Don’t you hate those moments when you err in exactly the same way you have hammered your kids? Yep, I just finish a huge helping of crow pie, feathers and all, and I’m sure they will enjoy this for some time to come. As each of the kids has passed the smart phone milestone, they got “The Speech.” This is not a toy, it is an expensive piece of equipment, and you will treat it as such, if you do not – it becomes mine; etc., etc., etc., blah-blah-blah. My daughter is forever placing her phone on the edge of the bathroom counter, where it can easily fall one of two ways – into the sink, or into the toilet. And do not even get me started on her using her back jeans pocket as a cell phone carrier!
Then it happened…my worst nightmare (okay, not my worst, but a nightmare nonetheless – people with kids will understand). No, I didn’t drop mine in the toilet, but that doesn’t stop me from hoping that the iPhone 6 can swim. I killed my phone and there was absolutely nobody to blame, but myself (and I thought about it for a long time). Then I discovered another cruel joke…if this had happened to one of my children, they would have been without a phone for a day or two (and there would be no blog today). When it is my phone, however, the cell phone company is going to be a stickler about process. Because it was insured, I cannot simply go into a store and get a new one…no, it will have to be shipped. AND, it will require a signature. AND it will arrive during the day, in the middle of the work week.
So, I track the parcel as it makes its way from one locale to another, and is finally “on the truck for delivery.” I promise my wife all sorts of things so that she will be home when it arrives, and sign for it. She agrees, and knows me well enough that she is okay with never actually receiving any of the things I promised.
Then the phone call… they sent the wrong phone, and not a better phone (which would have been acceptable). To make a long story short, (is it already too late for that?) twelve days later I’m finally back in business. TWELVE DAYS!!!
For nearly two weeks my family enjoyed asking me for phone numbers. Funny. They were less amused when I would call and ask them to look on the calendar and tell me the “when and where” of my next meeting. My wife telling me, “if you needed something else from the store, just text me.” Still funny. I consider myself reasonably intelligent, fairly well educated, and yet I had no brain for twelve days because I did not have a 4.5”x2.5”x.5” computer in my hand. What in the hell did we use to do?
So, since I always ask my kids what they learned from a mistake, I placed the same burden upon myself, and am sharing what I learned. I was smart enough to back up everything to the Cloud, my phone was up and running within an hour. I also learned that I play too hard in too many different environments for an Otterbox case. A friend turned me onto LifeProof cases. After extensive research (I am a man, after all) - sign me up, I am sold!
My initial test & eval of the LifeProof case revealed the following:
The Good: Good for swim, surf, rain, drinks, snow, ice, sleet, cold, sand, dirt, grit, mud, drops, knocks and tumbles*; comes with a warranty (they put their money where their mouth is on the product); sleeker case (not as bulky as the Otter box); the case comes with a waterproof adapter for using waterproof headphones (for a swim or other activity) that has a place to store the jack plug and a spare plug; has a mount for a motorcycle; good color selection.
The Bad: Registration – expect to spend some time with this taking screen captures, pictures and/or scans to satisfy the registration requirements; the mute switch becomes a lever (in order to protect watertight integrity) and it takes a little getting used to; if you have a collection of Apple charging cables like my family does, you have to use the shorter style JAE DD1 30 pin connector and it is a tight fit; the waterproof headphone adapter becomes an awkward part to keep track of and store.
I did not have any problem with installation, but I have read two accounts where customers experienced an audio degradation with the case; both customers claimed the issue was remedied by a new case.
The Ugly: They are fairly expensive for a phone case, so I imagine not for everyone.
Here is a link if you want to investigate on your own: http://www.lifeproof.com/en/iphone/
Life is now getting back to normal. I was without the use of my phone for a substantial period of time, paid a “penalty” (buying a new case), performed my public mea culpa, and have passed on useful information in the hopes of someone avoiding this happening to them. My community service is complete – for this event. Now, I’m going to play with my electronic brain and store all my ideas for how one can detox from their cell phone.
Oh, if I am ever mugged for my iPhone, the bastard that gets it will have pried it from my cold dead hand… seriously.
*From Lifeproof website; I personally have been without sleet, ice, and snow, and I will probably leave the surf check to others. I can, however, attest to the other conditions.
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