Apple strikes back

It appears that the Apple God(s) have smited me for my comments in yesterday's blog post.

This morning, when coming down the stairs to get ready for work I slipped. This sent my beloved iPad flying out of my hands, smashing against the corner of the bottom step and then landing helplessly on the bottom floor. I also did some damage to my knee but at that moment in time I was only really worried about what had become of my iPad.

After crawling down the stairs, I turned it over and saw no obvious damage. The screen looked OK, it was turning on and off OK and apps seemed to load just fine. As I was inspecting it further I noticed that it had been completely dented in along the volume side, ruining a corner and also wedging the volume button into the casing. Unfortunately for me, it's wedged in on the reduced-volume side which means I have no audio. Not at all. Everytime I try to turn the audio up via the slider on YouTube, the music app, etc, it immediately returns to silence. Also, as the button is wedged into the case, I'm unable to fiddle with the audio via those means either.

Pictures of the damage are below:

Caved in 

 Volume button wedged into casing



Damaged corner

It ran out of warranty only about 2 weeks ago. In fairness, this would be classed as accidental damage and wouldn't be covered by the warranty anyway so there's no point dwelling on this too much.

I've looked on the Apple website but I can't find anywhere how much this would even cost to repair. I have asked about and been informed that I would be charged half the cost of a new one to be given a replacement. I believe I am right in assuming that if this is the case, it would be a refurbished model.

My girlfriend's dad will take a look at it for me tonight. As it's out of warranty it won't hurt to pry it open and play around with the button from the inside - might just be able to pop it back out again and make it usuable. Sadly, the cosmetic damage will remain but it's a small price to pay if I can actually get the volume working properly again.

I'll keep you posted.

Christmas 2012

Here we are, only 1 hour away from Christmas 2012. A time of year that some thought we would not see. As I type, the neighbours baby is bawling his eyes out which equals no sleep for them, oh the joys of parenthood - something I will soon discover.

All the presents, turkey and decorations aside, I feel that Christmas is a time of year that we should all appreciate and be thankful for. I am not a religious man but still hold the values of family and friendship. At this time of year, these two values are emphasised even more and I really think we should think of those who are less fortunate than us, even those without a family or a home this Christmas. If we open our hearts and realise just how lucky we actually are, maybe there won't be as much hatred in the world. Just my philosophy.

This is something I feel has been forgotten in the world, love. The entire world is driven by hatred and greed. It doesn't matter who you call God, nor does it matter if you don't believe in a God at all. We are all equals with as much right to live in peace as the next person. Why start pointless wars over a silly game of "you don't like it, I'll declare a war on you" or "I'm bigger than you so get ready for invasion". I really do not see a positive outcome.

I'm getting seriously off topic. I don't mean to put a damper on everyone's Christmas.

Guys, gals, peeps, ppl, whatever you call yourselves. Have a fantastic Christmas. I'll post when I can, or when something inspires me to post. Remember my technical posts coming in the new year. I am also thinking of exploring the option of reviewing products - we shall see!

Merry Christmas!