I cracked the screen of my 4th gen iPod Touch the other day. Actually, not cracked — shattered. I think I wouldn’t have cracked it had I dropped the iTouch at any other angle and place than face-first on a concrete driveway; after all, it had a case and screen “protector” (scratch protector, really). I don’t have the time to compute the G force involved in stopping the device in an instant after a few-foot drop, but I suspect most glass wouldn’t have survived either unless encased in bubble wrap. Fortunately the iPod still worked. I made a Wednesday appointment at my local Apple Store and waited for the days to creep by.

Y’know, there’s just something about Apple Stores — packed to the brim with folks young and old, pressing here and tapping there, some even with food and drinks cradled in their free hands. (Maybe the something is that I’m just a fanboy.) I shouldered my way through the crowd and checked in for my appointment, and soon a blue-shirted guy came up to me. I made some quip about a “small recent problem” — as in small pieces of glass everywhere — and showed him the situation. “Shattered,” he said. (I got the word from him.) Then he said I’d need $150 to replace the iPod.

Well, #&*!