[Eug]

Yeah, it was done to advertise an iPad case, but it's interesting nonetheless.

iPad Survives 100,000+ Foot Fall From Space Near Area 51 (High-Res) - YouTube

[The Final Dakar]

I was going to guess Ralph Nader and Consumer Reports.

[Doofy]

This is about as interesting as "iPad survives fall from 1,000 feet".
Terminal velocity and all that.

[The Final Dakar]

Looks like the velocity... wasn't that terminal.

*self-face punch*

[Shaddim]

YEEEEEEEEEAAAAAHHHH!!!!

/cue The Who song

[Doc HM]

Surely after a few hundred feet the iPad will reach terminal velocity. Any height after that is just for show.

[amazing]

would've been a lot more interesting if they'd tethered an unprotected iPad side by side with the encased iPad with the same protective bar with the same cameras mounted.

That setup would've said something about the design of the stunt:
--did the aerodynamics of the camera mount force the iPad to fall on it's back?
--did the bar protect the iPad during landing?

[Eug]

Originally Posted by Doc HM 

Surely after a few hundred feet the iPad will reach terminal velocity. Any height after that is just for show.

Good show though. Very nice view up there.

[Montezuma58]

Would the results be the same if it landed on concrete or asphalt?

[Patrick]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

This is about as interesting as "iPad survives fall from 1,000 feet".
Terminal velocity and all that.

How fast would the terminal fall?

[turtle777]

How's the AT&T reception up there ?

-t

[Athens]

It never got to full speed. The way it was falling flat gave it max wind resistance. Its the same effect of dropping a flat piece of card board and a ball at the same time, the ball always win. The cloth or whatever that white thing was with it would have helped slow it down a bit too. A better test would be to drop 2, one with the case and one with out and making sure the drop system only drops the ipads nothing else attached to them. im sure they can attach a short range tracking device to it thats a lot smaller.

[SSharon]

Originally Posted by Athens 

... im sure they can attach a short range tracking device to it thats a lot smaller.

If they are so confident their system will work they don't need to attach anything, just use Find my iPhone.

If it doesn't work then a) they probably won't be showing us the video, and b) who cares if they lose a destroyed iPad in the middle of nowhere?

[reader50]

Originally Posted by Doofy 

This is about as interesting as "iPad survives fall from 1,000 feet".
Terminal velocity and all that.

Add an extra zero to the test, drop from 1,000,000 feet. 200 miles (320 km) instead of 20 (32 km). It'll get a lot hotter when it hits the atmosphere. Maybe hot enough that it never reaches the ground.

If it lands intact from orbital height, I'd be quite impressed.

[Athens]

Time for a Space Shuttle mission to drop a ipad out of the shuttle lol

[amazing]

Hey! NASA can use iPads instead of those tiles on the shuttles!

[The Final Dakar]

So... no one realizes the last shuttle has already launched?

[Doofy]

Originally Posted by reader50 

Add an extra zero to the test, drop from 1,000,000 feet. 200 miles (320 km) instead of 20 (32 km). It'll get a lot hotter when it hits the atmosphere. Maybe hot enough that it never reaches the ground.

If it lands intact from orbital height, I'd be quite impressed.

Aye.

Of course, the other reason why I'm not finding this story to be all that impressive is that James May did the same thing with the remains of a pet cat last year.
BBC Two - James May's Man Lab, Series 2, Episode 3, James May launches balloons into the stratosphere

[amazing]

Originally Posted by The Final Dakar 

So... no one realizes the last shuttle has already launched?

Had NASA been using iPads instead of those fragile tiles, the shuttles would never have gone out of style!