If you are like millions of Americans, you own an Apple iPod or iPhone; probably even both. My own collection includes an iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, 32MB iPod Touch, 2G iPod Nano, iPod Classic and two iPod Shuffles. This may sound excessive, but each serves its own purpose and I get a discount on these things, so it's not as bad as it could be.
My friends are envious of my Apple collection, but not because of the number of toys I own. What they're jealous of is the pristine shape my iPods and iPhones are in, despite regular use. No scratched screens, no scrapes on the case, any gouges or markings of any sort. I even take my iPod Touch camping and it's still in perfect shape. I tried the hard plastic clamshell-style iPod protectors when they first came out, but quickly grew tired of them. It was a major pain to get the iPod into those things and once it was finally assembled, the plastic yellowed or cracked. It made the whole iPod look huge (and isn't the point of an iPod to be small?) and I've seen a number of these things that make it difficult to access controls. Plugging in headphones can require a special adapter and forget about using the iPod with a docking station unless you feel like cracking the protector open every time you want to plug in. The store where I work went through an ugly incident with one model in particular that was known for scratching the iPods it was supposedly protecting. You wouldn't realize this until you removed the case, of course, but one customer was so livid he was threatening to sue the store, my manager and the manufacturer.
What I finally discovered were clear, thin film skins that adhere to the front and back of my iPods and iPhones (they make versions for a bunch of other products like Blackberries and cell phones as well). These things are virtually invisible, they protect the finish and the screen from any scratches and they don't affect functionality in any way; I can access all controls, no ports are blocked or compromised and there are no docking issues. The skins stay on no matter what, but are easily removable. I peel them off and each device in my Apple collection looks as new as they day I bought it. If I ever decide to eBay any of the older ones, they're going to fetch top dollar compared to the beat up versions you usually see.
About the Author:
Ethan Silver sells Apple products and accessories at a national electronics retailer. One of his pet peeves is iphone cases that are so bulky they ruin the aesthetic of the device or affect the functionality. He's written several articles that appeared in trade journals advising people to consider phone skins instead of cases as an effective method of protecting their investment without ruining its appeal.
