I tackled the iPhone the other night. I purchased my daughter the iPhone when she needed a new cell phone and an iPod. This made sense because when you added the costs together of purchasing a phone and an iPod separately, it would be about the same to get the iPhone, which does both. Within a week, she had an incident. The screen cracked and, after checking out the cost of repair, it was not worth it. The part alone, LCD screen and glass cover, runs about $199. Fortunately, I had coverage from American Express, and I simply filed a claim and got another iPhone. Well, as chance would have it, there was another incident. The phone got caught between the scissor mechanism of a recliner. And the same thing happened — a cracked screen. This time it was past the 90 days of purchase required by American Express. I googled the problem and found pdaparts.com. They had the replacement, and although I thought it might be difficult, I figured it was worth a shot! It appeared that only the glass was broken and not the LCD screen underneath. This part was only about $40, including the necessary case opener and mini screwdriver. Of course the online video made the procedure look relatively easy, but after three hours of work, the screen seemed to be damaged beyond the glass panel, including the LCD. When we plugged in all the tiny wires, the phone still was inoperable. Disappointing, to say the least! I took it to my local authorized Apple dealer and repair center. I know the owner well. Frankly, he was impressed that we even attempted the repair. He suggested yet another replacement phone and asked to keep the old one, as he had never seen the inside of the G3 iPhone and wanted to take it apart — like a science project. To the team at Apple — if you truly want to be considered “green,” make a product that is repairable. The reality is, Apple is far from green, as most of their products are made to be disposable. The iPhone is just another example. -Fran Gallagher, publisher and CEO