Warning: The following story has cringe-worthy descriptions, scenes, and imagery. 😯😨😢🤦♂️
The original iPad was very captivating, but I wasn’t quite convinced of its value to me. However, with the quick advancements (i.e., in one generation), the iPad 2 truly tugged at the “Wow! I want that!” feeling. The iPad 2 included cameras, both front and rear versus none on the original iPad, as well as had double (i.e., 2) the CPU and GPU processing cores, support for the magnetic Smart Cover (which auto slept and woke the iPad), and more. It was April 2011 and the supply was (still?) scarce. I remember finally seeing “in stock” at a Target store across town, which I rushed to shortly before they closed that evening. I also recall my credit card being initially declined because it was an abnormal spending amount for me, causing me to frantically contacted Amex to inform and verify the purchase was authorized — fortunately, at that hour, there was no one else at the checkout and the cashier was very patient and kind about the situation. That iPad is still in use today in fair/good condition, now used by my elderly mother to play a casino slots game. By the way, never replaced/swapped the battery, which has more than 1300 full charge cycles and still provides hours of screen on time.
Move the timeline back to January 2019. I now purchase a 128GB, “rose gold” sixth generation iPad from the Apple Store refurbished section. Honestly, it was mostly for the latest(-ish) performance, although, now having a Retina-level resolution display, a thinner and lighter build, plus faster unlock with Touch ID were nice. Sadly and self-loathing annoyingly, about a year or so ago, the iPad flipped from my hands, landing corner first on a tile floor. I am still using this iPad about half the time, however, I will be retiring (i.e., Best Buy electronics recycling) in a month or so. If you dare look at the attached photo, the iPad definitely is no longer pretty but everything technically works, including the FaceTime camera and the entire digitizer. The continued use has extended the spidering cracks damage.
In March 2023, I eventually jumped on
one of the MacRumors co-promoted iPad deals, gifting myself a 256GB, 11-inch, M1 iPad Pro as the successor to my 6th generation iPad. Another very disappointingly careless incident occurred in August of that year — I know, I know! I was using the iPad while seated in a recliner tending to an injured foot, which was soaking in a small container of cold water to help with swelling — hence the iPad to pass the time. I was tired and dozed off a bit, I think, then lost some grip on the tablet. I prevented a rough landing, but did splash some water while scrambling to catch the iPad. All I saw were some droplets, which I quickly wiped off. That evening, iPadOS displayed a warning about the USB port being wet. I turned the iPad off and allowed it to dry overnight. Heartbreakingly, the next morning a portion of the display had a watercolor-type effect. Beyond the obvious, I was shocked as I truly didn’t believe much water contacted the device. Following a lot of deliberation about what to do next, I brought the iPad to a local Best Buy store, an Apple Authorized Service Provider, for diagnostics and estimate. Indeed, “repair” required replacing the entire iPad, a cost of $500. What an expanding painful mistake. Ugh! After significant more contemplation, I opted to go with the replacement. I don’t intend to replace/upgrade this iPad for a few more years as the performance is still great and I certainly want to squeeze out everything of what’s now a >$1,100 expense.
P.S. I do mostly baby my devices, etc. The iPad Pro even sits on a
Pillow Pad when not in use err in my hands. Ultimately, iPads, iPhones, Macs, etc are tools. When tools are used regularly, there’s an increasing possibility of accidents. I have no doubt everyone here can recall that first scratch, ding, whatnot, whether you were immediately aware or noticed it later on — the first one is especially mentally painfu
