39 ms·

Seriously, just allow the battery to eject on impact. The problem was solved; then apple made the problem again by having a non-removable battery.

arrrg 14y ago
What’s the battery got to do with it?
- justincormack 14y ago
  The battery flying out absorbs most of the impact shock. Try it it works well.
  - nevi-me 14y ago
    Have to agree with this. I have a Huawei from back in 2010, each time it falls it just falls apart. It's got a lot of scratches, but screen hasn't cracked. The worst fall was onto tarred road. I actually never thought that the reason why it just disassembles so easily when it falls would be the same reason why I still have a functional phone 2 years later
    - StavrosK 14y ago
      My Galaxy Nexus has fallen around 10 times now, it doesn't even have scratches. It does fly apart every time, though.
- jessaustin 14y ago
  The battery historically was the most massive component. Letting it pop out of the chassis dissipated a great deal of the impact force, so the more delicate components were somewhat protected from the shock.
- Sharlin 14y ago
  Designing an object to predictably disassemble into multiple parts helps soak up the impact energy. The fact that many cell phones used to break up when dropped was not accidental, it was a deliberate engineering decision.
  - jessaustin 14y ago
    Well there seems to be a consensus.
  - nchlswu 14y ago
    as opposed to the convenience and accessibility of phones with conventional removable parts? I don't deny that soaking up impact energy is an outcome, but I'm doubtful it was a deliberate engineering decision for purposes of impact survival
    - jychang 14y ago
      I have 3 generations of flip phones, from a old nokia to a Sony Ericsson w580i. They all eject their battery upon impact. Considering it wouldn't be difficult at all for the battery cover be more tight, or have something that clips on, it's probably accurate to describe it as an engineering decision.
    - gcr 14y ago
      Why not both? Maybe the engineers said "Oh cool, what a nifty side effect, this further validates our decision"
      - nchlswu 14y ago
        that's what I was trying to get at. I think it was a neat side effect. I just don't necessarily subscribe to the idea that it was a priori goal or priority when these phones were being designed designed.
deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
gk1 14y ago
Wow, I never realized this... So interesting! I remember tossing my Nokia 3310 to a friend, and I completely overshot him. It hit a cement wall and just blew apart (disassembled) into several parts. After I pieced it back together I couldn't believe that it still worked. Try that with an iPhone...
- zalew 14y ago
  3310 were amazingly durable, I remember them surviving the worst abuse, like throwing across the room or from the 1st floor. then they released a marketed as shock-dust-water-proof 5510 (? or sth like that) which I promptly bought and it got broken the first time it slipped out of my jumper hitting the wall.
- doktrin 14y ago
  I had the same experience multiple with my Blackberry curve, back in the day. Using a conservative estimate, it survived over 30 break-apart falls. Granted, I was exceptionally cavalier with it since it was even at that time (2009) a relatively old piece of hardware the company just couldn't wait to get rid of. I would literally play catch with it, toss it around and spin it on my desk like a top. Every time it shattered, I would re-assemble it like humpty dumpty and it would boot without issue. That thing was indestructible.
- xmpir 14y ago
  i used 3310 as a bottle opener
- speeder 14y ago
  I had a Nokia phone that had a flip, forgot the model name. Once I dropped it from 4 stories high in a shopping center, parts flew everywhere, even parts that were supposed to be glued got unglued and flew. But the flip got no damage, neither the screen... I went around picking the parts and assembling the phone again, interestingly one glued part was seemly hold in place only by the glue, but I noticed that if I twisted it only slighly, it would fit in place, and stay put, with the tension holding it in place without looking ugly, just awesome engineering. After I assembled it entirely again, it worked fine, like if nothing happened, the only thing that could hint the accident was that any minor impact now made it fall apart again (because the formely glued parts now being held in place by tension).
Too 14y ago
Or make a device where the glass front doesn't go all the way out to the edge. Just a few millimeters of plastic, so you don't touch glass first, would absorb the worst of energy already. The sheer weight of the iphone4 is probably a big factor also. I really don't know what apple engineers were thinking. Hmm let's make a phone harder and more solid than a wrench....because the most common way that phones are destroyed are by the users accidentally crushing them with their bare hands while they are holding them! I've dropped my htc, with fixed battery, several times into the ground from pocket height and the screen is unharmed, it's not something i would do comfortably like you could with an old school phone but it still feels more reliable than an iphone because it's lightweight and its landing-gear isn't made of glass. Iphone3 didn't have these issues either to the same extent, for these reasons.
- huxley 14y ago
  Often it's just pure chance, one drop looks like a killer and you get nothing but scuff marks, other times it looks like a minor drop and your phone shatters. Here's an Android Authority video of the iPhone 5 and SGIII getting dropped from several distances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M5q5TRuAsY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M5q5TRuAsY Is it a definitive test proving an iPhone is indestructible ? HECK NO ... but it does show that a densely designed phone can survive a variety of falls.

arrrg 14y ago

What’s the battery got to do with it?

justincormack 14y ago
The battery flying out absorbs most of the impact shock. Try it it works well.
- nevi-me 14y ago
  Have to agree with this. I have a Huawei from back in 2010, each time it falls it just falls apart. It's got a lot of scratches, but screen hasn't cracked. The worst fall was onto tarred road. I actually never thought that the reason why it just disassembles so easily when it falls would be the same reason why I still have a functional phone 2 years later
  - StavrosK 14y ago
    My Galaxy Nexus has fallen around 10 times now, it doesn't even have scratches. It does fly apart every time, though.
jessaustin 14y ago
The battery historically was the most massive component. Letting it pop out of the chassis dissipated a great deal of the impact force, so the more delicate components were somewhat protected from the shock.
Sharlin 14y ago
Designing an object to predictably disassemble into multiple parts helps soak up the impact energy. The fact that many cell phones used to break up when dropped was not accidental, it was a deliberate engineering decision.
- jessaustin 14y ago
  Well there seems to be a consensus.
- nchlswu 14y ago
  as opposed to the convenience and accessibility of phones with conventional removable parts? I don't deny that soaking up impact energy is an outcome, but I'm doubtful it was a deliberate engineering decision for purposes of impact survival
  - jychang 14y ago
    I have 3 generations of flip phones, from a old nokia to a Sony Ericsson w580i. They all eject their battery upon impact. Considering it wouldn't be difficult at all for the battery cover be more tight, or have something that clips on, it's probably accurate to describe it as an engineering decision.
  - gcr 14y ago
    Why not both? Maybe the engineers said "Oh cool, what a nifty side effect, this further validates our decision"
    - nchlswu 14y ago
      that's what I was trying to get at. I think it was a neat side effect. I just don't necessarily subscribe to the idea that it was a priori goal or priority when these phones were being designed designed.

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

gk1 14y ago

Wow, I never realized this... So interesting! I remember tossing my Nokia 3310 to a friend, and I completely overshot him. It hit a cement wall and just blew apart (disassembled) into several parts. After I pieced it back together I couldn't believe that it still worked. Try that with an iPhone...

zalew 14y ago
3310 were amazingly durable, I remember them surviving the worst abuse, like throwing across the room or from the 1st floor. then they released a marketed as shock-dust-water-proof 5510 (? or sth like that) which I promptly bought and it got broken the first time it slipped out of my jumper hitting the wall.
doktrin 14y ago
I had the same experience multiple with my Blackberry curve, back in the day. Using a conservative estimate, it survived over 30 break-apart falls. Granted, I was exceptionally cavalier with it since it was even at that time (2009) a relatively old piece of hardware the company just couldn't wait to get rid of. I would literally play catch with it, toss it around and spin it on my desk like a top. Every time it shattered, I would re-assemble it like humpty dumpty and it would boot without issue. That thing was indestructible.
xmpir 14y ago
i used 3310 as a bottle opener
speeder 14y ago
I had a Nokia phone that had a flip, forgot the model name. Once I dropped it from 4 stories high in a shopping center, parts flew everywhere, even parts that were supposed to be glued got unglued and flew. But the flip got no damage, neither the screen... I went around picking the parts and assembling the phone again, interestingly one glued part was seemly hold in place only by the glue, but I noticed that if I twisted it only slighly, it would fit in place, and stay put, with the tension holding it in place without looking ugly, just awesome engineering. After I assembled it entirely again, it worked fine, like if nothing happened, the only thing that could hint the accident was that any minor impact now made it fall apart again (because the formely glued parts now being held in place by tension).

Too 14y ago

Or make a device where the glass front doesn't go all the way out to the edge. Just a few millimeters of plastic, so you don't touch glass first, would absorb the worst of energy already. The sheer weight of the iphone4 is probably a big factor also. I really don't know what apple engineers were thinking. Hmm let's make a phone harder and more solid than a wrench....because the most common way that phones are destroyed are by the users accidentally crushing them with their bare hands while they are holding them! I've dropped my htc, with fixed battery, several times into the ground from pocket height and the screen is unharmed, it's not something i would do comfortably like you could with an old school phone but it still feels more reliable than an iphone because it's lightweight and its landing-gear isn't made of glass. Iphone3 didn't have these issues either to the same extent, for these reasons.

huxley 14y ago
Often it's just pure chance, one drop looks like a killer and you get nothing but scuff marks, other times it looks like a minor drop and your phone shatters. Here's an Android Authority video of the iPhone 5 and SGIII getting dropped from several distances: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M5q5TRuAsY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6M5q5TRuAsY Is it a definitive test proving an iPhone is indestructible ? HECK NO ... but it does show that a densely designed phone can survive a variety of falls.