The iPhone, it turns out, is a fragile thing. Or, at least, you’d think that, from how often they wind up smashed, crushed, cracked, lost, or otherwise thrown into the winds of time, never to return. Some will even allege there’s a plot at work, that Apple wants you to wreck your phone just in time for a new model to arrive. But it turns out Apple doesn’t need our help trashing phones.
A study conducted by researchers at Columbia, Harvard, and the University of Michigan found that right before the new iPhone arrives, people tend to be cavalier with their suddenly old, ugly, busted hunk of junk. They point to a few intriguing data points, like lost iPhones hitting a peak before a new iPhone announcement, and a survey of consumers that revealed subconscious bias against your old stuff in favor of the new. iPhones are just the most dramatic example: Everything from your coffee mug to your shampoo can become familiar, and thus a breeding ground for contempt.
The good news is that this doesn’t seem to be terribly strong, and only happens in people who want to upgrade in the first place. So if you’re happy with your old iPhone, you’ll probably keep it secure. But if you’re not, maybe just admit it and resell it to defray the costs of upgrading.
(Via Mashable)