iPhoenix
The first rule of Shattered iPhone Club is that you don’t talk about Shattered iPhone Club. Or at least you don’t ever talk about how much it cost you to become part of the Formerly Shattered iPhone Club. You just don’t.
Because if you do talk about it, you feel a little sick inside. You remember how you did all sorts of research on where and how to get your phone fixed, and you scoffed when you found out how much Apple would charge you. You worried about the fact that a third party repair would nullify your warranty, but figured you’d take the risk anyway. No way was Apple getting any more of your money. And then you walked into the Apple store on a whim that one day, just to see if maybe you had read it wrong. Maybe they didn’t really charge as much as you thought. You laid it on thick with the guy in the orange shirt, talking about how you almost cried when it broke after only six weeks, and he patted your shoulder in sympathy, but then confirmed that everything you had read was true. And then, just as you were about to walk out, indignant-like, you turned on your heels and asked, “Just out of curiosity, if I were to get it fixed here, how long would I have to leave it with you?” And then he raised his eyebrows and said, “Leave it with us? Oh, we can fix it right now in about 30 minutes.”
And that’s why you don’t ever talk about Shattered iPhone Club.
It’s weird. I think I know what it feels like to get back together with a cheating lover. I know I still love my iPhone, but honestly, things just don’t feel like they used to. I was excited when they handed it back to me, all shiny and new, but I guess that’s just it. It’s not new, and we both know it. It’s like that sheen of blissful ignorance has been rubbed away, and I now see that underneath the slick apps and fancy touch screen, my iPhone is just a piece of machinery. Glass and metal and wires, fragile and fleeting, with a one-year limited warranty.
I used to think my iPhone was invincible, and could protect me, but now I realize that it’s the one that needed protecting all along. And as much as I don’t want to believe it, I feel like my iPhone will cheat again. I’m not trying to tempt fate by saying that, but part of my trust was shattered on that day as well.
I hope I’m wrong. God, do I hope I’m wrong, but let’s just say that the blinders are off now. Fool me once, as they say.
Filed under: General on May 19th, 2009
May 19th, 2009 at 11:38 pm
Yesterday I dropped my iPhone and was near tears as I turned it over to see if I would suffer your fate… fortunately, I didn’t, but it still made me want to run out and buy a roll of bubble wrap to protect my beloved iPhone from harm.
Life can be so cruel.
May 19th, 2009 at 11:40 pm
Oh, the emotional rollercoaster that our iPhones take us on! And seriously – someone needs to invent a better iPhone case. HEAR ME, INVENTORS!!! MAKE MY PHONE UNBREAKABLE!!!
May 20th, 2009 at 1:06 am
hey jenny – just got caught up again with the blog. like the new layout!
was behind because i guess the feed-issue never got addressed. thankfully my wife alerted me of a new post, so i added ya back to my google reader. yeah, TMI. but just wanted to remind ya some of your readers may be missing out still.
sorry about your iphone – i’ve been resisting such breakable investments lately … my most recent was the 2nd-gen (?) ipod in 2004, which miraculously is still functional (enough) now.
great info about the bees, the owl pellet, and interesting photo-booth series’s. any plans to appear with charlie chaplin?
May 20th, 2009 at 5:56 am
bonzo: thanks! and please thank your wife for me! sadly, i lost the majority of my readers in the migration – the old RSS feed is wacked out and i haven’t been able to figure out a way to direct it to the new feed without causing all sorts of new problems.
i really should resist breakable investments as well – i seem to have become clumsy in my old age. but if you have chaplin’s number, tell him to give me a call. i’d work with him anyday!
May 20th, 2009 at 9:36 am
Congrats on your reconciliation! You know I love you both. But if things don’t work out, you are welcome to stay here for awhile to get back on your feet.
May 20th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Only after disaster can
weit be resurrected.May 20th, 2009 at 11:49 am
First of all, let me say I’m so so sorry of your (temporary) loss.
Did they actually fix it or just swap it out for you? I didn’t know they did those kind (laptops or smaller) at the actual stores. At least I know they don’t do laptops at my local stores.
But then the Chicago store is bigger than all the Michigan stores combined (I’m not kidding).
May 20th, 2009 at 12:03 pm
Glad you got it all squared away!
May 20th, 2009 at 2:19 pm
Glad you got it fixed — I don’t know how you waited that long. I guess it was barely usable even broken, so that allowed you some level of patience.
I’ve dropped mine at least a dozen times, but the case has protected it. Often, the case pops off, but I know it must have absorbed a pretty good amount of energy to do that. One of the early drops did break a one of the places where the case clasps together, but it still holds together fine. This is the iSee from Contour.
PS: I don’t see a way to subscribe to the comments for a post, either via email or RSS….
May 20th, 2009 at 4:11 pm
If it’s that easy for some store clerk to fix it, I druther just go down to the hardware store, git my own damn transparent polystyrene and fix it m’self. Just don’t git none a that Gorilla Glue on the touchpad screen overlay.
May 20th, 2009 at 4:14 pm
BTW I am now able to get fresh jenny feeds again, I just changed the assignment from atom.xls to index.html, weird, huh.
May 20th, 2009 at 10:00 pm
so happy that your feed just popped up in my reader again. yea! only a few to catch up on, but later–grogged from driving all day.
May 20th, 2009 at 11:30 pm
shari: thank you so much. will you make me cookies? sometimes cookies help after a rough split.
dustin: i’m going to call you reverend dustin from now on, because you’re getting deep.
gary: thanks! they actually fixed it there – took off the old screen and digitizer and replaced it with a new one.
andre: hey stranger! thanks – i’m glad it’s all taken care of, too.
ren: the case i had did nothing to protect it. stupid fancy paul frank design… i’m going for a giant leather one next time!
don: believe me, i investigated fixing it myself (for all of 15 seconds). watched a youtube video and everything. if i had tried, it would’ve become a $300 paperweight.
claire: yay! you can thank my pal vahid for that. he somehow found the magic trick and (fingers crossed) fixed my feeds. now all is right in the world.
May 21st, 2009 at 7:46 pm
Yikes! [cradling my iPhone and murmering protective noises…]
May 24th, 2009 at 4:37 pm
Genius bars are amazing.