So let me get this straight...

[JosephBergdoll]

One of Apple's selling points for the iPhone 4 is that the glass is 30x stronger than plastic.

This may be true, but that is a natural quality of glass. Another natural quality of glass is that it doesn't ding, it doesn't bend (that much), it doesn't cave in and form a hole if something is punched into it... it just SHATTERS, ruining the entire thing instead of just slightly damaging a certain area of the phone.

Wtf were they thinking?

 

[Broph]

They were thinking aesthetics over structural integrity.

 

[Munitalp]

One of Apple's selling points for the iPhone 4 is that the glass is 30x stronger than plastic.

This may be true, but that is a natural quality of glass. Another natural quality of glass is that it doesn't ding, it doesn't bend (that much), it doesn't cave in and form a hole if something is punched into it... it just SHATTERS, ruining the entire thing instead of just slightly damaging a certain area of the phone.

Wtf were they thinking?

Plastic scratches way too easily, if they used plastic they would have millions of complaints about it getting scratched from keys, coins, anything in your pocket. The Palm Pre has a plastic screen and people get tons of scratches and even gouges into the screen. I much rather be careful with my iPhone (not drop it) and have it not scratched to hell from putting it in my pocket.

 

[MassiveAttack]

Wtf were they thinking?

That's the million dollar question, for a company that pompously believes that they do everything better they failed miserably with an all glass enclosure. Hopefully this will knock Steve Jobs off his high horse.

 

[Munitalp]

That's the million dollar question, for a company that pompously believes that they do everything better they failed miserably with an all glass enclosure. Hopefully this will knock Steve Jobs off his high horse.

Failed miserably? So says the 2+ million people who just stood in line for hours to buy their glass phones

 

[insidmal]

They were thinking aesthetics over structural integrity.

the issue is more if it lands on it's side, the pressure gives it nowhere to give and causes it to shatter, i think if it lands flat it would be fine, it actually is a very durable material, but a lot of the give of it is being taken out by puting it in such a rigid solid device

 

[JosephBergdoll]

Plastic scratches way too easily, if they used plastic they would have millions of complaints about it getting scratched from keys, coins, anything in your pocket. The Palm Pre has a plastic screen and people get tons of scratches and even gouges into the screen. I much rather be careful with my iPhone (not drop it) and have it not scratched to hell from putting it in my pocket.

I'd much rather have a scratched back (easily solved by adding some of that ghost armor stuff) than a shattered phone (not easily prevented by adding some of that ghost armor stuff). The damn case they make for the new phone doesn't even cover up the brittle back. Yet another "WTF WERE THEY THINKING?!"

 

[Chupa Chupa]

That's the million dollar question, for a company that pompously believes that they do everything better they failed miserably with an all glass enclosure. Hopefully this will knock Steve Jobs off his high horse.

At least Apple makes the attempt instead of (no pun intended) phoning it it like most CE companies. Best I can tell most just copy Apple's lead which is why they continuously fail to "kill" the iPod or iPhone. They are all about feature bloat rather than really trying to do something different. I'm not saying everything Apple does is perfect. Obviously it's not. However Steve's ability to walk to the beat of a different drummer is what makes Apple products so desirable. There will be no mile long lines for the Droid X.

As for the glass -- jury is still out. We have heard from people who dropped their phone & it shattered. We don't hear much from people who dropped their phone, no damage, moved on. The glass Apple uses is Gorilla Glass. Many other companies besides Apple use it. If there is a problem w/ the glass I think they are the ones people need to question. It's their product, their claim of strength. I saw them at CES. They were letting people hammer samples to try an break them.

 

[Hankster]

If you don't like it...

1. Don't buy it.
2. Sell it if you already bought it.
3. Stop your complaining about something that won't change.

 

[Apple iMe]

Protect it with a suitable case and treat it with care and its a non issue.

I dropped my 3GS once, but it was in a slip case so all was well. If it hadnt been then it would have had a ding and I wouldnt have been able to sell it as new

 

[tknice]

If you don't like it...

1. Don't buy it.
2. Sell it if you already bought it.
3. Stop your complaining about something that won't change.

I think we should all copy this and paste it into every moron created thread.

Eventually they will stop?

 

[smiddlehurst]

With all due respect, the material the handset is made out of is irrelevant. No, wait, hear me out before flaming.

1) It doesn't matter if it's glass, plastic or metal - drop it and you run the risk of it breaking. Period. Even if Apple had gone with a plastic back it's still a glass front / screen so if you drop it there's a 50/50 chance of the glass hitting first. Treat your phone with care and this isn't an issue. If you don't think you're capable of doing so then get a case or the bumper (the bumper actually presents a lip above the glass so it'll stop it hitting square on). People need to realise they're carrying the equivalent of a mini-laptop here and treat it accordingly.

2) We don't hear from those who drop their phone and have it survive, just those who've had it break. Have a look at reviews like the one from Engadget when they confirm they've mistreated theirs and had it survive just fine.

 

[robotkiller]

One of Apple's selling points for the iPhone 4 is that the glass is 30x stronger than plastic.

This may be true, but that is a natural quality of glass. Another natural quality of glass is that it doesn't ding, it doesn't bend (that much), it doesn't cave in and form a hole if something is punched into it... it just SHATTERS, ruining the entire thing instead of just slightly damaging a certain area of the phone.

Wtf were they thinking?

Then don't drop the phone or don't buy it. Jesus you people complain about everything. You drop any phone with a glass screen and you run the risk of shattering it. There are many phones on the market with glass screens, btw. Sure iPhone is the only with a glass back, but the risk of shattered glass exists on all phones with glass. The only solution is an all plastic device - no thanks.

BTW:

 

[iLisa777]

We don't hear much from people who dropped their phone, no damage, moved on.

I knocked my phone from an end table onto the ceramic tile floor and nothing happened. This happened on the 23rd, when I first put it down after activating.

 

[Gryzor]

One of Apple's selling points for the iPhone 4 is that the glass is 30x stronger than plastic.

This may be true, but that is a natural quality of glass. Another natural quality of glass is that it doesn't ding, it doesn't bend (that much), it doesn't cave in and form a hole if something is punched into it... it just SHATTERS, ruining the entire thing instead of just slightly damaging a certain area of the phone.

Wtf were they thinking?

Did you buy one already? If so, what were YOU thinking? This information was public well before you had to make your decision. If you don't like it, sell it, and stop acting like a spoiled little child.

If you have yet to buy one, look elsewhere and stop acting like a spoiled little child.

 

[Chupa Chupa]

I knocked my phone from an end table onto the ceramic tile floor and nothing happened. This happened on the 23rd, when I first put it down after activating.

Thanks for that. We need more "close call" folks like you to report in .

 

[S1njin]

At least Apple makes the attempt instead of (no pun intended) phoning it it like most CE companies. Best I can tell most just copy Apple's lead which is why they continuously fail to "kill" the iPod or iPhone. They are all about feature bloat rather than really trying to do something different. I'm not saying everything Apple does is perfect. Obviously it's not. However Steve's ability to walk to the beat of a different drummer is what makes Apple products so desirable. There will be no mile long lines for the Droid X.

As for the glass -- jury is still out. We have heard from people who dropped their phone & it shattered. We don't hear much from people who dropped their phone, no damage, moved on. The glass Apple uses is Gorilla Glass. Many other companies besides Apple use it. If there is a problem w/ the glass I think they are the ones people need to question. It's their product, their claim of strength. I saw them at CES. They were letting people hammer samples to try an break them.

Dropped mine yesterday - I have a Apple Bumper on it. No problems at all. Bounced from the granite counter, to a step stool on the floor, to the floor.

Regardless, as soon as Otterbox releases a commuter case I'm buying it.

 

[TruckdriverSean]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7)

Wtf were they thinking?

Well, here's an idea:

People who carry their current iPhone NAKED, must live in a nice, clean, soft world or must be very, very careful people.

They'll be Ok with a glass iPhone.

-------------

On the other hand, people who carry their smartphones into NON-soft, NON-clean environments or who might be less than "bomb-squad careful" will probably just buy a case, just as they undoubtably did for their last smartphone.

So, they'll be Ok too.

 

[ugahairydawgs]

I'd much rather have a scratched back (easily solved by adding some of that ghost armor stuff) than a shattered phone (not easily prevented by adding some of that ghost armor stuff). The damn case they make for the new phone doesn't even cover up the brittle back. Yet another "WTF WERE THEY THINKING?!"

Just don't drop it and you'll be fine.

 

[eTip]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_0 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8A293 Safari/6531.22.7)

Wtf were they thinking?





Well, here's an idea:




People who carry their current iPhone NAKED, must live in a nice, clean, soft world or must be very, very careful people.





They'll be Ok with a glass phone.





On the other hand, people who carry their phone into NON-soft, NON-clean environments or who might be less than "bomb-squad careful" will probably just buy a case, just as they undoubtably did for their last smartphone.





They'll be Ok too.

Exactly! Prior to the iPhone, I never used a case but then again I never had a phone that I paid $500+ for. Or that had a glass screen. I bought the 2g at launch and always kept it in it's case. Dropped it many times but never cracked the screen.

 

[Basement06]

Had mine accidentally get knocked off the nightstand (this morning) for a 3 foot drop onto a hardwood floor with no issues. Also it fell Saturday about the same distance off the arm of my home theater seat onto the same flooring, again with no damage.

It's proven durable to random accidental falls so far, but I'll definitely be going with at least the bumper on it. I'm pretty careful, but with a 4yr old son and the usual wear and tear of an active lifestyle accidental falls are just going to happen.

 

[JosephBergdoll]

Did you buy one already? If so, what were YOU thinking? This information was public well before you had to make your decision. If you don't like it, sell it, and stop acting like a spoiled little child.

If you have yet to buy one, look elsewhere and stop acting like a spoiled little child.

I have all of my Apple related stuff listed in my signature... is iPhone 4 on there? No... Why would I buy something so flawed? No need to name-call here, buddy.

What I'm getting at is, Apple has to realize that their target audience is humans. Humans are not perfect by nature, and accidents do happen. For the phone to *most likely* break upon that first accident occurring is absolutely ridiculous. It's a phone that you handle everyday, in and out of your pocket, on and off of flat surfaces, etc, something is bound to happen.

*Insert "I have never dropped my phone ever and shame on you if you have" people*

 

[cloudberrybrew]

If you don't like it...

1. Don't buy it.
2. Sell it if you already bought it.
3. Stop your complaining about something that won't change.

+1

 

[BladesOfSteel]

Plastic scratches way too easily, if they used plastic they would have millions of complaints about it getting scratched from keys, coins, anything in your pocket. The Palm Pre has a plastic screen and people get tons of scratches and even gouges into the screen. I much rather be careful with my iPhone (not drop it) and have it not scratched to hell from putting it in my pocket.

Or, the dreaded HAIR LINE CRACKS!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Vertigo50]

At first I was going to make fun of this post, but now I'm starting to come around to his way of thinking.

He's right, they should definitely make the entire phone and the screen out of steel. Sure, it's a hassle that you can't actually see the screen, and you lose all touch screen functionality, but at least you don't have to worry about the screen breaking, and besides, you know it's in there somewhere.