Well, it's about freakin' time! You're all well aware of the iBook motherboard problem, we assume; it seems that lots of folks who had purchased white G3 iBooks in 2002 and 2003 noticed their displays going all goofy after a while, and had to have their logic boards replaced multiple times and the darn things just kept right on failing-- some after the iBook had gone out of warranty, which had customers (especially dead ones) up in arms. The ridiculously high incidence of iBook motherboard failure shows that it's clearly a systematic design or manufacturing flaw, they said, so what's with Apple trying to charge people for out-of-warranty repairs? Oooo, icky.

Well, good news: faithful viewer Edward was the first to inform us that Apple has finally done the right thing and instituted a Repair Extension Program. Essentially, Apple is acknowledging that those logic boards are freaking out just a leetle too often for it to be a mere fluke, and so, starting yesterday, any iBook with a serial number starting with "UV220" through "UV318" exhibiting the symptom of Display Weirdness (rigidly defined as "scrambled or distorted video, appearance of unexpected lines on the screen, intermittent video image, video freeze," or "computer starts up to blank screen"-- no, "I have three stuck pixels and the image of Jesus occasionally appears at random intervals" doesn't cut it) qualifies for a free motherboard repair or replacement, regardless of warranty status. And by "free," Apple actually means free; they'll even pick up the shipping charge both ways.

"But AtAT," you whine, "I already grudgingly shelled out hundreds of dollars for Apple to replace my out-of-warranty iBook's logic board-- am I boned, or what?" Well, happily, the answer to your question appears to be "what": "Apple will reimburse customers with eligible iBooks for the cost of repairs covered under this program, and will pro-actively contact affected customers where Apple has their contact information." How cool is that? They'll call you about giving you your money back. Now there's a class act, right there. Granted, we're going to have to assume that this "Service with a Smile!" policy was prompted by the threat of imminent legal action, but it's still nice, isn't it?

Anyway, the program runs for three years after a given iBook was originally purchased, and Apple will extend the coverage further later on if it seems that iBook logic boards keep on keeling over. So if your iBook is in the covered serial number range and its video is looking a bit flaky, call Apple and get it fixed for free. Chalk up one more consumer rights victory for the walking dead!