> the screen can be protected by a hard surface where scratches don't affect usage.
I think this argument is really grasping as straws.
How critical is longevity of screen, during the life span of a smart phone? Sure it gets damaged, here and there. No where near approaching a problem, where the market dictates a hard cover over the screen.
Depends both on what you do for a living and how you treat electronics. Some people don't use screen protectors, others have a screen cracked so bad they have a hard time reading from it.
People are using phones for longer than they used to and at least anecdotally screen cracks are a popular reason for finally upgrading. If I walk around the city it also seems to be a popular service based on the number of shops using their advertisement space for it.
I think this argument is really grasping as straws.
How critical is longevity of screen, during the life span of a smart phone? Sure it gets damaged, here and there. No where near approaching a problem, where the market dictates a hard cover over the screen.