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Give people an iPhone 4S, tell them it's an iPhone 5

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Re: Give people an iPhone 4S, tell them it's an iPhone 5

#251

Post by samstave »

ajays wrote: post #250
samstave wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm on my lifetime 16th iPhone. (between all the versions) - my current 4S is the longest ive had one without dropping it and it breaking. I've always hated cases, and this is one of the reasons I have broken so many. Personally though, the thing I really hate is the iPhones lack of a notch to attach a lanyard without a case. I've even email Jonathan Ive about this directly, though he's not cool like Steve and actual…

And I still have mine from 3 years ago (a 3GS). I have never used a case; carry it around everywhere; and have never broken it. 16? Really? Then you must really, REALLY love the iPhone. At what point does one say 'enough is enough' and switch to some other phone?

First, iCrakced (YC alum) and iFixit are profitable for a reason... Its nice to hear you took care of your device - but its clear it is an overly fragile design.

Also, no it isn't that I REALLY like the iPhone - I have had other devices - but I have chosen to have a policy of NOT paying for my phone.

My work pays for my phone and plan. I don't have a choice on the phone in some cases. (some companies refuse android devices due to perceived security risks, RIM is dead..)

Re: Give people an iPhone 4S, tell them it's an iPhone 5

#252

Post by muyuu »

rdtsc wrote: post #225
Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not about preserving it in mint condition, it's about preserving it in usable condition. I can't speak for others but my case has saved my phone from a smashed screen on several occasions. EDIT: Should possibly also add that I have small children (1 and 3 - that's their ages rather than their names) who use it and I'm damned if I'm giving it to them without a case on...

> It's not about preserving it in mint condition, it's about preserving it in usable condition. And for me that means not bothering with an expensive smartphone. I had a phone like that, sat on it and broke its screen. It was hundreds of dollars down the drain. I don't want to have to worry about a stupid phone or not putting it in the right pocket, or it getting wet, I got other things on my mind usually. So I just…

You can buy a midrange smartphone for quite cheap. I got an Xperia Arc S last year for 180 pounds on PAYG, no contract. Since I'm going to void the warranty by rooting it and putting a clean ROM in it, I'd rather not have a top-line expensive phone with whatever crap it comes with (basically they all do, except maybe the Nexus flagship phones).

I use that and an older Blackberry Curve 3G which is a total workhorse and lasts forever on its battery. Surely the Android, not even being a last gen phone, trounces the Blackberry on every department esp. on the screen department. But it barely makes it to the end of the day without a recharge.

I'm not filthy rich but I can manage to sleep at night if something goes wrong and I lose a hundred or two. Never bought more than 1 cheapish phone a year, so it's not going to destroy my finances.

Neither of my phones are toys by the way, they allow me to get a lot more done and they also keep me entertained/informed when there's nothing else to do.

Re: Give people an iPhone 4S, tell them it's an iPhone 5

#253

Post by rdtsc »

muyuu wrote: post #252
rdtsc wrote: post #225

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's not about preserving it in mint condition, it's about preserving it in usable condition. And for me that means not bothering with an expensive smartphone. I had a phone like that, sat on it and broke its screen. It was hundreds of dollars down the drain. I don't want to have to worry about a stupid phone or not putting it in the right pocket, or it getting wet, I got other things on my mind usually. So I just…

You can buy a midrange smartphone for quite cheap. I got an Xperia Arc S last year for 180 pounds on PAYG, no contract. Since I'm going to void the warranty by rooting it and putting a clean ROM in it, I'd rather not have a top-line expensive phone with whatever crap it comes with (basically they all do, except maybe the Nexus flagship phones). I use that and an older Blackberry Curve 3G which is a total workhorse an…

> they allow me to get a lot more done and they also keep me entertained/informed when there's nothing else to do.

That makes sense for you then.

I've heard people make snide remarks at me when I am out and need to find the nearest restaurant "why don't you get a smart phone, it would be so much easier". They are basically advocating paying hundreds more for a phone, and then, $40 for a data plan every month, so that 2 or 3 times a year I can find directions when I am lost.

Re: Give people an iPhone 4S, tell them it's an iPhone 5

#254

Post by KiwiNige »

8ig8 wrote: post #244
ollysb wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never understand why people use cases. What's the point in preserving something in mint condition if you never see it without the case?

Jerry Seinfeld agrees: http://comediansincarsgettingcoffee.com/joel-hodgson-a-taste... And so do I. I hate cases. If the phone needs a case then it wasn't properly designed. Cases diminish the value of the product. It's a risk, but having a phone that slides in and out of my pocket is so worth the risk of smashing the glass.

>If the phone needs a case then it wasn't properly designed

I agree, but the iPhone 4 has no edges to hang onto. Maybe I'm clumsy but I think they are too slippery hence I put it in a case so I can get it in and out of my pocket with out dropping it.

Re: Give people an iPhone 4S, tell them it's an iPhone 5

#255

Post by freehunter »

NathanKP wrote: post #178
freehunter wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Makes me miss the old days. I dropped my iPod Mini while jogging and it skittered across the pavement and got run over by a car. There was a slight nick on the aluminum casing, but that was it. More recently, my Zune 120 fell out of my pocket onto concrete while I was on my roof (second floor). Works like a charm. I'd be willing to deal with a phone that's an inch thick but can stand up to a fall without a case.

You must have got really lucky about how the car ran over the iPod, because I have seen a couple iPod's get run over by cars and in all cases where the tire went directly over the body of the iPod the device was essentially compacted flat by about 25% with the screen fractured and crushed down into the body and the electronics and the backing of the iPod had indentations of the street pavement texture. Needless to sa…

Are we talking iPod, or iPod Mini? The structural integrity of the iPod Mini comes from being milled from a single block of brushed metal. The regular iPods of the day were at least two pieces of metal (or metal and plastic). I believe the back of the iPod was even just a thin sheet of aluminum as opposed to the relatively thick unibody iPod Mini. These regular iPods would be trivial to crush. The iPod Mini was a fantastic bit of engineering. I wish Apple had gone with that design for the iPhone. Instead, the iPod Mini look has been turned into phone design by Nokia.

Re: Give people an iPhone 4S, tell them it's an iPhone 5

#256

Post by freehunter »

tesseractive wrote: post #176
freehunter wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Makes me miss the old days. I dropped my iPod Mini while jogging and it skittered across the pavement and got run over by a car. There was a slight nick on the aluminum casing, but that was it. More recently, my Zune 120 fell out of my pocket onto concrete while I was on my roof (second floor). Works like a charm. I'd be willing to deal with a phone that's an inch thick but can stand up to a fall without a case.

It's easy to find phones that will be extremely rugged and less than an inch thick with the addition of a case -- that would be almost any of them, really. What difference does it make that some of that inch is a case? I have a leather book-style cover on my Nexus 7 and it's still well under an inch thick.

Now, when I say rugged, I mean throw it across the room and run it over with a truck. I don't mean "drop it from pocket height". A case protects against a light bump, a rugged design can be used as an impromptu jack stand when your car gets a flat.

Re: Give people an iPhone 4S, tell them it's an iPhone 5

#257

Post by alexscheelmeyer »

samstave wrote: post #251
ajays wrote: post #250

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And I still have mine from 3 years ago (a 3GS). I have never used a case; carry it around everywhere; and have never broken it. 16? Really? Then you must really, REALLY love the iPhone. At what point does one say 'enough is enough' and switch to some other phone?

First, iCrakced (YC alum) and iFixit are profitable for a reason... Its nice to hear you took care of your device - but its clear it is an overly fragile design. Also, no it isn't that I REALLY like the iPhone - I have had other devices - but I have chosen to have a policy of NOT paying for my phone. My work pays for my phone and plan. I don't have a choice on the phone in some cases. (some companies refuse android d…

"I have chosen to have a policy of NOT paying for my phone".

Suddenly it is all clear why you have gone through 16 phones.

Re: Give people an iPhone 4S, tell them it's an iPhone 5

#258

Post by hessenwolf »

Evbn wrote: post #242
mikebracco wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Placing a case on a phone is like putting a plastic cover over your couch. I don't get it personally. Use and enjoy the disposable hardware and then get a new one a year or two later.

Time to failure is a poisson distribution, not a step distribution.

Time to failure is an exponential distribution, whereas number of failures in a given time frame is a Poisson distribution, if and only if the hazard rate is constant, which it typically is not, due to wearing of certain components. It's usually a bathtub curve.

(your friendly ex-statistics lecture adding some precision)

Re: Give people an iPhone 4S, tell them it's an iPhone 5

#259

Post by Someone »

mojowo11 wrote: post #194
unreal37 wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're asking for proof that a device that is made of solid glass and metal is more fragile when dropped than the same device surrounded by rubber, plastic, leather or another soft material? I know it won't protect the device in every situation, but the $10 case protects the device in some situations (maybe only 10% or 20% of drops), so it has a very high ROI. I once dropped my unprotected iPad from a height of ab…

> So you're asking for proof that a device that is made of solid glass and metal is more fragile when dropped than the same device surrounded by rubber, plastic, leather or another soft material? That is distinctly not what I'm asking for. I specifically said "I don't doubt that cases reinforce phones" to address this. What I'm saying is that at any point no person could possible know whether their case has just save…

Another argument in that direction: I think that, all else being equal, bulkier phones get dropped more from pockets. For example, if my iPod Touch were half a centimeter taller, wider and deeper, it might not be possible to put it in a trouser pocket horizontally. Hence, it might not even be possible to put it deep inside the pocket when I am seated. Both make it easier to fall out of my pocket.

Re: Give people an iPhone 4S, tell them it's an iPhone 5

#260

Post by toyg »

ollysb wrote: post #3
raldi wrote: post #2

It seems like the people who say the "new" one is thinner, lighter, more elegant, etc, all have cases on their phones. So in essence, the case sets your phone back a generation or two.

I never understand why people use cases. What's the point in preserving something in mint condition if you never see it without the case?

Some people just like to make their devices a little bit more personal. My case has a picture of my kids; it obviously pleases my eyes, and people love it -- conversation starter etc etc.
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