IPad Deconstruction and Destruction

There’s a unicorn inside.  Break yours open and all your wishes will come true.

the unicorn wrangling fees, strippers covered in gold leaf for Steve Jobs, and all those packets of kool aid.  Nonetheless, pretty interesting, in the sense that I can tell myself I’ll build my own version, maaaan, ’cause I don’t play by the rules, maaaaaaan.

iSuppli estimates that the 16 Gb, non-3G iPad retailing at $499 has a materials and manufacturing cost of $259.60.  Not surprisingly, over a quarter of that cost is in the display ($65).  Then there’s the touch screen assembly ($30) and the flash memory ($29.50 for 16 GB, $59 for 32 GB, or $118 for 64 GB).  And for no particular reason, there’s also a video below to answer the important question: yeah, but what happens if I put the iPad in a blender?  Don’t act like you weren’t thinking it.

[Banner pic (minus the unicorn) via ifixit; inset pics via iSuppli and ArsTechnica]