On Mon, 09 Jun 2008 10:28:48 -0700, Darren New wrote:

> scott wrote:
>> Yes, of course they are designed for a certain amount of splashing. 
>> You couldn't afford to release a phone that stopped working if you used
>> it in the rain.
> 
> http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=13755

The scam part of it is that the cell phone companies want you to 
"upgrade" a perfectly serviceable phone if the battery gets wet.

My wife's got an older LG TDMA phone - we pay about $15/month for the 
service on it (very limited minutes, essentially intended for emergency 
use).  Battery got wet, and Verizon said we couldn't get a new battery 
for it, that she'd have to get a new phone.  Oh, and she can get a new 
phone for free if she signs a new contract (which wouldn't cost $15/
month, either).

It never occurred to me that this strip might be removable; we ended up 
buying a new battery at Batteries Plus for about $30.  The one that got 
wet wasn't lasting very long anyways, so a replacement battery wasn't a 
bad idea.

And Verizon still has to honor the $15/month contract since she didn't 
sign a new one. :-)

Jim

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