Please Don’t Put Your iPhone in a Case

When I first went to pick up my iPhone 3G, I was scared. I know what my hands are capable of: Horrible, unthinkable acts of clumsiness. I’ve hurt myself. I’ve hurt others. I’ve even hurt my kitties. So why would I want to put this salvific piece of tech gold into harms way? I need to protect this treasure, specifically because I don’t have another $600 to spend on a replacement. And I will be needing one soon.

I don’t put my iPhone in a case. You shouldn’t either.

I really have only one reason why my iPhone doesn’t wear clothes, and it offends iPhone case owners every time I talk about my decision. Sure, I can mention that I don’t like the current selection of cases, but that isn’t true. I really would love to have a macro lens option on my iPhone, so the Griffin Clarifi taunts me every time I walk into the Apple Store. I can show you exactly where it is: second shelving unit, bottom row on the middle right. I can also mention that I don’t like the scratches that cases put on the iPhone, but if it’s in the case all the time, you’re really never going to see them, are you?

My only reason for going caseless is this: A case doesn’t allow me to experience the iPhone. It just means I’m using a bulkier, less attractive iPhone.

I don’t use a screen protector for the same reason. I’m just not getting the same experience if I add all this protective gear. Seriously, you look better when you’re not wearing a retainer and safety goggles. It’s a fact.

Scratch Resistance and Apple Care

Believe it or not, your iPhone is scratch resistant where it matters most. I throw my phone onto sandy countertops. I put it in the same front pocket as my keys in my tight jeans so you know there’s some rubbing. And I have yet to see a scratch on the front of my iPhone. Granted, the back has scratches and wearing on the corners, but that’s not important to me and apparently a case does that to your phone anyway.

Also, my current iPhone is a replacement for my last iPhone which was a replacement for my first iPhone. Because I don’t have a case on my iPhone, dust gets under the screen and eventually builds up to the point where I can’t stand it anymore. When I took my phone to Apple, they replaced it with a new one the first two times. Last time I went they just replace the screen rather than the whole phone.

The Trade Off

So yes, if you work construction and you like to jackhammer and talk on the phone then you should put that gorgeous piece of technology in something protective. And yes, if you go caseless you’re going to get lint under your screen. But no casual case is going to save your baby from that urinal. And since a case can’t offer you potty insurance, why not enjoy your phone the way Steve meant it to be?

• A Complete Guide to Jailbreaking and Must Have Apps for iPhone and iPod Touch I wrote up a complete guide to jailbreaking your iPhone or iPod Touch over at Cult of Mac. Also, I updated my Must Have iPhone Apps List to include the jailbreak list I used in my complete guide. Here's a quote from the guide: Why Should I Jailbreak? Most iPhone......
• MySpace is a Scary Place for Admission Professionals There's something wonderful about beginning something on a negative note. You've messed it up already, Tim. Jerk took a hammer to my brand new Honda. But really, when a social networking site is mentioned, they bring dents into the conversation. I'm certain that the tendency for academic institutions to shy......
• One Stop Shop: Linking Students to your Web Presence Before I go deeper into Social Networking, YouTube, podcasting and the like... I thought it would be a good idea to do a little preventative maintenance. How to Promote For a while now, I've been plugging our different avenues of communication in four ways email- it's good for some things,......
• Germs and YouTube: Viral Marketing and Recruiting I Obsess Over Restaurants Come to think of it... I obsess over a lot of things. If you have a couple of conversations with me, you'll know that I love this restaurant called holé molé, that I got my Macbook Pro for 400 bucks, and that there's an AAMCO just......
• Make and Receive Free Calls on your iPhone with Google Voice and Fring If you have a google voice account, you can make free VoIP calls on your iPhone. You'll need to sign up for a Gizmo account and download Fring for your iPhone, but after you're done you can make free 3 minute outgoing calls and have unlimited incoming calls through Google......

• The New iMac: Just Another Reason Why We Love Apple [/caption] If you’re looking for innovation in the tech world the first place you need to look is your local Apple store and check out the new iMac.  Ever since Apple came out with the iMac in 1998 they have been revolutionizing the way we look at desktop computers.  While......
• 3 Reasons Apple rejects your apps At WWDC 2010, Steve Jobs talked about the Apple's process of approving apps. He said that about 15K applications are submitted every week, in 30 different languages. [Image Courtesy: Engadget] 95% of all apps submitted are approved in about a week (That's a short time for so much apps). And......
• Why is a Savings Account Necessary? Any time that you are asking someone for starter personal finance advice, one of the first things that you are going to be told is that you need to have a savings account in your name. But why are you necessarily going to need a savings account? The purpose of......
• Learning to Collect Books There are many different people in the world that decide to collect books, and surprisingly enough, they decide to collect books for a whole host of different reasons that are just about as diverse as the books themselves. Classic works from the greats like Homer, Shakespeare, Dante and Dickens can......
• iPhone 4- Its Benefits Mobile Marketing ResellerWhenever you start talking about mobile marketing platform and deciding you have to discover all there is to it; keep in mind it will not be an overnight task. Still, depending on your particular needs and situation, sometimes there is just a sense that you have to go......

Tagged as: Apple CareBelieve, Apple Store, case, clarifi, Griffin Clarifi, iPhone, phone, piece, reason, replacement, safety goggles, Scratch, scratch resistance, screen, shelving unit, Steve, tight jeans, time, unit bottom, unthinkable acts, way, wear clothes