vzwuser, what you said is a valid point. I just don't like to have options taken away.
Assuming that one of the issues is because of making it water proofing, I wonder how many users of phones actually have destroyed their phones because of water? Then again, knowing friends and acquaintances that have dings and cracked screens, maybe it is more frequent
I understand not liking options taken away, I felt the same way when OEMs started removing expandable storage from phones. Many point out that the speed isn't as good as embedded memory or UFS memory, but I've always said for things like pictures, music, documents, and most video files, SD card's speeds are just fine.
I would venture quite a few. I remember long before smartphones were the thing hearing my friend talk about one of his co-workers dropping his Motorola Timeport (like a StarTac but with a multicolor screen and add-ons giving it PDA like functionality) in a toilet. At that time that phone cost around $800. I myself had a phone actually die due to humidity. I was working in a basement area, pretty cool and dry, and when I came outside at the end of the day (a particularly humid day) I turned on my Razr2 and seeing the screen blip off and that was it. Now I believe devices today wouldn't be as susceptible to humidity as mine was, but with things like toilets, pools, sinks, lakes and oceans, and just rainy days, I'd bet there are quite a few people who lose their phones due to water issues. The fact that most everyone knows the "rice trick" for dealing with moisture issues says to me that's it's a pretty widespread issue.
Part of it I think has to do with people who don't really know what these phones actually cost. If they're used to buying them on a 2 year contract and paying what they think is full price when it's actually a fraction of what it will cost to replace them. I see plenty of people who's phones have cracked screens or look like they put a belt sander to the body. I ask them, does your laptop look like that? Then why would you treat a device that costs almost as much the way they do? All of my phones have screen protectors and cases on them (usually TPU cases since they add the least amount of bulk while still adding cushioning in the event of a drop). Because of which, when I upgrade, my old phones look like the day I bought them. They end up going to other people on our plan and many times (if they go to my niece or nephew) end up getting destroyed within a few months. Long story short, many people treat them like they cost $50 instead of $500.