I typically don't use a case or a screen protector. I don't like the bulk a case adds, and no one will ever convince me that screen protectors aren't the biggest placebo-born racket of the digital age. And until very recently I had never gotten the extended warranty or protection plan on a device in my life.

I don't drop my phone. I never put it in a pocket with anything else. If it's not in my hand or my pocket, it's face up in the very center of an end table — never the coffee table, because it might get kicked there when someone puts their feet up. If I leave the room, so does my phone.

I had gone fourteen years without a single incident. I replace my phone when I feel like I'm ready, never because I have to.

Until last month, when my Pixel 6 Pro fell out of my pocket when I knelt down to tie my shoe. I was wearing sweat pants (for the first and now probably last time in my adult life, for the record), and it just... slid out. Couldn't have fallen more than six to eight inches. But it landed on the corner, on a cement sidewalk, and the back just shattered. The screen itself was still pristine (because again, screen protectors are literally pointless), but over the following days I noticed the touchscreen was less responsive due to internal damage from the drop. I was devastated.

I now have the Pixel 7 Pro. It's in a bog standard $35 clear plastic case and I bought the $9/month protection plan this time... but we'll see how long either of them last.