Good: my son got me an iPhone Bad: ...

[krispos42]

...he's 7, and found it at the beach.


More specifically, he found it in the surf, and brought this dripping black rectangle to me.


So now I've got a dead iPhone. Now what do I do with it?


It won't turn on. I let it dry a couple of days... it won't turn on.

I plugged it into my computer. It won't turn on.


No name or address on it. No removable memory card. No carrier logo on it. Just the serial number.


So what should I do with it?

I'm inclined to soak in alcohol for a bit to try to dissolve any salt left in it, then let it dry and see if I can get it to boot.

Good idea? Bad idea? Anybody got any better ideas?

[OffWithTheirHeads]

1. take it to the apple store. they know who belongs to it.

[krispos42]

2. They do, huh?

Hmmmm... I hadn't thought of that.


Thanks!

[krispos42]

3. By a curious coincidence...

...I'll be at the Stamford mall tomorrow... and they have an Apple store!

[mythology]

4. Sell it on ebay as slightly used obviously.

Or if you want to be uber-geeky, pop the thing open and replace the drive with a new one and run it as an mp3 player or a droid-based small tablet.

[jakeXT]

5. drive? nt

[petronius]

6. Send the kid out again! Now that he know what to look for,

maybe the next one will be dry...

[tabbycat31]

7. turn it in to authorities on that beach

Lifeguards will usually turn in lost big-ticket items to the local police. Chances are the owner has already contacted the lifeguards about it.

[krispos42]

8. Yeah, they had already left for the afternoon when he found it.

Hmmmm... I'll try the Apple Store first, as I'll be going there first. If they can't help me, I'll bring it to the cops.