What Next TBD: I Bought It. Why Can't I Fix It?

Slate News

Slate Podcasts

News, News Commentary, Politics

4.6 • 6K Ratings

🗓️ 30 July 2021

⏱️ 17 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Whether it’s a phone screen or a coffee machine, why is it so hard to fix our own stuff? And what can we do to make it a bit easier? Guest: Jason Koebler, editor-in-chief of Motherboard and contributor to the CYBER podcast Host Lizzie O’Leary Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hey guys, if you enjoy what next TBD, the best way to support the show is by joining Slate Plus, a Slate's membership program.
0:08.0	Your contribution helps us produce the unique stories that you hear on this show.
0:14.0	It's only a dollar for your first month, and in addition to supporting our journalism, members get an ad-free experience across Slate podcasts and never hit a paywall on the Slate website.
0:24.0	Plus members are essential to keeping the show going, so I hope you will join if you're able to.
0:30.0	Just sign up now, just go to Slate.com slash what next plus?
0:34.0	Again, that is Slate.com slash what next plus?
0:42.0	Several years ago, journalist Jason Kebler was on his very first work trip.
0:47.0	He was an intern at US News and World Report at the time, and he was excited.
0:51.0	We did karaoke the first night, and I got a little bit drunk, nothing crazy, but I fell asleep with my laptop in my bed watching comedy or something like on Netflix.
1:04.0	When Jason woke up, the laptop had moved down to the edge of the bed without him realizing it.
1:09.0	And what happened next has that painful, almost slow motion quality that anyone who has broken anything expensive knows all too well.
1:18.0	I kicked it off the edge of the bed, and the LCD broke on the laptop.
1:24.0	So the screen wasn't broken, but like if you opened it, it was just all kinds of crazy colors.
1:29.0	And I took it to the Apple store and they wanted $700 to fix it.
1:33.0	Money that Jason and intern did not have.
1:37.0	So he figured, why not try to fix this thing myself?
1:40.0	He went on eBay and found a replacement LCD screen for $50, a fraction of the price that Apple had quoted him.
1:47.0	And then he found some instructions online.
1:50.0	It actually took me like 10 hours to do, like I couldn't get the screen off.
1:54.0	And I remember at one point it was like four in the morning and I grabbed an exacto knife, which is not something you want to take near up on your wires.
2:03.0	But I was just so frustrated and I just couldn't get the screen off to put the new one in.
2:09.0	Eventually Jason fixed the screen and he used that computer for six years.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Slate Podcasts, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Slate Podcasts and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.