Yeah, it's not so much being irresponsible as it is being a human being.....Nobody is running around chucking their phones out windows or doing anything purposeful. They're fracking sliding off tables onto linoleum and leaving spider-web cracks all over the glass. That's not being irresponsible. Have you ever broken a dish? Or tripped over something? Or forgotten your mom's birthday? We're all human..... But the fact that people can drop their previous 3 iPhones and they survive well in most cases and people with brand new iPhones are dropping them once and they are breaking is kind of a problem for a PORTABLE device.....Portable means we bring it out with us to do the things in the real world that we want to do. That's what all those apps are for. What is even worse is that people with cases are even having problems.
Like I said in another post, my wife works with autistic children in the surrounding 25 counties......
The thing is, while many people might not have a job as crazy as my wife's, lots of people have lives that they live, and they shouldn't have to worry that one little accident will set them back a few hundred dollars in repair charges. One little bump shouldn't be an instant death.....The iPhone 4's glass isn't really protected on the sides, and that leaves it wide open to shattering. You'd think that making some improvements there would help things a lot.
Well this is where you and I split.... IF you have a $700 item that is made of glass and you drop it, put it in your pocket then try and move a piano, push it off a table/counter, put it in an un-secure pocket, step on it, run it over with a truck ect ect you are being irresponsible with it. IF you use the phone as it was intended and designed YOU WILL NOT BREAK IT. Now, as I have said over and over and over again, I know accidents happen but just because they do, doesn't mean the person is being responsible with their phone, iPhone or other wise. I bring my iPhone out into the world, I use it every day. I pull it out of my pocket 100+ times a day. I put it on my desk, table, counter, car seat, many times a day. I accidentally dropped it onto a tile floor (because I wasn't paying attention aka not being responsible) and dented the ss bezel but didn't break the glass.... I was lucky.
My son is on the spectrum so I salute your wife, thank her for her dedication and hard work.
People don't have to worry about breaking their iPhone... if they are in a situation where the phone may get abused because of every day life, maybe an iPhone isn't the best device for them. (sounds like your wife is a smart cookie for knowing this, to bad lots of others aren't) IF they decide to get an iPhone, THEY have decided that the fact it could break after the first fall (which can happen to ANY phone) is not as important as owning the phone. The design is what it is. People know the edges are exposed yet still buy the phone. I don't understand why it's so hard for people to grasp the concept that expensive electronic devices, phone or other wise, may break if you "abuse" them. (abuse meaning treat it in a way it wasn't designed to be treated aka dropping ect.)
Bottom line, if you (population of the world) buy an iPhone 4 which is made of metal and glass and you drop it, it might break on the first drop period, end of story. IF you want to take the chance then put it in an otter box or other tough case or don't buy the phone. Either way, you take a chance when you walk around with $700 worth of electronics in your hand.