A Nation divided. On one side, we have those who care deeply for our country's vital natural resources. On the other, citizens who carelessly squander these national treasures.
Are we talking about our National Parks? Our pristine coastlines? No, we're here to discuss something much closer to the hearts of the average American—their Apple iPhone and iPad.
SquareTrade, a consumer tech warranty company, looked at its claims data and discovered that some states in our union are far more prone to drops or water damage to their iPhones and iPads. So SquareTrade ranked the top clumsiest states, and the winners are...[insert drumroll]
The top five states for iPhone mishaps in order are Mississippi, New Mexico, Rhode Island, North Dakota and South Carolina. Overall, the South clearly has a dominant position over the North when it comes to breaking their iPhones. Could it be the year-round humidity makes the iPhone slippery? Do Southerners have a subconscious disdain for products made in California?
When we look at the top five for iPad accidents, the winners in order are Mississippi, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Alaska. Here we see a definite East-West divide caused by...well...we're not sure why.
We do know that Mississippi residents, who picked up #1 in both spots, would be wise to invest in a good protective case.
From Kristy Holch on August 15, 2012 :: 11:31 am
This is a fun topic! To be fair to Mississippi, the results could be interpreted completely differently. I saw the original data on SquareTrade’s site. The data only shows the claims rate, which may mean that all states drop and break their devices at the same rate, but more of the people in these states go through the claims process. Why would they do that?
For lower incomes, the pain of the claims process may be more worth the cost savings. Mississippi has the lowest average income in the U.S. at $36,000/year, half of #1 Maryland.
Another factor could be skew resulting from not enough data in the small states. The states on this list are all on the very lowest end in population size. North Dakota has .2% of the US population, and so (with some guesstimates based on sample size), the difference between the so-called clumsy range and the next one down is 1 person. (In California, it takes 70 people to move that one percent.) Only 11 people are needed to jump two categories.
Or, maybe people in those smaller states do a better job of reminding each other go make the claim, not let it fall through the cracks. (Cracks, ha!) We could instead learn a lesson from them.
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From Suzanne Kantra on August 15, 2012 :: 7:47 pm
All good points
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