I pulled into the carport (a protected area with only a roof) at my mother’s house late one Sunday night last year, tired after a long difficult day. While driving, I had used my iPhone to talk to my brother who had left early that morning to drive home, almost 500 miles (about 800 km) away. After I stopped, I picked up my phone – leaving the earbuds (small headphone worn in the ear) in my ears – and opened the car door. As I got out, the earbud cord caught on the door and jerked (suddenly pulled) the phone out of my hand.
I remember thinking, “This is not going to be good,” as my iPhone flew several feet and fell to the concrete (hard material sometimes called cement).
I walked to where my iPhone had fallen, picked it up, turned it over, and had my fears confirmed (to show that something is true). The face (front) of my phone had shattered (broken into many pieces). Several long cracks (thin lines) divided the glass face into large triangles and, in the corner the phone had landed on, several small pieces of glass had already fallen out. My phone still worked, but that was the only good news.
I’m sure that many people have had accidents with their smartphones. Where do you think most of these accidents happen? In the car? In the house? And, if in the house, in which room? Who’s responsible for the accident? The owner? Or someone else?
The web site Squaretrade just released (published) the results of a survey about fatal (having a very bad effect) iPhone accidents. For this post, I’m going to assume that owners of other smart phones have had similar experiences.
The main finding (result or discovery) of the survey is that about 70% of accidents are caused by the owner. And about 50% of them happen inside, at home.
The most dangerous rooms for phones are the kitchen (21% of accidents), living room (18%), bathroom (16%), driveway (10%) and bedroom (8%). I’m a member of the driveway group.
Spilled liquids are responsible for much, perhaps most, of the damage to phones. Water (43%) is the greatest culprit (cause). Together, soda (19%), beer (12%), and coffee or tea (12%) account for (are responsible for) another 43%.
About 5% of phones met their fate (have something bad happen) when their owners put them in the washing machine, 9% when their owners dropped them into the toilet, and 6% when their owners put them on top of their car and drove off.
Fortunately, my story has a happy ending. Several months after my accident, I took my iPhone to an Apple Store to see if it could be fixed. The woman at the customer service counter (place where you pay or are served) told me it couldn’t, but that she could give me a new one. I’m not sure why she decided to do that, but, as you can imagine, I was delighted to walk out of the store with a new phone!
Have you had a serious accident with your smartphone? What happened? Was it fatal?
~ Warren Ediger – creator of Successful English.
Photo courtesy of TedsBlog used under Creative Commons license.
Hello Jeff. Well, actually it has happened to me once . If my memory doesn’t play trick on me it was 2 years ago. While i was crossing the road i talked to my friend on the phone and there were a good few people who were trying to cross the road as well.As red light flashed people strated moving towards to an another part of street . i was among them. There were so many people that everone was pushing one another to make the way to pass. Well, i don’t remember who pushed me and my cellphone slipped out of my hand and fell down . Once it fell down ,one guy stepped on it and phone scattered.,but i remember that guy’s face ! Anyway , since then i have been asking my dad to but me a new ipone ,but there is any use in it !
Well ,dear Waren seems like the mishap turned a fortunate turn for you in the end.
If I know for sure that if I wreck my iPhone I will get a new one. I won’t hesitate to smash it,or bang it against sth.
Perhaps the woman had a thing for u:)))))) (joking )
Well,my man accidents happen. Don’t beat yourself.
I know how it feels to loose an iPhone.
you know , it is one pricy gadget . Besides , it is addictive . By that I mean once you have a set of iPhone you can’t simply put it down and go for some other phone set.
You know , I can’t point my finger on anything , but there is sth about it.
U get clingy. You know what i mean
I ,myself , am a long iPhone user.
In fact ,i got my first iPhone the first day of its launch into market cebturury ago:))
I got it from U.S.
I remember , I was totally ecstatic,another words, psyched about it
Lucky me ,I haven’t been a victim of such Sad accidents-related iPhone.
Not yet my friend ! Not yet!!
But,don’t eat your heart out.
I m as clumsy as one can get. Providing that,who is to say how much longer is gonna be before I found myself in the red list:)))
It would be anytime soon. Mark my word. :))
There is one more thing.
You know ,all the possibilities of that happening that you lined up on your post are probable.I mean they sound logical and sensible except for one.
Tell me how on earth one can put their iPhone into the washing machine.
You know , an iPhone set is comparatively bulky and heavy.
I mean , how could one leave it in their pant’s pocket. I mean , talk about being absent-minded!!
You can feel the weight of iPhone in a piece of garment.
In all seriousness , I don’t how ,but IPone is accident prone. I myself dropped it countless times . But ,everytime it happened I broke the fall with my leg. So it losses the momentum and lands on the ground gently. Hurting a leg is the smallest Price you pay to save your iPhone:)))
Yours,
The klutz:))
Hi, Warren!
Hey, do you know that driving while talking on a cell phone is dangerous?) It’s even forbidden legally in some countries (unless you are using hand-free device)… So, you show us very bad example, moreover children could read this post!))))
Ok, I’m just teasing you!))) No offense! And thanks for the post)
BTW: Wireless headphones could prevent such issues with flying phones =)
Dear Waren,
Thanks for this informative post.
I assume that similar accident may happen to other people’s phone. when you have a cell phone it is a given that you drop it or leave it somewhere, unfortunately.
a similar mishap happened for my phone last year that ended sadly. at the time i had one this 2100 NOKIA cell phone, and it wasn’t smart at all. You see, the electric supply was cut, and all of a sudden the room became dark. I was thinking to make light with my phone. so, I started to look for my cell, when suddenly i heard a crushing noise under my foot. when finally lights were turned on, i noticed that i had crushed my cell. after i cleaned it i found that it was dead.
to your success,
sorry friends,
I had a similar mishap with my phone……
Hi, Warren,
Thanks for the post. (as always)
Here, I try to leave some comments about the post.
but you know, here there are some bleeping guys are playing (non-sense!) video or what they call them network games.
shouting, yelling at each other, sometimes using vulgar words! I get totally distracted!
What is more is, there are some gorgeous girls are passing by me while I’m tying to write something on the Blog.
They are sometimes rubber-neck at my computer. I don’t know why they do, though. 😉
The worst part comes here, there are two or three pretty girls are sitting at the counter where we pay the charge for using internet access.
They are like kitty-corner from me and they take glances at me every now and then. It really distracts me and I feel absolutely uncomfortable.
These are the prices of not having Internet access of my own or of using the Net at a Internet Cafe.
I don’t know what to do.
Maybe, my New Year’s resolution for this upcoming year 2013 would be to get a Internet access at my home.
Guys, wish me luck! yeah luck…or bust! 😉
Sorry warren, but thanks for the post again!
Yours
Actually, I never use smartphones.
It’s pricy, inconvenient (especially the touchscreen) – not to mention it’s functions and features sometimes don’t imply an average calling and sending messages.
The World is changing very very rapidly and unfortunately the next big things will not be better than the previous ones.
Anyway.
Thanks for such a very interesting story.
Best wishes,
Vito.
Hi there guys,
After looking at all my coworkers having a smartphone, reading and hearing about apps and maps and so on; I have recently bought my first smartphone.
I did not get the Iphone due to the price. I got an Android phone at about 240,00 USD bought online.
I am satisfied with it. At the end of the day it does the same things an Iphone does. Or even more….see better maps…
I must admit that is a beautiful object and it is easily addictive.
I am not surprised at what I am reading on the blog. Being an object that we want to always have with us it is inevitable that soon or later one has an accident like that.
Thanks, have a good weekend
Dear Warren
Thank you for this special story about your iphone. I can feel the happiness for you when I finally read that you were given a new iphone.
A few years ago, I took my phone (not a smart phone) into the phone shop for repair. After they repaired it and I collected it, I found that the problem still existed. When I took the phone back to the shop again, they decided to give me a brand new phone. Like you, I was very happy on that day.
I had dropped my mobile phone into the toilet once. I was standing on the edge of the bath trying to air some clothes on the shower curtain rail. My daughter called me on my mobile phone, I answered it while still holding some clothes. The phone slipped and fell into the toilet which was next to the bath.
Ouch! My phone!
Although it was a very basic phone (LG KF310) which was completely free of charge provided by the phone company, I should have treated it more carefully. I felt very sorry for the phone. I felt I had done something utterly wrong. Luckily it started working perfectly again a few days later.
My daughter found out the fate of my phone and she secretly persuaded my husband to buy me an iphone. That’s the reason why I now have an iphone.
I myself would not consider buying it because of the price. However, since I started using it, I cannot part with it.
I do not use my iphone for my phone calls because I do not want to take it out of my pocket to answer phone calls. There are many thieves mainly target smartphones in my city. I carry my very old basic phone for making and receiving phone calls.
Iphone 4S’s battery does not last very long, and it takes a long time to fully recharge the battery. Many people carry an external battery pack with them to make up for this shortfall.
I don’t know whether iphone5 has improved on this problem.
Because I use my iphone for almost everything – Camera, recorder, ESLPOD, Whatsapp, email, GPS, compass, torch, radio, TV, etc, etc, I have thought about buying one more smart phone (cheaper but equally capable) to lighten the load on my iphone.
Smart phones are for smart people. Please be smart and look after them.
Thanks again, Warren, I love reading your article and then think of something to write. Good training for my brain.
Best regards
Betty 🙂
No, I have’nt had this problem with a smart phone until now, because I have no smart phone.
I have gotten my first cell phone in 1999 and I have this one until now. A good old Nokia phone, a big phone.
Best regards
Nele