I still think it's a problem of user error. In this house we've got first gen iPod touch cables in daily use , a vintage iPad 2 cable which is fine and 4 lightning cabled devices that are fine. I think a lot of people just yank on the cable rather than the connector.
When you are designing consumer electronics, there is literally no such thing as user error. Except for people who are in love with their gadgets and take care of them as if they were their children, no one is going to pay attention to how they handle something as trivial as a cable.
If users yank on the cable rather than the connector, the correct solution is to make the cable more durable, not to educate users on the intricate details of cable handling.
I wouldn't call it user error to abuse your cables to the point of failure (they should totally be tougher), but I'm also realistic: many companies cheap out on the cables, and it's difficult to tell from looking at them whether they're cheap or not, so if you want them to last, you have to assume they're fragile and be careful with them. This attitude has gotten me far with my MBP power adapters, which have both been working flawlessly since 2010 despite a lot of other people apparently having theirs fall apart.
