We got our then 16 and 12yo Ipads for Xmas last year.
Before the excitement and screaming could die down completely, I explained that they were holding about $800 bucks apiece, and if they treated them like they treated their other electronics, the consequences would be most dire. :mad:
So far, so good…
Based on my previous marriage, the 22nd year seems to be " let’s cut with the sham and end this thing" year.
Ouch! That puts a broken screen into perspective.
No kidding.
A broken screen really sucks.
You all aren’t going to believe this.
I’ve had my iPad 2 for less than a month and today, at approximately 12:45 pm I DROPPED IT and cracked the screen. :smack: :eek: :mad:
But mostly: 
After I finished crying for 30 minutes straight, we got in the car and motored up the the Apple store. The Guy checked it. Told us that a cracked screen = You Need a New iPad. “Let me go back and see if we have one of these.” (64G version) They did. He offered us a deal: $350 for a new one or Free for a new one. :eek:
This is a one-time-only deal, though — “next time” it happens, it’s the $350, no if ands or buts.
Based on my experience, though, and the experiences of those in this thread, I’m predicting that this is a problem Apple is going to have to deal with. I am extremely careful with electronics. I’ve had cell phones since 2001, and have dropped my phone exactly twice, with no cracks or problems whatsoever. This iPad drop was a less than 3-foot drop from the top of a computer cabinet onto the floor of a carpeted office … and apparently nicking the edge of an adjacent desk on the way down.
I had it less than a month! Less. Than. A. Month. I got a new one, praise the iPad Gods Above … but still. I broke my $800 baby, with the personalization on the back (which I had to give up).
I’m still suffering post-traumatic stress syndrome. Be nice to me.
Damn Apple! An $800 piece of hardware, and the glass isn’t tempered.
Ellen, so nice of them to give you a new one! We are still waffling about what to do. Maybe I will take it in and look pathetic today…
I’m not sure looking pathetic is a necessity; I will cop to bursting into tears again when I heard the “free” part, though.
Are you in the DC area? If Apple won’t fix it try the Cell Phone Repair Center in Arlington. An acquaintance cracked his Iphone and took it there. They replaced it in about twenty minutes.
When the iPad 2 was released, for a short time you could get a refurbished iPad 1 at the Apple online store for significantly cheaper than the new model. If you’re not worried about having the latest and greatest features, you can save about 30%.
Of course, now you’ll have to wait for the iPad 3 to come out… 
If you don’t want it you can send it to me 
Glad to learn how fragile these things are.
Won’t waste my money. A handheld electronic item that can’t take dropping isn’t worth owning.
Dropped many calculators, my Nokia phone with no problem. Handheld items get dropped or knocked off a desk all the time.
Apple can keep their precious, fragile ipad… When they are made for real world use, then maybe I’ll get one.
Yeah, it doesn’t add much to the cost of a piece of glass to heat treat it. and it becomes vastly more rugged. I could see some issues if it wasn’t a flat piece of glass, but it is. Any glass experts to tell me I’m wrong, or is it just more proof of Steve Jobs’ essentially evil nature.
Oh for pete’s sake. It’s a reasonably robust piece of precision equipment. Would you blame an expensive camera for being fragile if a kid accidentally dropped it? If it’s not for you, and you’re never going to buy one, that’s fine. You don’t need to make up excuses for it like “gosh, thats a WHOLE LOT more fragile than I thought it was!”
Because I assure you, the plastic cased tablets are every bit as fragile. There’s a video out where the iPad and it’s competition are dropped from waist height on concrete to “test” how robust they are. The folks oooh and aaaah at how much less the glass shattered on the competing tablets, ignoring the fact that THEY ALL BROKE.
It is a potentially kilobuck priced piece of kit. Would you swing around a kilobuck priced telescope? What’s so hard to grasp about treating expensive things like expensive things?
ETA: it IS treated glass. The same as on their iPhone…just like the one in my pocket that’s scratch free after two years of rugged use.
I’d love to think my Droid X is treated. I still went out and had a Zagg InvisibleSHIELD bonded onto the face of my Droid. I keep keys, change, Swiss Army Knife in my pockets. Rather than risk scratching, I go with this relatively cheap and amazing product.
Works. Really works. Does zero to diminish screen sensitivity, and protects the glass.
Well, whatever helps you get through the night, but it wasn’t necessary:
When I banged my prehistoric (> 8 years old) Apple laptop into a wall last year and damaged the case, the person at the Apple store told me “go to this place to have it fixed, some of those guys are ex-Apple store employees” and gave me the name of a local computer shop. Make sure and ask for a recommendation at the Apple store if they don’t give you a free replacement.
(It turns out that my laptop was so old, it wasn’t really worth fixing. I can still use it if I connect it to an external monitor).
Is this thread cursed???
I’m sure you’re all dying to know the outcome here, right? The Apple store very kindly replaced the iPad at no charge today. Phew! They don’t sell a very rugged case in the store for the iPad2 yet, so I’ve just ordered one online. Hopefully that will extend the lifespan of the new one.
caffeine.addict - I called that place in Arlington and it sounds like they’d certainly be able to fix it. They quoted me $90 less than the Apple call center. I’ll keep them in mind as we’re a little hard on our gadgets around here.
I worked with a guy who was a huge Apple fan. Stood in line for hours and hours and hours to get an iPhone when they were first released. He gets his, takes it home, and as he’s getting out of his car, it slips out of the bag and shatters in his driveway. He had owned it for less than an hour at that point.