus, phone popped out of my belt holster flew in the air and hit the corner of the sidewalk. Bounced into the street and almost fell down the water drain.

Had just put a bumper on it that morning and that's what caused the holster not to close properly.

Not one scratch on the phone. Nothing. I consider myself lucky and immediately brought a new bumper as the old one was scratched and cracked all to ****.

Right now I'm kicking bumper+zagg invisible shield, but I think I'll lose the shield, the orange peel feel is not my thing.

Tldr; Dropped iPhone 4 with apple bumper, survived with zero damage. Very pleased A++
 
Chupa Chupa said:
I'm sick of the posts, "I dropped my iPhone and it broke!."

Agree, people shouldn't be "holier than thou," because, other than a few goofs in YouTube, few drop their iPhone intentionally. But just as the owner should not be blamed for dropping the phone Apple should not be blamed for it breaking.

When one drops electronics not outfitted for a war zone one should have an expectation it might not survive. We've all been there, heart pumping as we go to retrieve our injured baby. Will it work? A camera, an iPod, a portable DVD player, etc. History is littered w/ fragile electronics that have not survived a 4 ft drop. Yet people are acting like the iP4 is the first breakable device in modern history.
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What is it that you don't understand?

This is a mobile phone. Whether it is made of ceramic or bullet proof glass doesn't and shouldn't matter to the end user. A mobile phone should be designed in a way to withstand a normal (casual) fall. Dropping a mobile phone ISN'T UNUSUAL. When you design one, you must take this into account and yes, your phone must withstand such a fall. It being made of glass is completely irrelevant.

Going all it-is-made-of-glass-what-were-you-expecting or buy-a-bumper completely misses the point. The question should be directed at Apple instead. Why would they put glass in the phone that shatters so easily?
 
Compile 'em all said:
What is it that you don't understand?

This is a mobile phone. Whether it is made of ceramic or bullet proof glass doesn't and shouldn't matter to the end user. A mobile phone should be designed in a way to withstand a normal (casual) fall. Dropping a mobile phone ISN'T UNUSUAL. When you design one, you must take this into account and yes, your phone must withstand such a fall. It being made of glass is completely irrelevant.

Going all it-is-made-of-glass-what-were-you-expecting or buy-a-bumper completely misses the point. The question should be directed at Apple instead. Why would they put glass in the phone that shatters so easily?
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My thoughts exactly. :)
 
Compile 'em all said:
What is it that you don't understand?

This is a mobile phone. Whether it is made of ceramic or bullet proof glass doesn't and shouldn't matter to the end user. A mobile phone should be designed in a way to withstand a normal (casual) fall. Dropping a mobile phone ISN'T UNUSUAL. When you design one, you must take this into account and yes, your phone must withstand such a fall. It being made of glass is completely irrelevant.

Going all it-is-made-of-glass-what-were-you-expecting or buy-a-bumper completely misses the point. The question should be directed at Apple instead. Why would they put glass in the phone that shatters so easily?
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You're so full of **** you stink. Everyone's phone can break depending on how it falls. If you want an actual unbreakable phone buy those crazy thick rubber ones. Every phone can break when dropped. Get over yourself.

And to bring this point home PLENTY of people have dropped their iphone 4s and have had little to no damage. It's mobile. Not unbreakable. NO mobile device makes this claim whether it's an iPhone or a blackberry or a DS or a PSP. I've yet to see any mobile device creator state their devices are unbreakable.
 
SiskoKid said:
You're so full of **** you stink. Everyone's phone can break depending on how it falls. If you want an actual unbreakable phone buy those crazy thick rubber ones. Every phone can break when dropped. Get over yourself.

And to bring this point home PLENTY of people have dropped their iphone 4s and have had little to no damage. It's mobile. Not unbreakable. NO mobile device makes this claim whether it's an iPhone or a blackberry or a DS or a PSP. I've yet to see any mobile device creator state their devices are unbreakable.
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No one said it should be unbreakable. Of course, dropping something will sustain some damage. But having the back completely shatter from a casual fall isn't normal. I only dropped my 3Gs once outside, on concrete. I knew it would get a dent, or be severely scratched. Having its back completely shatter into pieces would have certainly raised my eye brows.

Expecting your iPad or laptop to break down completely with a fall is a "customer expectation". Not so with a mobile phone. Your design should account for that.

I am going to buy an iPhone 4 still (I am a developer) and won't use any bumpers because I don't like rendering the gorgeous industrial design of the device irrelevant. However, if this phone cracks with the first fall then it means there is something wrong with this very same design.
 
Well i was one of those that 'dropped' my phone. From all of <1.5 ft and it smashed the back to bits. Was I careful with it yes. It was in my suit jacket which was folded up neatly on a chair. Unfortunately it had slipped out and then when lifting the jacket it fell.

Was I annoyed yes because I did not expect it to be so delicate. Many people say Oh its glass so of course it would smash. Listening to the PR machine you would not think anything of the sort. If when I picked it up they said "Oh by the way, you might not be able to scratch the glass but it will smash VERY easily in comparison to the old model" I would have picked up a cover for it.

Phones will get dropped - not on purpose but by accident. I know 5 people who have dropped thier phones. 4 have had smashes! I know many that have dropped thier 3G/S and not one has had a smash. Yes sometimes people will damage them but the number of 3G/S phones that are smashed are fairly small. I have heard of loads (as opposed to knowing) with smashed IP4s and they have only been out less than a month.

Whats the point of all this super styling if you have to then put a case on it. I would much rather have a plastic cover than a glass one.

Its going to be a nice little earner for apple at £139 a replacement.
 
SiskoKid said:
You're so full of **** you stink. Everyone's phone can break depending on how it falls. If you want an actual unbreakable phone buy those crazy thick rubber ones. Every phone can break when dropped. Get over yourself.

And to bring this point home PLENTY of people have dropped their iphone 4s and have had little to no damage. It's mobile. Not unbreakable. NO mobile device makes this claim whether it's an iPhone or a blackberry or a DS or a PSP. I've yet to see any mobile device creator state their devices are unbreakable.
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But they advertised it as 30x stronger than plastic. I've had 6-7 phones made from plastic, my friends have had just as many, we've all dropped them and have never had them break/crack, only get scuffed up. When its advertised as being 30x stronger than that people expect it not to break.

And you act like people are putting them through extreme circumstances. A four foot drop shouldn't break a mobile device. Yes, there will be some instances where it will, but (and it may just be due to this being a apple board) it seems like the iphone will be more likely to break than your standard mobile phone on a fall from that height.
 
To those making the "aircraft glass" analogy someone referred to it here. The windscreen on an aircraft is several inches thick, and it IS brittle but It also has an intergtated heater. The heating elements that are built into it maintain perfect visual acquity and heats the glass to maintain a temperature of 100-120 degrees at all times. Heating the glass makes it survive impacts reducing it's inherent brittleness.

My solution, I want apple to recall all iP4's, replace all glass with intergtated heated panels.

A single forward windscreen panel on a 737 is roughly the size of one and a half sheets of 8.5"x11" paper, although several inches thick and costs around 10-15 grand per panel.
:)

It is misleading of apple to make the helicopter statement!

It's like calling a tire a tire when it had no steel belt built into it, it's going to break and no it's not the same.
 
SiskoKid said:
You're so full of **** you stink. Everyone's phone can break depending on how it falls. If you want an actual unbreakable phone buy those crazy thick rubber ones. Every phone can break when dropped. Get over yourself.

And to bring this point home PLENTY of people have dropped their iphone 4s and have had little to no damage. It's mobile. Not unbreakable. NO mobile device makes this claim whether it's an iPhone or a blackberry or a DS or a PSP. I've yet to see any mobile device creator state their devices are unbreakable.
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Perhaps then you can tell me why the back of the phone should be made of glass? You know, the part which you don't look at during use and is most prone to wear and tear since it's in contact with whatever the phone is resting on. If there's one part of any phone that should be made to withstand drops, it's the back.
 
Compile 'em all said:
What is it that you don't understand?

This is a mobile phone. Whether it is made of ceramic or bullet proof glass doesn't and shouldn't matter to the end user. A mobile phone should be designed in a way to withstand a normal (casual) fall. Dropping a mobile phone ISN'T UNUSUAL. When you design one, you must take this into account and yes, your phone must withstand such a fall. It being made of glass is completely irrelevant.

Going all it-is-made-of-glass-what-were-you-expecting or buy-a-bumper completely misses the point. The question should be directed at Apple instead. Why would they put glass in the phone that shatters so easily?
Click to expand...

It's different with Apple though. When they design a phone all they care is to make it look fancy to drive up the sales. If the phone turns out to be problem prone... well, there is an army of Apple apologists to take care of bad PR :D
 
RobQuads said:
Well i was one of those that 'dropped' my phone. From all of <1.5 ft and it smashed the back to bits. Was I careful with it yes. It was in my suit jacket which was folded up neatly on a chair. Unfortunately it had slipped out and then when lifting the jacket it fell.

Was I annoyed yes because I did not expect it to be so delicate. Many people say Oh its glass so of course it would smash. Listening to the PR machine you would not think anything of the sort. If when I picked it up they said "Oh by the way, you might not be able to scratch the glass but it will smash VERY easily in comparison to the old model" I would have picked up a cover for it.

Phones will get dropped - not on purpose but by accident. I know 5 people who have dropped thier phones. 4 have had smashes! I know many that have dropped thier 3G/S and not one has had a smash. Yes sometimes people will damage them but the number of 3G/S phones that are smashed are fairly small. I have heard of loads (as opposed to knowing) with smashed IP4s and they have only been out less than a month.

Whats the point of all this super styling if you have to then put a case on it. I would much rather have a plastic cover than a glass one.

Its going to be a nice little earner for apple at £139 a replacement.
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WTF! They are making you pay for a replacement?

Dude, seriously. Write an email to sjobs@apple.com that you were surprised at how easily it shattered and paying for a replacement for something you had only for a few days is ridiculous. I wrote him 2 years ago after my order got delayed a week due to some shipping issues and I received a call from cupertino and they offered me 100€ compensation for my troubles.

You can also try writing them through http://www.apple.com/feedback/iphone.html

I think I read a couple of posts here already of people getting replacements for free by just walking into the Apple store and complaining.

I would never pay a dime for a replacement if I just casually dropped it and it broke.


lilo777 said:
It's different with Apple though. When they design a phone all they care is to make it look fancy to drive up the sales. If the phone turns out to be problem prone... well, there is an army of Apple apologists to take care of bad PR :D
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This is BS. The unibody Macbook is one of the best and most gorgeous laptops ever made, and it is built like a freakin' tank. Same with the original iPhone. Same with the iMac. Same with the new Macmini, Same with the Mac Pro. Industrial design isn't just about making something look nice. It is about what materials to use, how durable they are, how you make them, efficient use of volume...etc.

It seems though that there are some issues with this iPhone due to its rather very radical design. I have yet to own an iPhone 4 though, so I will reserve judgment till I get one. The forums are made to help people, so most people with negative experience are the ones that will be posting which sometimes make some problems seem bigger than they really are.
 
What kind of glass is the iPhone 4's ?
Tempered?
Strengthened?
Laminated?

How it shatters it looks like tempered, and if apple's suppliers that produce these glasses are similar to the ones tht produced the plastic iPhones, surely have big variation in their production line.
I am glad they stopped using the cheap plastic, and was worried about the surroundings of the glasses. Apple needs to increase the safeguarding of the glass edge. The edge is the weakest link of any glass. The video only shows that for the direction used in that test the glass resist a good amount of load applied in that direction on that surface of the glass.
Depending on the size and shape of the pieces of te glass after it shatters can be used to determine the stress applied to the glass as it broke and is also evidence of the level of strength or temper level in that particular pier of glass.
Take any super strengthen or tempered glass and with a simple impact on the edge it will shatter.
 
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