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A Pixel 8 was left in a hot tub for four days, here's what happened

A Pixel 8 was left in a hot tub for four days, here's what happened

Adamya Sharma / Android Authority
TL;DR A Pixel 8 owner lost their phone during vacation.
Their device was found four days later, submerged in a hot tub.
The phone continues to work without issue.
There are plenty of mishaps that can occur while on travel, but one of the worst may arguably be losing your phone. A Pixel 8 owner recently found themselves in just such a situation. In what turned out to be a real-life stress test, the ending to this story is quite surprising.
According to Reddit user Intrepid-Ad3513, to celebrate a holiday and four additional days off, they traveled to Poland with a group of friends. While on vacation, the group stayed at an Airbnb with various amenities, including a hot tub. The Redditor states that one night, they got so drunk that they lost their Pixel 8 on the first day of the trip. Despite searching for it, the group was unable to locate the missing device.
On the fifth day, as the group headed back home, Intrepid-AD3513 was surprised by a video the Airbnb owner sent them. The video showed the owner fishing the missing Pixel 8 out of the hot tub. The Redditor mentions that the water in the hot tub reached up to 45 degrees Celsius (113 degrees Fahrenheit).
After finding the phone, the Airbnb owner packaged the Pixel 8 up and sent it to Intrepid-AD3513. In a huge upset to expectations, the phone was still in working order after the user unwrapped the package and plugged the device into the charger. The user also shared an image of the handset working without issue.
The Pixel 8 has an IP68 rating, meaning it can prevent ingress of dust and protect against water for long periods of time. However, this rating is for 30 minutes of water immersion, not four days. So, the fact that the phone seems perfectly intact is astonishing.
One commenter jokes that the water was probably keeping the device cooler than usual, as Pixel phones are commonly known to get warm. The Redditor says that they wrote the post with their Pixel 8 and that, 'I will never buy another phone other than a Pixel.'
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Outside the hardcore enthusiasts, fans tend to rapidly move beyond rose-tinted, wide-eyed nostalgia; the retro devices they've bought then gather dust. Few remain on sale for long because the market is finite and fickle. And then, there's the question of games. A large slice of the annual retro gaming market—estimated to be around $2.5 billion, though no one has a great handle on the numbers—comes from software rather than hardware. The issue for Commodore here is that it never released any notable games of its own, so it can't mimic Atari's ability to remake the Atari 2600 with modern connectivity while also reimagining 1980s classics like Pong and Missile Command . And even if Commodore were to license games, nothing in the entire C64 catalog has the cultural clout of Pac-Man , Space Invaders , Sonic the Hedgehog , or Super Mario Bros . The Commodore 64 Ultimate menu. The alternate mainstream option would be an attempt to reestablish Commodore's reputation as a brand that offers computing for the masses, not the classes, ringing in Simpson's desire for a 'simpler, distraction-free computing experience.' But what would that mean in practice? Unplugging? Educational and creative tools? Commodore 64 BASIC is notoriously bad, and it's unclear whether enough newcomers will see value in a relatively expensive beige retro box when a Raspberry Pi costs a fraction of the price and can tap into a massive existing ecosystem. But an entirely new platform would be a colossally risky endeavor. The Last Byte of a Legend What is the endgame, then? Without hit games and obvious mainstream appeal, how does Commodore survive, let alone thrive? Is it even possible for this 1980s cultural icon to move beyond people who were there at the time and break out of its bubble? It's hard to say. Perhaps it doesn't have to. Simpson envisions a 'single, joined-up family of Commodore machines,' and that could be enough. Commodore would become a community-focused brand, presiding over a modest ecosystem, acting as a benevolent curator that elevates quality projects, brings just enough polish and legitimacy to help the scene flourish, and simply refuses to let the legacy fade. Although investors who've pumped in cash might see things differently. A much worse scenario would be a repeat of the past: panic over income, leading to the brand again being stamped on unremarkable products, or the mismanagement and misfires that alienate partners and fans. There's also the very real possibility that Commodore might just discover the harsh reality of being a very niche, small player in an industry of giants. Any one of those could deal a final, fatal blow to the brand from which it would never recover, taking down swathes of the community with it. Still, this time feels different. This revival doesn't come from cynicism but from genuine passion and love for the brand. Even so, the odds of success feel slim, whether that means sparking a new wave of computing optimism or returning the brand to cultural relevance. But for a while at least, fans can remain optimistic this might finally be the play that truly brings Commodore back to life.

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