When my microwave oven first broke down more than a year ago, I got a shock when I was quoted the price for the repair. It would cost $100 just for an initial inspection to find out what is wrong. If the repair shop determines that the oven is beyond repair, the $100 will be gone down the drain and I could possibly pay a lot more for a complete repair. Plus the trip taken, petrol and time consumed, it is actually more worthwhile to get a brand-new oven. However, I just could not accept this as the microwave oven is just a little more than a year old and it is a popular brand.

My wife began researching on the internet and found a Youtube video clip teaching viewers how to repair a microwave oven. She managed to fix the oven, which was working fine for more than a year before it relapsed recently. Of course, she got the oven working again with her acquired repair skills.

Microwave Oven Repair

I am thankful that we have now video sharing sites such as YouTube, where you can find tutorials on everything conceivable under the sun, ranging on how to set up a mice trap, how to cultivate ranunculus to how to eat vegemite (video link).

Recently, there is even a video in which an enterprising Chinese man demonstrates how to assemble an iPad look-a-like using computer parts, a touch screen and a case with a keypad – a gospel to those who desperately want the gadget but cannot afford it (Ref 1).

The creation of this video reflected the current craze that China has with iPad. Earlier on, a teenager had sold one of his kidneys for 20,000 yuan (A$3170) so he could buy an iPad 2 (Ref 2). There are fake Apple stores that look so like the real that even their employees are duped into believing they are working for Steve Jobs (Ref 3).