httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zW_swJiebIA
Third-party warranty sellers SquareTrade want to make you cringe (and pull out your wallet) by showing you just what happens if you drop your iPad.
Or maybe your toddler drops it, face down. Or an irate spouse makes a smashing exit.
They tested the iPad 2, the Motorola Xoom and Samsung’s Galaxy by dropping them on pebbly concrete. The iPad 2 screen shatters, the Samsung cracks. The results are pretty well what you’d think: screens smash, computers kaput.
Was it a fair test?
Here’s what SquareTrade said in response to Cult of Mac’s questions about it.
Cult of Mac: A lot of people think you guys rigged the test. How do you answer them?
SquareTrade: Any article or video post will always generate a broad range of reactions, include the skeptics, the antagonists and the conspiracy theorists.
It’s impossible to respond to these skeptics in a way that will always satisfy them. The tablets were brand new when we dropped them. The results in the video are consistent with the results from the previous video, where the front of the iPad is shown.
CoM: How do you respond to the comments that the video edits mean it’s a fake?
ST: It’s not fake. We have nothing to gain by trying to stage a fake drop test. The results are comparable to our previous iPad drop test, where you can see the front of the iPads in that video.
CoM: Do you think the reactions (the Xoom was dropped higher etc.) reinforce the general feeling that “it can’t happen to me?”
ST: Not sure how this would reinforce the feeling. We are just trying to show a demonstration of how the devices compare to each other; we’re not trying to use this as a warranty-selling point.
CoM: You state in the video description that you don’t cover intentional damage — but what about the “whoops” factor?
ST: Yes, we cover accidents and clumsiness. So the “whoops” factor is covered.
