Oops! New iPad drop test

Guess what happens when you take delicate electronic devices and drop them on the ground? They break!

According to after-sales warranty firm SquareTrade the new iPad is just as fragile as the iPad 2, although it seems that the display is prone to shattering more spectacularly when dropped.

Here's a video of the drop test released by the company:

According to SquareTrade the iPad 2 was 3.5 times more likely to be damaged compared to the first-generation iPad, a claim based on 50,000 iPads covered by the company's care plans. First year breakage data for the iPad 2 was put at 9.8 percent, with 1 in 3 iPads breaking over a 3 year period. The company doesn't yet have any data on the new iPad but expects that Apple's latest offering will be just as fragile as the older model.

I'm not surprised that something as thin and as tightly packed as the iPad breaks when it hits the ground. In fact, I'm surprised that a fall from waist height onto the back of the device didn't break it. Also, I think that a fall onto an edge or corner of the device is more likely than a flat fall onto the back or the front of the tablet.

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