KEY POINTS:
Cellphones put up with a lot of abuse from their owners. They are flushed, drowned, crushed, mauled and buried. Some accidents leave only scratches and others are terminal.
How have you used and abused your cellphone and did it survive the experience?
This forum debate has now closed. Here is a selection of your views on the topic.
Natann
I put my daughter's Sharp Mobile in the washing machine with her bedding (just yesterday). The sim card is fine, battery is stuffed, and we still have our fingers crossed re the phone. It switches on and vibrates either coming to life or in its death throes. I am not very popular around here at the moment.
David Johnston
Had an old Erricson on the 025 network that spilled out of my pocket and rolled down a set of steps in Wellington - 137 steps to be precise (did a couple of nice triple somersaults along the way). Some pieces went further than others (the case stopped relatively quickly but the battery made it all the way to the bottom - the circuit board was in between). Anyway - half a tube of super glue and the very large rubber band later it was back up and running! In fact, the rubber band made it look better and gave it added grip! (The cellphone rep who supplied the phone thought it was some sort of new model.)
Lachlan (Auckland)
This is a true tale of SIM card survival from four years ago. A friend of mine (Adam) bet another friend (Joseph) that he wouldn't eat his SIM card. Joseph accepted, swallowed Adam's SIM card and returned it him two days later. The SIM card was inserted back into Adam's phone and it still worked with all contact details intact!
Paul (Sydney)
My wife had a brand new phone and placed it in her back pack alongside her water bottle. The water bottle wasn't closed properly so the phone got waterlogged and died.
Simon
I've had my Motorola C300 for 3 years now. It's been dropped on concrete several times, kicked, thrown in the bin, chucked around constantly, and is in the same pocket as my keys, so it's very scratched, but it's still working - mostly :)
Jo
We were responsible for the tortured death of cellphone over a long period. While my husband was a co-driver competing in the Dunlop Targa Rally when his cellphone disappeared. Having hunted all through the racecar and service vehice he assumed it had fallen out of his pocket and been lost, and went out and replaced it. Two years later I was co-driving in the same car on the same event, when we went over a huge hump in the road. The car flew, landed with a bump, flew, landed...you get the picture. When we got into service at the end of the Special Stage the service crew discovered a slightly melted and very dirty phone resting behind the race seat. It had obviously slid in under a metal panel which is welded over the floor above where the exhaust runs. It looked pretty sad already, but while we were away doing the next stages, the crew took it to the middle of a paddock away from anything precious, poured a bit of fuel on it, and toasted and melted it a little more. At the final Targa prizegiving, in front of around a thousand people I told the story and presented it back to my husband. Poor little Nokia.
Sam
Once, many years ago before I moved to Australia, I was dining at Kermadecs in the Viaduct Basin and a very loud businessman continued to use his phone taking calls every two or three minutes and swearing through out. Despite my partner asking politely if he could tone down his language and volume he continued the rude conversations. Between calls I snatched his phone off him much to the applause of other diners. Last weekend I was back in Auckland dining at the Soul Bar and wondered if his phone was still at the bottom of the basin where I had thrown it from the balcony of Kermadecs 10 years ago.
Dedicated Nokia user (Auckland)
My Nokia cellphone is as good as the day it was bought even though it has done one complete cycle (i.e. 2 washes, 2 rinses and 2 spins) in my washing machine. When I found it in the back pocket of my jeans after this excursion, the only concession I made was to take it apart completely and put all pieces including the battery in the hot water cupboard for 3-4 days. This happened approx 12 months ago and the little beastie is still behaving admirably.
Dave
I brought a phone back from the UK and wanted to change the plug on the recharger. I wasn't thinking much when I took the UK adaptor off and replaced it with a simple NZ plug, which meant 240 volts was going into a phone that should have been getting about 4.
I switched it on at the wall and it vibrated a hell of a lot for about five seconds, and a bit of smoke came out. The inside of the phone was all black and charred - it didn't work anymore.
Boris (Nelson)
Last weekend a friend was in the countryside outside Christchurch, when he realised he couldn't find his phone. After a search the remains were found in the tyre tracks of a 10-tonne truck. Needless to say it was fatal.
Katz (New Plymouth)
Had a cell phone for a week, dropped it in the dog's bowl of water gggrrr.
Dogs dinner
It wasn't me that destroyed my phone but my 6 month old puppy thought it looked like a toy and made a video of the inside of her mouth as she ate the phone.
Aaron (Mairangi Bay)
I remember, back in the day playing, "Hackey Sack" with my Nokia 1100. Lasted for two years!
Ian (Queensland)
I Dropped it in the toilet, then flushed. I didn't get it back!
Natem73
I once left my company cellphone in my running jacket, and put my jacket through the wash. I only realised my mistake when investigating a clunk, clunk, clunk coming from the tumble dryer - one cleaned and dried and thoroughly busted phone.
Craig Falconer
I had an old Motorola flip phone on the 025 network from 1994 to 2000, when it was replaced with a Nokia 5110 on 021. It was the Bismark of cellular phones - it didn't die spectacularly but was beaten to death a bit at a time. 'Twas a heavy phone, and frequently fell from my back pocket while upon a ladder. 6 metres to the ground, at least forty times. The screen cracked - still works. Nicad battery died - buy a new one. Flip cover cracked (but there was nothing inside.) The keypad turns brown with age, and the battery contacts corroded, but still the phone keeps on plugging. Finally, a spring contact for the battery broke loose and was lost, and that was the end of the flip. I never reliably mastered the wrist flick to open the cover when the phone was ringing - despite much perfection during practice (yeah I practiced) whenever I tried for real, I'd always flick a bit too hard and hang up on the call. I gave away all the batteries and so on, but I've still got the phone today.
Lee
My daughter realised her phone was lost, left on the roof of the car. She spent a couple of hours searching the streets nearby. Then she went back and leaflet dropped all the houses for about 1/2 km and on route corners. She stopped the phone being able to send, but left the receive function on and sent txts saying reward for return. Three days later (after she'd given up hope) finder called and returned phone. Found approx 4 kms from starting point, had stayed on car roof round countless corners and a stop at the shops. Very grateful to man who returned it. Would have thought car roof more slippery than that!
