April 21, 2005
Story of a Phone
Kyocera SE47 Slider, you are a tank. A real tank. Here's a quick story:
Last week, either on the way from my car to the hockey rink or from the hockey rink to my car, my beloved phone fell from my gym bag to the merciless asphalt surface of Barcroft's parking lot. Later that evening (or maybe the next day), I went to look for it and couldn't find it. Thinking that I'd merely misplaced it somewhere in my house (as I'm known to do), I didn't worry too much about it. A quick trip back to the sports complex revealed that someone had turned it into lost & found. The lady handed it to me with a quiet smirk on her face. "Someone found it in the parking lot. Please sign here."
Apparently, while it lay in the parking lot, it had been run over by a car (see visual aid below).
The screen was smashed to bits. The back looked like it had been chewed by a wild animal. Broken, right? The phone's glory days had come and gone, right? I thought so, too. And then it rang.
Suddenly, the year is 1999 and I can't check to see who's calling before I answer (we didn't have Caller ID until I moved out of the house). Each call is a surprise. And if I miss a call, you know what? I won't know. That's right, primitive, huh?
Now I'm not saying that I don't have a problem that (probably) needs a quick fix, but my situation isn't as dire as I'd thought. The real question is how long can I wait before I break down and by a phone with a serviceable screen. Can I wait until this comes out? Suddenly I have a valid excuse to start shopping for a cool new gadget. In the meantime, thanks Kyocera for making a product that can be ground into the pavement by the wheel of a car and still remain functional.
kwc at April 21, 2005 05:45 PM
Probably blogged about this before, but...
My previous Nokia phone survived the washing machine -- after this, I decided to test the limits of its durability. The most amusing test I did involved going to a Cingular booth at the mall. Without really saying anything, I held up my cellphone in front of the salesperson and let it fall to the ground, where it crashed and split into several pieces (phone, battery, sim card, battery cover). The salesperson was so horrified that he subconsiously started petting his own phone, as if to tell it, "there, there, now -- the bad man won't hurt you."
Another test I did was the alternate 'decline call' feature, which involved flinging the phone into the nearest wall when it rang, with enough force to cause the battery to separate.
The plastic covering the screen eventually broke apart, but despite the numerous indentations, scratches, and cuts into the phone it kept on working. Finally replaced it so I could get a smaller phone. Unfortunately I couldn't find a clamshell phone -- my old Samsung was clamshell and I used to play hacky-sack and soccer with it.
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kenji at April 22, 2005 12:19 PM
hahaha! I remember you going through that phone, but I don't remember the durability tests. You're a funny guy, Ken.
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kwc at April 22, 2005 12:35 PM
I needed an excuse to upgrade, but the thing was just too darn durable.
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Stephen at April 22, 2005 01:26 PM
Taht reminds me of an old pair of Oakleys I had that got run over by my Dad's car at one point (they had fallen out of my car in the driveway and at some point he ran over then. They were bent out of shape and the lenses had some pretty big scratches on them, but nothign was actually broken, and I was able to bend them back into shape. They don't exactly look great (though not too bad either) but they are useful for outdoor trips and things where I don't really mind if my sunglasses get lost or whatever.
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