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iPhone 4 survives 13,500-foot fall from skydiver's pocket - Page 2

post #41 of 63
7/19/11 at 1:50am
If somebody drops an Android phone or tablet from 13,500 feet, it will probably not drop smoothly to the ground. It will lag and stop up every 5 feet, replicating the choppy performance that it has when it is not in freefall.
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post #42 of 63
7/19/11 at 2:16am
Forget the phone. Did anyone catch the name of the carrier?
Originally Posted by Granmastak: Labor unions managed to kill manufacturing a long time ago with their unreasonable demands. Now the people they were trying to protect, are out of a job.
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Originally Posted by Granmastak: Labor unions managed to kill manufacturing a long time ago with their unreasonable demands. Now the people they were trying to protect, are out of a job.
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post #43 of 63
7/19/11 at 2:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by djweisman View Post

Just another example of the problem that plagues iPhones, dropped calls.

Best post of the month!
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post #44 of 63
7/19/11 at 2:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Apple ][ View Post

If somebody drops an Android phone or tablet from 13,500 feet, it will probably not drop smoothly to the ground. It will lag and stop up every 5 feet, replicating the choppy performance that it has when it is not in freefall.

2nd best post of the month!
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post #45 of 63
7/19/11 at 3:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lamewing View Post

Did anyone consider that the important part of this story is not that the iPhone still works or not, but that no one was hit by the phone? If this phone had hit a person, it most likely would have killed them or at least seriously injured them.

I wonder what would be on that person's gravestone had they been hit...


"Can you hear me now?"
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post #46 of 63
7/19/11 at 3:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lamewing View Post

Did anyone consider that the important part of this story is not that the iPhone still works or not, but that no one was hit by the phone? If this phone had hit a person, it most likely would have killed them or at least seriously injured them.

I wonder what would be on that person's gravestone had they been hit...

Not hitting someone isn't news. Not that one should be dropping things on housing developments, but even there, the likelihood of hitting a person is small if you did, probably less than one in a thousand risk. If dropped on a sold-out stadium, then your chances are roughly 50%.
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post #47 of 63
7/19/11 at 4:16am
I knew that it had an Airplane Mode, but I did not know that it worked this good!
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post #48 of 63
7/19/11 at 4:46am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunks View Post

Awesome.

Anyone want to fund me to develop a protective case that can use the iPhone accelerometer to detect a fall event and deploy a miniature parachute?

Sounds awesome! Then if I jump out a plane and leave the phone in my pocket I will have the parachute go off in my jeans!!! Superb!
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post #49 of 63
7/19/11 at 4:47am
Quote:
Originally Posted by JeffDM View Post

I'd probably call it a loss at that point, maybe he's not aware of the cost of parts. Yes, it still functions, but replacing the front display and the back glass is nearly $400 in parts. The frame is probably not straight anymore. The rear camera is probably junk. The main board and battery might have problems that won't manifest themselves right away. Somewhere, the tally of parts and labor easily exceeds the cost of a new unit.

Yeah, but I'd fix it regardless of cost, just because it fell 13,500 ft. and still worked! I mean, that's one hell of a story.
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post #50 of 63
7/19/11 at 5:03am
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post

... When contacted for the report, Consumer Reports editor Mike Gikas quipped that McKinney had found a way to resolve the phone's reception problems, which caused a firestorm of controversy last year. Dropping the smartphone from a plane is "the proved method for fixing the antenna problem," Gikas joked. ....

Yet more evidence that Consumer Reports have devolved into nothing more than attention whores.
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post #51 of 63
7/19/11 at 5:55am
It takes a lickin' and it keeps on... well, it doesn't actually tick.
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post #52 of 63
7/19/11 at 6:14am
Sort of reminds me of the iMac that survived a catastrophic house fire.



http://www.tomshardware.com/news/iMa...orks,9673.html
This is important! Someone is wrong on the internet
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This is important! Someone is wrong on the internet
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post #53 of 63
7/19/11 at 7:02am
Sorry, I am not really impressed or surprised by this incident. This could be nothing more than a statistical anomaly. Drop around 1000 iPhone 4s and see how many of them survive. Then we will see if this incident is indicative of a solid design or just dumb luck.
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post #54 of 63
7/19/11 at 7:31am
Quote:
Originally Posted by lamewing View Post

Sorry, I am not really impressed or surprised by this incident. This could be nothing more than a statistical anomaly. Drop around 1000 iPhone 4s and see how many of them survive. Then we will see if this incident is indicative of a solid design or just dumb luck.

Oh boy...I can see the next PR stunt done by anyone wanting 15 minutes of fame... Anybody have $200,000 and a brand they want promoted?
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post #55 of 63
7/19/11 at 7:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cuencap View Post

Oh boy...I can see the next PR stunt done by anyone wanting 15 minutes of fame... Anybody have $200,000 and a brand they want promoted?

iCloud ?

Many of the most important software concepts were invented in the 70s and forgotten in the 80s.

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Many of the most important software concepts were invented in the 70s and forgotten in the 80s.

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post #56 of 63
7/19/11 at 7:44am
"The device, which had been cracked once before after a tumble off a bathroom shelf"

i think this line is more indicative of the actual product for most users, or simply slipped out of hand to receive a broken screen which prevents it being called a smartphone.

herp derp.
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post #57 of 63
7/19/11 at 7:52am
Shame about the state of physics education on this forum. There'll be absolutely no difference between 13,500 feet and somewhere around 100-300 feet for a flat plate shaped object. Terminal velocity for the phone is much less than for a human, perhaps only 50 ft/sec or so.
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post #58 of 63
7/19/11 at 8:03am
That should be one of their selling points....

"...and will survive being dropped from 13,500 feet"

Of course then someone will try it, and if it doesn't survive start a class action lawsuit
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post #59 of 63
7/19/11 at 9:05am
Quote:
Originally Posted by kwatson View Post

Shame about the state of physics education on this forum. There'll be absolutely no difference between 13,500 feet and somewhere around 100-300 feet for a flat plate shaped object. Terminal velocity for the phone is much less than for a human, perhaps only 50 ft/sec or so.

^^this

from 13,500ft, after the initial acceleration surely the ipod will actually start slowing as it passes through the thicker soupy air of the lower atmosphere

a cube has drag coefficient of about 1.05, a rectangular slab like an iphone will have higher drag

using http://www.calctool.org/CALC/eng/aerospace/terminal and iphone 4 weight and dimensions on apple's product page

mass 0.137 kg

falling end on (highly unlikely it'd do this), cross sectional area 0.00054m^2

gives terminal velocity a smidge under 56m/s at sea level

but it's not going to fall end-on

falling flat side down it'd have area more like 0.0068, giving just 16m/s

a brick has drag of 2.1, so split the difference and say Cd of 1.5 for an iphone (i'd guess that's too low), make the wild assumption that terminal velocity will be the average of end on and face on, and you get about 30m/s, or 98feet/s for the imperially denominated

which it'd reach in a few seconds, or a few hundred feet

i.e. the first 13,000 feet were just needless attention seeking

caution: as will be apparent, i am not an aerodynamicist

i) i don't argue with forum fools, my time is too precious
ii)  it's not my job to teach fools
iii) i don't read a fool's responses, they are just shouting into the void

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i) i don't argue with forum fools, my time is too precious
ii)  it's not my job to teach fools
iii) i don't read a fool's responses, they are just shouting into the void

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post #60 of 63
7/19/11 at 9:43am
Imagine the headlines if the iPhone had landed on someone's head.
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post #61 of 63
7/19/11 at 9:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by aimbdd View Post

wow.... how was that not completely destroyed?

The reality Distortion Field Generators supplied with them have an anti-gravitational effect. That iPhone floated gently down but sadly brushed against a pebble, which caused the damage you see in the picture.

What is that saying again: people with glass phones shouldn't throw them at houses?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dunks

Anyone want to fund me to develop a protective case that can use the iPhone accelerometer to detect a fall event and deploy a miniature parachute?

Short of deploying a life raft on detecting water intake, that would rank among the best 'there's an app for that' solutions.

Even if it brought up a contact list of your closest family members to call before certain death or the todo list of things you haven't done before you die.

Quote:
Originally Posted by djweisman

just another example of the problem that plagues iphones, dropped calls.



Quote:
Originally Posted by capoeira4u

Imagine the headlines if the iPhone had landed on someone's head.

Lucky pedestrian receives free iPhone.
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post #62 of 63
7/19/11 at 11:05am
While impressive, the woman did have the plane encased around her. I doubt if she free fell herself, she'd live to tell the story.

Quote:
Originally Posted by nagromme View Post

People have survived over twice that, without a chute

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vesna_Vulović
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post #63 of 63
7/19/11 at 4:54pm
Mine was broken when I had it in my pocket while walking in the rain. Of course it's water damage, so I doubt apple will fix it...
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