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Comment by JVIDEL | Hacker News Reader

Isn't it funny how people scoff at ruggedized phones for being "ugly" but then go and slap all kinds of chintzy cases and screen protectors to their fragile phones, making them much uglier than the rugged variant and just barely more resistant to damage than without all that crap?

Mind I have never broken a phone, and I take good care of all the units I have had, only replacing them due to obsolescence.

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I hate the OtterBox cases and whatnot with a passion, but I'm pretty impressed with the casemate case [1] for my 3gs. Two years later and the back is still shiny; many drops and not a crack. Best of all, it doesn't make the phone any bulkier or affect its profile.

[1] http://www.case-mate.com/iPhone-3G-Cases/Case-Mate-iPhone-3G...

I am on my 15th iPhone since it originally launched. I dont like cases and screen protectors. (they make it hard to pull from my pocket)

I HATE how fragile they are -- I have replaced many a screen and cracked glass on these things.

But one of the many design flaws that irk me about the iphone is no lanyard attachment hole on the freaking thing.

It should have come with a lanyard and a hole to attach it to.

Had apple done this from day one - I bet the number of broken phones would have been greatly reduced.

I don't deny that cracked screens appear to a problem, but surely you agree that going through 15 iPhones makes your case a bit of an outlier?

Considering most of those phones all broke and cracked on the very first drop, I'd say not really.

I have dropped my 15th unit, my current iPhone 4 one time so far on the sidewalk of SF -- it landed on its corner and has a dent and a scratch. I feel lucky that I have only dropped it once in 8 months.

The things are fragile. There is no denying that. With the iPhone 4 introduced with now 100% MORE glass to break! (the rear panel) I think its actually irresponsible of apple to not put a lanyard hole on the damn thing.

I dropped my iPhone 4 the day after I got it, at 25 mph from a bicycle, on an industrial concrete road, and the phone survived without a scratch. I got the Apple bumper the next day.

I have two kids, 10 and 7. Can't tell you how many times that phone has been dropped since. A lot. I took it mountain biking one too many times, took one too many jumps, shattered the front glass. Apple immediately replaced it for free despite being a month out of warranty, but it was still a 3 hour ordeal since the store I went to didn't have my model in stock, so I had to go to another store. Considering my take home is around $75 an hour, Unless you're rich and have a lot of time to deal with the hassle (a rare combination), I think your vanity is getting in the way of good sense, thus I question your judgement.

How'd you do with the 3GS? I've had mine for 2.5 years, dropped it about 8 times, still fine with it, never replaced a part.

With respect, I think a greater part of the problem is mistreating your stuff. One, two, even three broken phones I can see. Fifteen indicates a problem with the user.

My iPhone 4 fell out of a pocket as I was getting out of my car and cracked the back glass, which was a cool $70 out of my pocket. I got a replacement back and it's fine again, but I made goddam sure not to drop it again.

15th Phone?! That's three phones a year since launch.

Please tell me you haven't been buying phones because they broke? If so, I think this a great testament to brand loyalty that Apple are masters at.

I don't think I've had 15 phones in my life, and I have had at least one phone at any point in time for the last 13 odd years.

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