It was there to save the drunk. It was there to save the clumsy and the butter-fingered, and it did. The iPhone protective case market has shot to massive proportions, largely because we think the cases will save our precious phones from ourselves. But there are those who are questioning the whole idea of an iPhone case – asking why we place peace of mind over beauty.

Apple recently released some of their very own cases, which many claim looked a bit like Crocs. This brings up the question of aesthetics. Your iPhone is a thing of beauty. Through the iPhone, Apple was able to show the world that cumbersome electronics can come in a sleek, sexy and elegant form – a far cry from the early Nokias.

Angel Jimenez de Luis, a US based tech writer, is one man who is going against the whole case idea. He tries to collect every iPhone he’s ever owned in its original packaging.

The iPhone showed the world that you can make a mass market luxurious item, and that good industrial design can elevate such a utilitarian and practical object as the phone. It’s not easy to create a beautiful object. It’s a shame to hide it behind a case when you find one.

Brian Kalma, president at high-tech business wear startup Ministry of Supply, tends to agree:

Obviously the iPhone is much cheaper than my two-door Mercedes, but they’re in the same class in regards to innovative, interesting design and technology. I’m going to take my car out of the garage even if it’s going to get a dent. I’d like to experience my phone in a similar manner.

The thing about that, Brian, is that where your Mercedes can survive a dent, or a crash, your phone cannot. Everytime anyone drops an iPhone, they run the risk of the screen shattering into a million shiny pieces, the battery pack flunking out, or some sort of major internal damage.

That is, unless we start fitting airbags to phones.

[Source : Mashable]