Did your ex run off with your laptop? Did your son play ping pong with your iPhone? Have you ever drunkenly tried to use your WiiFit balance board (unsuccessfully) as a skateboard? These are some of the stellar device death stories told by one personal tech insurance company. What's the weirdest way your tech has bitten the bullet?
Personal tech device insurance company Protect Your Bubble has rounded up a list of the strangest claims its clients have made for the early demise of their precious tech gear.
Some of the better ones, as reported by MSN UK's tech blog, include:
- "The dog ate my Nintendo Wii."
- "I used my WiiFit Balance board as a skateboard ramp."
- "My son threw the XBOX at the wall when he couldn't complete his game."
- "I dropped my phone from a hot air balloon."
- "I lost my phone when I took a skydive naked."
- "I dropped my phone into a food blender."
- "My son broke my iPhone using it as a table tennis racket."
- "A monkey stole my camera at a safari park."
Those are all great stories, but we bet you tech-loving Unplggd readers have some stories of your own that could top these tales.
So tell us: What's the weirdest way you've broken, lost or had your tech swiped from you? Tell us in the comments!
(Images: Flickr member Dean Terry licensed for use under Creative Commons, Flickr member jspad licensed for use under Creative Commons)
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Stupidly went running on 95 degree humid DC day and hands were so sweaty my iphone (which i take jogging cuz im paranoid) fell out of my palm and straight into the street sewer. Literally STRAIGHT into it.
Even better, the weirdest way my tech didn't die. I once dropped an iRiver H10 MP3 player off a motorcycle at 60+ mph. And it totally survived! There was a significant dent on one corner, but the glass screen was intact and it worked just fine. It was especially impressive given that it was a standard hard-disk drive ... and not solid-state. I've got nothing but good things to say about iRiver hardware. I only wish they had a bigger presence in the US.
Dropped my iPod between the elevator lip and the floor. It dropped seventeen floors and three subbasements. The crazy thing was that it only had a little dent and worked three more days.
Go MP3 players!
rancho mirage, hot day in the desert, pool party, splash with my clothes on, iphone in my cargo shorts...
When I was in art school I managed to drown two iPod nanos. My junior year I had a very short deadline for a rather big project, and was pushing it to the last minute in an attempt to get all my finishing touches in. That meant waking up on a Thursday morning, and only catnapping till Saturday afternoon, the deadline for my project. I get home at 2pm and am about to pass out, but I am absolutely covered in paint, so I take off my cloths and put them in a bucket of water so I can wash them properly after a rest.
Of course I forgot to check the pockets.
The iPod didn't have a chance. They are good about a quick dunk, and even handle a washing pretty well, but a 15 hour soak is a bit much.
Now washing your iPod isn't that wierd, what is wierd is I did it again on the exact same day for the exact same reason the next year. It was a total groundhog day moment. I would have laughed if it wasn't for the fact that 150 dollars is a whole lot of money to a college student.
My brand-new desktop monitor caught on fire! The surge protector on the cord heated up so hot that the plastic melted and it caused the monitor to become engulfed in flames! Luckily, it was still under warranty, I just had to returned the damaged piece. I still have the slip that came with the new monitor, where under "reason for return" they had written "spontaneous combustion. Seriously."
I fell into a lake with my iPhone in my pocket. We were in a small aluminium rowing-boat, with only a small engine at the back, going pretty slowly. Then a larger boat passed us at high speed, making waves that would hit the opposite side of the boat from where I was sitting. And when the wave was about to hit, I just thought "we're going to capsize", and to even out the weight I kinda half fell, half dove into the water.
Oh, and the funny thing? I was the one steering the darn boat. My boyfriend was at the front, looking forward, and the boat continued several meters before he turned his head and realized I was gone. (Luckily I was wearing a life jacket.) By then I had pulled my iPhone out of the water and was holding it up in the air, but the damage was already done.
My relatives and friends all find this incredibly funny, because they think I just dove in to the water on purpose, but I didn't! I honestly thought we were going to capsize and then my body just reacted to that. I'm not totally stupid. Just, you know... a little bit maybe.