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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."

14 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).

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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 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

  6. 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 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)
  7. 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.

  8. 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.