Last August the camera in my iPhone 3GS started producing photos as if they were taken through a jar of Vaseline or a screen door – neither one a very pleasing effect. It didn’t inconvenience me much, but I do find the camera handy for a quick informal shot or as a reminder for something I need to remember, so I missed it.
I went online and found that the camera lens has a protective coating and that sometimes it produces the problem I had. I tried every remedy from rubbing alcohol to lens cleaners but nothing worked.
I made an appointment at the ‘Genius Bar’ at the Apple Store in Short Hills, but I missed the appointment by 5 minutes. If you are late you’re cooked and have to wait for the next opening – in that case 3 hours. Bye, bye, Short Hills.
I finally got around to making another appointment in late October. I was determined to get there early (a personal first for me) and I did. I showed up to the genius bar and showed the resident genius my problem. Clearly something was wrong with the phone, so he disappeared into the secret back room. I waited…and waited some more. He showed up with a new phone! (Ok, refurbished.). Now that’s great customer service – delight the customer. Even though my phone was two months out of warranty, they replaced the whole phone to fix the camera.
I’d forgotten how useful it was to have a camera. Many stores this holiday season have QR codes on their price tags and I’d be sunk without camera to scan them. I can fool around with fun tools like Hipstamatic (photo above) and Instagram. And if a flasher ever bothers me, I can catch them in the act.
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