OK I admit, I probably should have known better. But just in case there are folks out there getting ready to make the same mistake, you may want to read on. Call it an effort of video vigilantism if you want – I just want to get this out there to help keep down the number of $600 iPods.
An iPod is a magical device for most 12-year-olds. Highly coveted – and highly fragile. I got my daughter one of those 4th Generation iPods for Christmas – she had been pining away for it for months, and our family had resisted the temptation thus far (we have been using Creative Zens, in conjunction with Napster’s subscription system. It’s much cheaper in the long run if you’re just looking for a music player). But the slippery little devil wriggled out of her hands and dropped a foot onto the pavement a couple weeks after Christmas and BAM! No more iPod.
As I think of myself as a handy guy…and $249 isn’t exactly chump change, I wanted to fix everything. I thought, “There must be a way to replace the screen on these things.” And YouTube answered my cry for help. Enter the right search term and you can find any number of companies who will sell you a replacement screen for an i-justaboutanything. You can mail the thing off to them, but they also post little videos that make the job look so EASY. Here’s one:
Easy, right? That’s what I thought. So I got on the ‘net with one of these marketers and ordered me a new screen. I was gonna be a hero! Or so I thought.
It turns out that an actual iPod is much trickier. There are all sorts of devilish little details that don’t get addressed in any of the videos – most obviously – but not only, how to get the thing back together. But I was still in blissful ignorance. The order arrived only a few days later (I am overseas) and I got myself some reading glasses, an eyeglass repair kit (you need a really tiny Philips screwdriver), a bright light, and steadied my nerves. I managed to deal adequately with all the unforeseen challenges and got the screen installed, somehow, and smiled proudly as the screen sprang to life. But that’s where things started to go downhill.
This kind of thing is best explained in video. I obviously discourage you from doing this, but if you should decide to do so, I recommend checking this out so you can avoid some of the pitfalls I discovered by accident:
On the plus side, the company I dealt with had rapid service, a friendly, helpful customer service chat, and they packed everything nicely. Small consolation as I’m paying for another iPod. Good luck!
