Treating your phone as a tool

[jcorbin]

ive always babied my phone and treated it like a faberge egg. I have insurance and I've never had to use it. My wife conversely has a cheap TPU case and plastic screen protector on her iPhone 5 that she just upgraded and is incredibley hard on her phones. I just don't understand not taking care of something so expensive.

I know there are people in both camps. I was hoping to hear from both sides.

 

[Freakonomics101]

People who tend to pay very little for a phone don't really care about taking care of it. That's at least what I see. For people who spend a lot and insure it tend to be more careful. But there are also people who are just accident prone.

I spent $600 on my 6S+ and mine is also insured. I never drop it on hard surfaces, never crack screens, never drop it in water, etc. I just like having insurance JUST IN CASE something happens. I don't have another $600 to spend on an iPhone.

 

[C5.4]

It's not that I don't take care of my phone, there is just no way my phone could survive very long with how I use it. I am kind of like those people who buy brand new cars and put 200,000 miles on them within 2 years. The phone isn't abused, it's just used more than average in sometimes harsh environments.

The iPhone 7 was probably the first time I bought a phone when I really didn't need one. My 6 Plus was fine besides the mute switch which stopped working. Battery degradation was 'average' according to apple. The space grey color was wearing off pretty badly. I was just tired of having a large phone. It also helps that the iPhone has such good resale value compared to other phones.

 

[jcorbin]

My wife just thinks of the phone as a tool and if it breaks she'll either use one of my old ones or use insurance if we have it. It's not that she doesn't care. It's more that she doesn't put the cerebral cycles towards worrying about a phone. She has too many other things on her mind. Where as I am constantly thinking about every bump or potential bump. Did I hit my phone just then...


And even with the iPhone 7 being IP67 rated I still worry about liquid exposure. There's a nasty storm going on here and every time I run to or from the car I try to cover the pocket that has my phone in it

 

[Brandonjr36]

My wife just thinks of the phone as a tool and if it breaks she'll either use one of my old ones or use insurance if we have it. It's not that she doesn't care. It's more that she doesn't put the cerebral cycles towards worrying about a phone. She has too many other things on her mind. Where as I am constantly thinking about every bump or potential bump. Did I hit my phone just then...


And even with the iPhone 7 being IP67 rated I still worry about liquid exposure. There's a nasty storm going on here and every time I run to or from the car I try to cover the pocket that has my phone in it

Yeah I'm the same way I don't like having a scratched or beat to hell phone, not to mention it makes them not worth much when you go to sell to get a new one.

 

[eyoungren]

ive always babied my phone and treated it like a faberge egg. I have insurance and I've never had to use it. My wife conversely has a cheap TPU case and plastic screen protector on her iPhone 5 that she just upgraded and is incredibley hard on her phones. I just don't understand not taking care of something so expensive.

I know there are people in both camps. I was hoping to hear from both sides.

I protect my devices, but I don't baby them. I also don't use cases.

No cracks, no scratches, no dings or dents. There's only a little nick I discovered yesterday on my iPad Air 2. Wasn't there before my kids got a hold of my iPad last night. Don't like it, but it's not a stresser for me. The iPad is a year old now.

My iPhone 5 has some nicks and scratches in the casing but the screen is perfect.

I don't see my devices as tools or faberge eggs. I see them as pieces of industrial art that perform useful/utilitarian functions. So to me they are beautiful to look at (except my iPhone 6s+) but not so pretty I can't use them for their intended purpose. And if that means they pick up a scratch or two, or a nick here and there I'm not upset by it.

 

[cynics]

I try to take care of everything I own regardless of its price including my phone.

For me it is a tool, but I take care of my tools too (within reason).

That said I don't carry my phone around like it's a time bomb with a hair trigger I just slap a huge case on it (otterbox) so I don't need to worry about it. I have a fairly active lifestyle so caseless is out of the question for me.

 

[Mrbobb]

Well either way I hope you letting your wife be and she let you be. The only time I would buy some kind of insurance if smart phone is used by kids/teens, God knows they think money fall down from trees.

You are an adult, paying for your own $^%&, I am not going to tell you how to go about it.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

My wife just thinks of the phone as a tool and if it breaks she'll either use one of my old ones or use insurance if we have it. It's not that she doesn't care. It's more that she doesn't put the cerebral cycles towards worrying about a phone. She has too many other things on her mind. Where as I am constantly thinking about every bump or potential bump. Did I hit my phone just then...

I like the way the question is posed - 'tool or fabergé egg'? - even if it seems a to over state matters a bit much.

Anyway, while - fairly obviously, I should imagine, most people would fall somewhere between these two extremes - I think I would lean towards your wife's side of that equation.

At the end of the day, it is a phone, a tool, and it has a job to do. While every phone I have ever had - with one singular exception - has had a leather case, I don't baby them. They exist to make my life easier, not the other way around.

 

[marty1980]

I dislike feeling the need to cover the gorgeous devices with ugly, bulky cases. And why must we have cases? Because today's flagship phones aren't made for the typical accidents that happen day-to-day. They are fragile pieces of equipment that break easily even with the latest and greatest manufacturing techniques for the materials used.

I'm conflicted here. I prefer to use my phone without the case. But if I'm out in a crowd, I put my case on just in case something happens. I'd like to suggest that Apple build a more durable phone, but I'm not sure they can provide the same aesthetic feeling and still protect the phone from the most common accidents.

I have friends that buy flagship phones and act like they don't care what happens and want people to feel bad when they keep breaking heir phones. Repeat offenders get no empathy from me. If you have issues with accidents with your phone, you need a case.

 

[x34]

guys.... use it, rock it hard... like HARD... tomorrow it's old tech and no one cares... and you wont either.... so really really use it for what it's made for... USE IT! it's just a thing.

 

[MacTechnics]

This is why I can't own a jet black. Too much babying.

 

[legioxi]

It's a tool and I treat it as such. That isn't to say I don't take care of my tools, just that I bought them to use and not look at. I want longevity and functionality but cosmetics matter little.

 

[kevroc]

It is a tool. Most professionals who own expensive tools take good care of them. I know I do. I want to resell mine for max value when the next one comes out. That way the cost of using mine is lower overall that someone that abuses theirs. That's just good practice in my book.

 

[jcorbin]

I see the guy that sits at the desk behind me put his phone face down on his desk (and not gingerly) and it makes me cringe.

 

[BigMcGuire]

I'm with @Freakonomics101 on this one. Can't count how many times I've seen kids with shattered iphone screens. I baby my phone because I don't have the $ to buy another if it disappeared out of my hands. So, I have AppleCare+ and I put it in a case (even though I don't want to - wish I could be @eyoungren so badly).

Funny, my 6s+ 128GB cost a lot more than my Macbook Air... maybe that's why my Air is nekkid and my phone isn't? lol.

That said, I bought my wife's iPhone and she treats it as well as I do - we both have flawless phones after 2 years - so the "people treat stuff they get for free like crap" doesn't apply to everyone, but sure seems to apply to most imo.

 

[F1Mac]

When I have a 1+K tool in my pocket, I want to take very good care of it. I'll most likely skip next year's iPhone so this 7+ is going to be my phone for at least the next 2 years. All my iPhones have been as good as new even after several years...that is until my daughter inherits them of course - you can bet the screen has a near-death experience as soon as her hands are orbiting the phone

 

[OneMike]

I'm sort of between the two. I baby my children, my actual children. For my phones, at the end of the day it's a device.

I'm not wasteful or careless. I just feel if you have to be overly protective with a phone it's either not of great quality or you don't really need it.

While I rarely ever dropped any iPhone I owned going back to the first and after a year they typically could pass for mint or very close. I don't believe in keeping them in a huge case 24/7, only sitting them down on a velvet cloth and disallowing my kids or anybody from using it.

There are extremes on both ends of the spectrum.

If I'm on vacation or something where we are out and about. The phone is probably in a life proof nuud. If I'm at the gym it's in a thin cheap tpu. If I'm at work or doing normal stuff it is not in a case.

 

[acctman]

regardless of the price it's just another phone / gadget to me. if it breaks i'll just get another one... the cost is about the avg price for a decent gadget for me. it can not be compared to a car which is a huge invest and not taking care of a car can be costly in the long run with maintenance.

 

[zorinlynx]

I like using a case on my phone simply because I can worry about it less. I don't really abuse my phone, but **** happens. The case is a nice psychological "I don't have to baby my phone" advantage.

Another factor is that I have a ceramic tile floor throughout my house (this is common in Miami) and thus dropping my phone anywhere at home would be more destructive to it than a hardwood floor or carpet. The most common way I drop my phone is falling asleep with it and then pushing it out of bed in my sleep onto the tile floor; having a case has saved my phones several times over the years.

 

[jcorbin]

This is kind of how I'm trying to approach it. I have insurance for catastrophic event.

regardless of the price it's just another phone / gadget to me. if it breaks i'll just get another one... the cost is about the avg price for a decent gadget for me. it can not be compared to a car which is a huge invest and not taking care of a car can be costly in the long run with maintenance.

 

[eyoungren]

I'm with @Freakonomics101 on this one. Can't count how many times I've seen kids with shattered iphone screens. I baby my phone because I don't have the $ to buy another if it disappeared out of my hands. So, I have AppleCare+ and I put it in a case (even though I don't want to - wish I could be @eyoungren so badly).

Funny, my 6s+ 128GB cost a lot more than my Macbook Air... maybe that's why my Air is nekkid and my phone isn't? lol.

That said, I bought my wife's iPhone and she treats it as well as I do - we both have flawless phones after 2 years - so the "people treat stuff they get for free like crap" doesn't apply to everyone, but sure seems to apply to most imo.

I've dropped my phone(s) more than once. Fortunately, the majority of the time it's been only from a small height on carpet.

That said, it's all about handling. It becomes second nature to cradle your phone protectively when it's in your hands and to seek out a safe place to set it down when you need to put it down. It's a learned behavior that you don't develop overmuch when there's a case on it.

But, some people are indeed, accident prone. My problem is one person I work with who is accident prone. And it's usually my stuff she breaks. Woman can trip on flat ground!

 

[sekazi]

I have never purchased insurance for my iPhones. I quit using screen protectors after getting the 4. I used the bumper case for the 4, no case for the 5 and the leather case for my 6 and now 7 plus.

I have never broken or scratched a screen on an iPhone. My iPhones look great after the 2 years with the exception of the 4 because the bumper case scuffed the sides. I dropped my 5 only once on pavement but did not break and only left a small scratch from a height of about 3 ft. My 6 was dropped once again on pavement and no damage at all.

So for the 7+ I decided to go Jet Black. Contemplating on getting Applecare but I have never needed a phone fixed before with the exception of the 5 which was covered under warranty due to a bad home button.

 

[Arcade]

When I got my iPhone 6 I made sure that I got a good case for it. I dropped it a few times and there's no scratches on it. I don't baby it but I treat it with care I don't have insurance on it I finished paying for it last month.

 

[jcorbin]

Just found a relatively deep scratch on my screen. Le sigh