[Izkata]

I have an alternate theory, based on something the comments over there reminded me of:

Back in the mini-usb era, most of my family bought Razr phones. All of them broke in various ways in under a year (one actually snapped in half), because they weren't very careful about handling the phones. Nowadays, new phones last several years and are usually upgraded instead of needing replacement after breaking.

For most of my family, those phones were the first small electronics they had that they kept on them. But my dad had a Blackberry before that, and I had a GBA - we never had issues breaking our "fragile" phones.

I think mini-usb was deemed fragile compared to micro-usb because a significantly larger proportion of the population didn't know how to handle them, and the manufacturers/etc identified the wrong problem.

[closetohome]

> But my dad had a Blackberry before that, and I had a GBA - we never had issues breaking our "fragile" phones.

I think this is a really interesting point. I see so many people complain about "fragile" smartphones, and whose phones always seem to have a cracked screen.

Really it just comes down to taking care of your things, and treating expensive electronics like expensive electronics.

[zaat]

Most expensive electronics are actually much more durable than smartphones, and you usually not taking them with you wherever you go. I can handle ceramics and crystal glasses just fine, but I don't take them with me when I go hiking.

[closetohome]

I honestly can't think of any complex electronics I own that are more durable than my iPhone. Nothing else is waterproof, for starters. And the phone has survived some pretty gnarly drops and falls.

[zaat]

My Lenovo X1 yoga is way more durable than my phone. My kindle reader is too. The multimedia head unit in my car is rock solid compared to my phone. My keyboard, desktop PC, printer and scanner and screen are all more durable than my phone.

perhaps many of those are less water resistant than the phone, but the most common failure point I see in smartphones is their screen glass, and the second is the stupid glass in the back, where applicable.

Not long ago I consulted restaurant reviews in front of a restaurant on my then new phone. Country side, Italy. A big insect landed on my hand and instinctively I dropped the phone on the pavement. The degree of damage that incident left on the device is way beyond what is acceptable for common usage of any other commonly used object. Even my sunglasses are more durable.

[fwip]

Your desktop and monitor would better survive being dropped on the pavement than your phone?

[zaat]

Perhaps, but even if not, they are very unlikely to hit the pavement. The gp argument was that people don't know how to care for expensive electronic devices and that's why they brake their phones.

My argument is that most people can handle other expensive electronic devices just fine, it's just that smartphones are not durable enough for their intended use.

[ekianjo]

he never mentioned a desktop. Shifting goalposts?

[megaremote]

> My Lenovo X1 yoga is way more durable than my phone. My kindle reader is too.

Neither of them are water proof, so how does that work?

[dragonsky]

You are not prone to drop either a notebook or a kindle reader in the toilet.... Maybe just how the things are carried leads to a greater level of exposure to a dunking.

[nicoburns]

The latest kindle is actually waterproof.

[ekianjo]

The most likely problem is surviving a fall. Water damage is the least of your worries.

[saagarjha]

Note that iPhone is water resistant, not waterproof.

[robbiep]

Yes. Found this out the hard way, which was rather stupid of me. Funnily enough it was because someone else ‘demonstrated’ waterproof by throwing me their phone when I was in a pool, and taking underwater photos with it. Then I was amazed and did the same. <1m water, <5 mins... guess my seals weren’t as good as theirs. Thank god for AppleCare

[code_duck]

The Samsung Galaxy series has a higher water resistance rating than iPhones. SP 68 vs 67.

[fwip]

> I own