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iPhone 4 Survives Fall From Skydiver's Pocket

Posted by samzenpus on from the indestructible-object dept.

tripleevenfall sent in a link with a story that is sure to be the basis for the next iPhone 4 commercial. From the article: "Jarrod McKinney's iPhone 4 — a notoriously fragile device — cracked when his 2-year-old knocked it off a bathroom shelf. So it's easy to see why McKinney, a 37-year-old in Minnesota, would be 'just absolutely shocked' when that same phone survived a fall from his pocket — while he was skydiving from 13,500 feet."

26 of 233 comments (clear)

  1. I loathe the smell of marketing in the morning. by suso · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've heard of dropped calls, but this is ridiculous.

  2. Surface by Tukz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Doesn't it highly depend on the surface it lands on as well?
    I mean, a bathroom floor is pretty hard and solid, while, say, a bush could soften the blow quite significantly.

    --
    - Don't do what I do, it's probably not healthy nor safe. -
    1. Re:Surface by slshwtw · · Score: 3, Informative

      The phone was found on top of a building, so its a decent bet the landing wasn't so gentle. However, the summary omits the fact that the phone had a protective case (and that the glass on the phone was completely shattered and the UI inoperable).

    2. Re:Surface by EraserMouseMan · · Score: 2

      So an iPhone was dropped from 13,500ft and was destroyed. Why, again, does that make headlines?

    3. Re:Surface by SilentStaid · · Score: 2

      Do you honestly believe objects falling inside an atmosphere infinitely accelerate?

      No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.

  3. survived? by adamjcoon · · Score: 2

    Even though it may still make calls, as claimed in the article, I wouldn't go so far as to say it "survived..." Nobody would continue to use a phone in this condition..

    1. Re:survived? by Vectormatic · · Score: 2

      that's what i was thinking, the phone in the picture (and i actually clicked to TFA to verify it isnt the bathroom dropped one) looks absolutely unusable to me, even if it still powers up

      --
      People, what a bunch of bastards
  4. Sponsored by Apple by dokc · · Score: 5, Informative

    "Sponsored by Apple" is missing at the end of the article.

    --
    In love, war and slashdot discussions, everything is allowed.
    1. Re:Sponsored by Apple by AngryDeuce · · Score: 3, Informative

      Yeah, I thought I was on CNN for a minute. They have their obligatory "Isn't Apple just great?!" articles daily.

    2. Re:Sponsored by Apple by AngryDeuce · · Score: 2

      LOL, didn't even check, but it is the CNN article. Gotta love it....

  5. Deja vu by xnpu · · Score: 4, Informative

    Didn't we have a similar story not too long ago?

    Anyway, I think the consensus at the time was that there's a difference between falling on a rock hard bathroom floor versus a bush or even grassland.

  6. Terminal Velocity by DiademBedfordshire · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm no physicist but wouldn't something small like an iphone hit terminal velocity very quickly?

    1. Re:Terminal Velocity by Swanktastic · · Score: 3, Funny

      A better story:

      Careless Skydiver Killed by His Own iPhone

    2. Re:Terminal Velocity by Anomalyst · · Score: 2

      whistles past him

      To the tune of "Dixie":
      I wish I was in Jobs walled garden
      Ol' times dere am not forgotten
      Lookee down, lookee down, lookee down
      Crappple fanboi!

      --
      There is no right to feel safe thru security vaudeville at the expense of everyone's freedom, privacy and tax money.
    3. Re:Terminal Velocity by Deadstick · · Score: 3, Informative

      Not so. A falling object will not assume a minimum-drag attitude unless it's aerodynamically stable. An arrow, yes. A badminton thingie, yes. A box, no, unless its center of mass is in just the right place. A skydiver can shape himself into a stable object for minimum drag, but an unconscious person will fall in something close to a maximum drag position. And a bullet will stay in the minimum drag attitude only as long as its rifling spin lasts: in a prolonged fall, it will go into a flat-spin mode which is the maximum drag condition.

      When you say "It takes energy...", keep in mind that a high-speed air flow can giveth energy as well as taketh it away, and that energy couples into rotational motion in very complicated ways.

      For an iPhone, the max drag condition would be horizontal; I just assumed an area of half what that would be. It would probably tumble, which would present about that much drag area.

      rj

  7. Very silly story by assantisz · · Score: 2, Insightful

    This phone may still be able to make calls but would anybody in his/her right mind say the phone "survived" the fall? Look at it. Also, one snippet from the linked article: That's especially amazing since the iPhone 4 can suffer from cell reception issues. When the Apple smartphone debuted in 2010, a saga the tech media called Antennagate followed. Consumer watchdogs claimed a design flaw on the phone's antenna caused it to drop calls unexpectedly. Apple gave out free phone cases to address the issue. Whoever wrote this garbage did not know what he was writing about. Why is this on slashdot again?

  8. Fall off of a Harley by repetty · · Score: 3, Interesting

    My daughter's iPhone 4 fell out of her back pocket when she was riding a Harley. She didn't realize it until she reached her destination; then her husband took off to look for it. He found it laying in a busy road, with tire marks on it.

    It was fine.

    "a notoriously fragile device" is anti-fanboy hyperbole.

    1. Re:Fall off of a Harley by lymond01 · · Score: 2

      I've dropped my phone running across the street, on the bathroom floor, etc. It has a slight scuff on the metal edging (I have a 3GS). Glass is completely unmarred and all I had was a thin plastic surround. My boss has broken two by sitting on them while they were in her back pocket. It just sort of depends on how it falls, how it takes its damage. I wouldn't call the phone fragile though -- I doubt many of the less expensive plastic phones would survive a fall onto pavement regardless of the landing.

    2. Re:Fall off of a Harley by Colonel+Korn · · Score: 4, Insightful

      My daughter's iPhone 4 fell out of her back pocket when she was riding a Harley. She didn't realize it until she reached her destination; then her husband took off to look for it. He found it laying in a busy road, with tire marks on it.

      It was fine.

      "a notoriously fragile device" is anti-fanboy hyperbole.

      A literal majority of the iPhone 4 owners I know have dealt with shattered glass causes by a sub-meter drop onto a hard surface, and none of them were riding a moving vehicle at the time. One was dropped from a pocket while sitting on a stationary motorcycle, and yes, it was shattered front and back.

      Maybe Harleys have special iPhone protecting fields, or maybe we should remember that a single survived drop doesn't have any meaning.

      --
      "I zero-index my hamsters" - Willtor (147206)
    3. Re:Fall off of a Harley by MrHanky · · Score: 2

      "+5, interesting" for coming up with a story in which the iGadget survived.

  9. hardly by slshwtw · · Score: 2

    1. The glass was completely shattered, the only reason they say it "survived" was that it could still receive a phone call, and he could only make a call by using the bluetooth connection in his truck (also the GPS worked which is how they found the phone).
    2. The phone had a protective case (not pictured in the article), so you can't solely credit the device itself.
    3. As he found the phone on top of a building within half a mile of his landing point, he was apparently skydiving in a populated area. He's lucky the article title isn't "Innocent bystander doesn't survive iPhone 4 fall from skydiver's pocket".

  10. He's a selfish asshole by Rude+Turnip · · Score: 2

    You pack things like your telephone in the lockers before you go up. As far as I'm concerned, he should be hit with the same penalties as a drunk driver for endangering lives.

    --
    Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
  11. Phone looks dead to me by cvtan · · Score: 2

    Maybe in Appleland this counts as "surviving a fall", but in the Panasonic Toughbook neighborhood this phone is deceased or at least pining for the fjords. Maybe some people would like to carry around a pile of broken glass in their pocket; I'll pass.

    --
    Sorry, but gray text on gray background is making my eyes bleed.
  12. Launched from a Cannon by VortexCortex · · Score: 5, Funny

    My commanding officer's iPhone4 accidentally fell down the loaded barrel of an M1-Abrams Tank. He didn't find it until AFTER it was fired from the barrel -- It smashed through a brick wall, decapitated 42 terrorists, then ricocheted off of a Nexus-S and a Kin (destroying them both). We found it embedded in a granite counter-top with bits of skull and a congressional medal of honor on it.

    It was fine.

    1. Re:Launched from a Cannon by teh+kurisu · · Score: 5, Funny

      Obviously false. Nobody bought a Kin.

  13. Re:Wasn't destroyed by Solandri · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Electronics can survive literally being shot out of a canon. A little-known secret is that you have to do practically nothing to harden modern electronics against high g-forces. It's not that hard - since they're extremely lightweight with no moving parts, COTS electronics can usually survive in excess of a hundred g. If the circuit board didn't flex enough to snap, I would expect any piece of consumer electronics this small to survive a fall at terminal velocity.