Better Than Apple

While I'm not a cat like the pictured Stimpson J. Cat from The Ren & Stimpy Show, I was busy working on some electronic repairs this evening. After having bumped a table that caused my iPad to take an unplanned tumble, I was left with rather intricate shatter patterns on the display glass. A phone to call to the Apple Store proved useless as they said they wouldn't repair it due to the age of the iPad, so I opted to put my technological skills to the test by choosing to replace the broken glass myself. My order for one replacement glass screen arrived on Friday, and I set about to fix my iPad so it worked like new once again. And let me say right now: this is not a hockey-related blog aside from a few lines at the end.

The first step was removing the broken glass screen, and that actually was a lot easier than I thought it would be thanks to a common hair dryer. By heating the edges of the iPad, the glue used to affix the glass in place came off quite easily. From there, four screws to securing the LED screen were removed, and the two most important pieces of any tablet were now only connected via their ribbon cables.

I don't know what it is about Apple, but they must enjoy sadism because the atom-sized screws they used to hold the battery cover in place were quite annoying. After removing about 300 of them, the battery shield came off to expose the battery and all the electronic pieces protected by the metal casing. Three more atom-sized screws were removed from where the ribbon cables were hidden, and the connections were exposed to allow me to slide the glass screen's ribbon case out of its connector.

Because the LED screen's ribbon cable sat atop the connector for the glass screen, I removed the LED screen's ribbon cable for better access. After connecting the new glass screen and the LED screen, it was simply replacing the covers and the microscopic screws one by one. With the LED screen secured once again, I pulled the backing off the glue on the glass screen, and applied pressure down. A quick reboot of the iPad brought it back up to the unlock screen where everything worked, and my demonstration of how the Genius Bar is a total rip-off was complete!

Ok, that might not be entirely true, but what does bother a lot of people is Apple's refusal to allow people to customize or repair their devices. Apple's refusal to allow owners of those devices to repair them when needed has furstrated people for ages, so hearing that Apple had softened its stance on "the right to repair" sort of cracked the door open to potentially allowing people the option to seek repairs away from an Apple Store or an authorized reseller. Granted, the door is barely cracked open at all with Apple holding the cards as to what happens next, but progress is progress for now.

In my case, Apple has made it clear that the age of my device simply isn't worth fixing. Even if I had taken my iPad to an Apple Store or an authorized reseller, I likely would have been told "we don't have parts for your device" because it should be, in Apple's opinion, upgraded or replaced. Having the latest and greatest would be nice for everyone to behold, but there are a number of factors why I won't do that with the main one being that my iPad, while being older, still works for the vast majority of purposes for which I need it.

One of those reasons is to watch hockey as I generally can stream games out-of-market on my iPad with ease. While it's great to be offered a handful games in my market, seeing the blackouts on TSN and Sportsnet for games I'd rather watch than a Jets games doesn't really make sense in today's day and age for the various cable companies. With my iPad working, though, I can have the muted Jets game on TV while watching one of the out-of-market games on my iPad so I can be fully immersed in hockey action.

Undertaking the repair of a device like an iPad should be done with some care, and certainly I'd advise you to watch all the videos you can find on YouTube before starting any repair on a device that's out-of-warranty like an older model of iPad. I will say that you don't need a lot of technical know-how to complete the repair like I did, but there are some tools one will need that aren't widely available at every local hardware store. If yo have the tools and the technical know-how, though, you should be exercise your right to repair the device you own in similar fashion to changing the spark plugs on your car or replacing the heating element inside your stove.

What I do know is that I was watching the San Jose Sharks defeat the Vegas Golden Knights to potentially end the Knights' chances of making the playoffs on my iPad after fixing my screen. Count me in favour of people being able to exercise their right to repair the devices they own if they break or fail in some way.

Until next time, keep your sticks on the ice!