National Device Appreciation Day – December 17, 2024

U.S.

History
Timeline
FAQs
Importance
Celebrate

December 17 is National Device Appreciation Day, an opportunity to appreciate the devices that help us lead our lives, and take steps to protect those that are most important to you. The best, most effective way to protect all of the items that contribute joy in your life is to properly insure them, ensuring that they can continue to positively impact your life for years to come, no matter what unexpected problems may arise.

This year, National Device Appreciation Day is sponsored by the Traverse, a fully mobile insurance platform for Texans that provides customizable coverage in under a minute for your new or old mobile phones, laptops, bicycles, etc., quickly, easily, and inexpensively, with coverage from as little as $1 per month. Traverse has sponsored National Device Appreciation Day in order to get the word out about properly insuring your most important belongings in a way that makes the most sense for your lifestyle. Traverse is backed by Travelers, a trusted insurance company that has been in the business for over 165 years.

History of National Device Appreciation Day

Insurance is often the last thing you think about until you absolutely need it. But it can make the difference between weathering a turn of bad luck and not. Homeowners and renters insurance are important protections against various hazards like fire and theft, but the expense and administrative effort of insuring an entire home’s worth of items isn’t always the most convenient for everyone, which is what Traverse solves.

But where does our modern concept of insurance come from?

It turns out, insurance has been around in various forms for millennia. Merchants in the ancient city of Rhodes could pay what was known as “the general average” which covered them against shipping losses when goods were shipped collectively. The ancient Greeks and Romans had “maritime loans” which insured against similar issues and it was commonplace (though sometimes controversial) to provide similar types of coverage during the medieval period.

However, we can trace modern forms of insurance, including property insurance, to the European Enlightenment period of the 17th century. The earliest known types of insurance available to the public guarded against fire damage (no surprise there) in the city of Hamburg, Germany in 1676. But property insurance as we know it today has its roots in one of history’s most iconic events, the Great Fire of London. In the aftermath of that great fire which destroyed some 13,000 residences, London economists created the “Insurance Office for Houses” which protected residents from damage caused by fires.

Today, there are many different types of insurance that protect persons and property from a whole host of inclement events such as fire, weather, sickness, death, etc. While it isn’t always the most exciting aspect of modern life, it remains more critical than ever as belongings become more and more essential to our lives and often, more expensive.

National Device Appreciation Day timeline

2000 BCE

The Chinese and Babylonians Hedge Their Bets

While shipping goods down treacherous rivers, an early form of insurance saw those goods being evenly dispersed among several ships to limit the impact of any individual ship being lost.

1750 BCE

It’s in the Code, the Hammurabi Code

Yes, that famous and infamous set of rules considered to be the very first laws ever put on the books included a system for insuring against shipping losses.

300 BCE

Athens Insures Against the Sea

The ancient Athenians, known for their wisdom, learning, and seafaring understood just how treacherous the sea could be. They created “maritime loans” which covered against ship losses.

1676

Hamburg Invents Modern Insurance (even before inventing the Hamburger)

Officials in this German city created the Hamburger Feuerkasse, or Hamburg Fire Office, to protect against losses sustained through fire.

1681

Modern Insurance Companies Begin to Form

In the wake of the Great Fire of London in 1666, officials began creating schemes to insure against fire damage but the first truly successful one available to the public came in 1681 with the creation of the Insurance office for Houses.

2020

Insurance Goes Mobile

Insurance has evolved greatly since it’s early modern incarnations but it took a major digital step with the launch of Traverse, the first truly mobile insurance platform for protecting one’s most important belongings with just the snap of a picture.

National Device Appreciation Day FAQs

What is covered under property insurance?

Property insurance covers losses of physical property due to damage or theft. The most typical kinds of property insurance include renters and homeowners insurance. Property insurance can also include liability insurance to cover the cost of those injured on the property.

Do I Need Insurance?

Yes, you do. Protecting the most important items in your life is about more than just being able to recoup costs if the worst happens. It means you can guard against major changes in your life that can arise from the sudden loss of that property.

How can I insure my property most effectively?

There are several ways to provide insurance coverage. In the U.S. renters and homeowner property insurance protect against losses of things that are in your home and liabilities occurring in your home. However, that’s not always the most effective way to insure your stuff. A la carte insurance products like Traverse can provide the flexible and cost effective coverage of the most important things in your life, with insurance for just $1 /mo that can be activated in under a minute and pays out cash if something happens.

National Device Appreciation Day Activities

Assess Your Insurance Needs
Are you protected if the worst happens to your phone, laptop, or other critical item? Does your current insurance provide enough coverage to repair or replace those items? Understanding your state of insurance is important before tragedy strikes.
Share Your Most Epic Broken Phone Story
We’ve all been there, you’re taking selfies of yourself living your best life when, oops, down goes your phone. Share the most epic way you destroyed your phone to serve as a humorous cautionary tale against going without insurance.
Take Traverse for a Test Spin
Even if you think you have the best personal property coverage in the world, it’s worth giving Traverse a try. The app is free and easy to use, and the coverage can start at just $1 a month. You may find it is worth adding a little more coverage to provide some peace of mind.

Why We Love National Device Appreciation Day

It’s a Fun Way To Think About An Unfun Topic
No one likes thinking about insurance. But if you’ve ever found yourself on the wrong side of a busted laptop, you’ll wish you had. National Device Appreciation Day helps us think about the coverage we need in a way that is more fun than insurance tends to be.
We Learn a Bit of History
Insurance feels like a modern concept, and in a lot of ways it is. But its roots go back some 6000 years and it’s based in helping people protect people against the unforeseen, it has even been encoded by Hammurabi. It was a good idea then and it's a good idea now.
It Helps Expand Our Options
It may come as a surprise but there are new and easy ways to cover the most important belongings in your life beyond traditional homeowners, property, and renters insurance. National Device Appreciation Day galvanizes us to look into other options that better suit our lives.