Another alternative is buying robust phones! My Nexus One has met the pavement with some assistance from gravity and my clumsy hands a couple of times and the casing has a couple of scratches to show for it. Screen as new.
Then there was the Blackberry Pearl I threw down a couple of times as a demonstration...
You're comparing apples and oranges. My iPhone has fallen onto pavement a few times as well with only minor dings. sillysaurus's wife's phone fell off a countertop, which probably indicates it was in a kitchen, which usually has tile floors. Tile floors are far more likely to result in a smashed device than any other type of floor, including concrete, so it's not surprising that there's a difference here.
Why is tile more likely to break a screen than concrete, out of curiosity? I'll admit I only ever dropped a watch onto tile and it did break the internals.
> Tile floors are far more likely to result in a smashed device than any other type of floor, including concrete, so it's not surprising that there's a difference here.
My theory is that a counter-top or kitchen floor is more likely to have debris on it, generating a pressure point on the glass and causing it to crack.
I've dropped my 4S on flat surfaces (bricks, concrete) with no real issues. I dropped my old 4 two weeks in on the pavement, on a tiny rock, and the back shattered (Apple fixed it for free; otherwise it was AUD$39).
I was tying my shoelace and my Nexus One fell out of my shirt pocket and fell about 16 inches onto carpet, yes carpet. Ruined.
I found out later from HTC the screen was cracked neatly all down the right-hand side http://imgur.com/a/QmqHx But I couldn't see any crack when the bezel was on the only way to see it was when HTC disassembled it.
It was a month long battle with HTC before I agreed to $150 and told them I was never buying an HTC product again, ever. They didn't even repair it well, insulation sticking out of the bezel, screen calibration off.
Every phone I have owned since 1997 I have dropped it's impossible to say you won't ever drop your cellphone. Any phone company that sells a cellphone that breaks so easily when dropped, especially 16 inches onto carpet, should not be in the business of selling cellphones.
Seems almost certain that the crack was already there. Maybe it was a production defect from the factory, or maybe it was caused by a previous drop that did no obvious damage. Landing on the carpet didn't deliver much of a shock to the glass, but it was obviously enough.
It's similar to what might happen with a cracked car windshield. I don't think it's fair for you to blame HTC without knowing for sure if that crack was already there, and/or exactly what caused it.
Any phone company that sells a cellphone that breaks so easily when dropped, especially 16 inches onto carpet, should not be in the business of selling cellphones.
Obviously these phones don't normally break when dropped onto carpet from a moderate height, or their owners would all be screaming bloody murder. That crack was caused by either an unusual factory defect, shipping damage, or something else that happened before you dropped it onto the carpet.
My Nexus One met the pavement/concrete a few times (~3) without a case. The third caused a smashed screen. I don't doubt your story, but there are definitely angles that are better for the phone to land than others.
I'd dropped my 3GS on every surface possible with not even so much as a dent. It wasn't until I was crossing the street and it fell and hit at the right angle that the screen finally shattered.
My Galaxy Nexus has been down the toilet and after a few weeks it worked fine, aside from the charging being a bit weird, but googling suggests that this might not be due to the toilet adventure.
Then there was the Blackberry Pearl I threw down a couple of times as a demonstration...