When I first purchased my Apple iPhone 3g I boldly used it without any sort of protective cover until one day I dropped it on a tiled floor (it fell from about pocket height). The result of the fall was a hairline crack on the screen, however it was not the main surface glass that was cracked, but rather the underlying screen.

At first it was a hardly noticeable hairline crack and after a few more minor bangs the crack spread and slowly the screen started to glitch in areas near the crack, until I realised there was no hope left… my iPhone 3g was officially broken and I will admit it was entirely my fault.

I took it to VodaCare at Vodacom at Vodaworld which in itself would make a great Vodablog about how VodaCum should consider dishing out free lube every time their corporate machine rapes the consumer in the ass.  So to cut a long story short I eventually got a new iPhone at my own cost from the not so helpful VodaClowns at Vodacom.

So now that I finally possessed a beautiful new and shiny Apple iPhone 3g my next step was purchasing a protective cover. To be honest, up to this point I did not and have not done any research on the GRIFFIN Wave for the Apple iPhone 3g online, however what I can offer you is firsthand experience, but perhaps one day I will scour the internet for users who may have had similar problems I was about to experience with my new GRIFFIN WAVE iPhone 3g cover.

Bear in mind, when I purchased my cover, my Iphone 3g was  I think a day old. It was in mint condition. As I gently started to encase my beautiful slim iPhone 3G with what I was going to learn over time was just a plastic piece of shit, I was given the false comfort that my iPhone was now at least somewhat protected.

( On a side note: The protective screen cover that is given to you with the griffin kit is pathetic as it never really did gel to my screen properly and when I finally got it on it fell off. I thought maybe I did something wrong but I am beginning to think GRIFFIN is a name now.)

So here I have this cover.

Sure I made some sacrifices. My once beautifully designed iPhone 3g was instantly turned into this ugly bulky plastic shit. The size I think tripled. It was like my iPhone decided to screw the diet and turn into a fat lazy slug. Before the sheer design slickness of the iPhone would slip in and out of my pocket like a hot knife through butter, but after its deformation it was now a good old tug-o-war to get the phone out the tight jean pants while you driving only to battle getting a grasp until after some amazing one handed acrobatics on the highway with your iPhone trying to get a firm hold of it… you fail. It somehow bounces off your window, directly onto your gear stick and lands on the floor by your feet – yeah you know how it is.

But… it’s protected. Granted I missed the call while playing pocket tug-o-war. Granted if it simply slipped out my pocket in a predictable manner this post wouldn’t need my long winded attempt at humour above.

If you are a rock climber or astronaut, then maybe consider this as a protective cover for your iPhone 3g, however this is not the point of my post.

The point is, I noticed after I took the hard and sturdy casing off my iPhone, to give it a clean from all the grime that collects with this cover (another horrible thing about it). Can you imagine to my dismay and anger the damage I found the actual case had caused to my Iphone 3g. It had damaged the shiny lacquer at the back because of these stupid hard ‘rib’ lines on the inside of the GRIFFIN case that connects with the back of your iPhone. The front cover had severely scratched the metal lining around my Iphone3G and I think even cause pressure damage to the under-glass.

So as a protective cover the GRIFFIN Wave for the Apple iPhone 3g is shit and it will not protect your iPhone but ruin it and at the same time turn it into a clunky device that the Borg from Star Trek might be seen to use.

Since then I have purchased another iPhone cover which is made from a rubber-like wet suit material instead of the hard plastic crap GRIFFIN decided to use. My new choice was a Body Glove that also supplied a plastic sheet for the cover which worked 1000% better than GRIFFIN’s crap.

If anyone reads this please do NOT ruin your iPhone with the GRIFFIN Wave for the iPhone 3G.

• It damages the back of your iPhone with scratches that are permanent
• It damages the metal trimming on the front with horrible scratches
• It is big and bulky
• The ‘soft feel’ plastic begins to peel in the first few months of use
• Makes the phone feel like it was made last century

My personal feeling is most covers ruin the sleek design of the iPhone 3g and I really think Apple in all their innovation should have created a phone that can withstand the punishment such a device is reasonably expected to withstand from the day to day use it will experience.