Something worth posting about
So way back in late March, I was fumbling around for the iPhone 5S in my pocket when, for the 20th time, it slipped out of my hands. My luck ran out. The screen shattered. Ugh.
I didn’t think it prudent to spend $750 on a new iPhone that was already 6 months old. Instead I decided to fix the screen, and with much overconfidence, I opted for a do-it-yourself kit for $20. Days later, the iPhone SE was announced which set me back a more reasonable $500; coinidentally, TiVo got their long awaited buyout offer and I felt a little flush. The iPhone repair kit went in a drawer and was forgotten about.
Yesterday I decided to tackle the project. I started by opening up the how-to video. When I saw it was 45 minutes long, I realized I may be in over my head. However, after a single lost screw and a dozen questionable moments, I managed to reassemble the whole thing- battery, camera, speaker, fingerprint sensor & more- without braking anything. Originally I had planned to sell it after repair, leaning towards keeping it now as an extra device.
Having completed this repair, it’s damn impressive how well engineered the iPhone is. So compact! Much different than my TiVo hacking days, which didn’t require much fine dexterity. All told, the repair took me back to the early, hacktivist credo of The Board.