Until recently my daughter was still using a 30pin cable that came with a first gen iPad. So "the chance of a cable lasting 7 years doesn't happen" is patently false.
Still using my first gen iPad here, though it's only for reading ebooks.
I have a bunch of 30 pin cables for it though (eg one left plugged into charger at home, one always in my bag, etc). No idea which one is the original cable, and which are cheapo knock-offs.
Over the years, I think one of them went bad and needed replacing. The rest are fine though.
