A quick drop onto the sidewalk is enough to transform your sleek little smartphone into iPhone: The Spiderman Edition. Your newly shattered back glass is probably still in-place and functional, but it's less than pretty. That is, unless you decide to enhance it with — get this — just a few colored highlighters.
After an iPhone accident, many people, like ZDNet's Jason O'Grady, whose shattered phone is pictured above left, are content to live with the broken glass. It's not pretty, but it works.
But then there are people like Reddit user skrillexisokay, who decided to get creative with their spider-webbed iPhone and use colored highlighters to enhance the natural breaks:
Just draw all over the back with a highlighter and rub the excess ink off with a paper towel. The ink will stay in the cracks, but rub off the rest of the back. [To avoid] dangerous glass shards or ink rubbing off, cover with one piece of clear packing tape or something similar, like clear nail polish.
Of course, we feel compelled to mention that repairing the front or back glass on your iPhone is easy and inexpensive. But if you don't want to get into DIY repairs, this is a quick aesthetic fix with a cool and unique result.
(Images: Jason O'Grady/ZDNet, skrillexisokay/Reddit Life Pro Tips)

Ercol Bar Stool
Haha that actually looks pretty good!
Now if we could only be so lucky as to not crack the screen as well!
I like it. It's like kintsugi for tech.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/02/AR2009030202723.html
The glass back can be replace with 2 screws. You just need to order a special screw driver if you have the iPhone 4. This market sells some after market parts:
http://www.iphonereplacementbacks.com
Sorry for all of the typos. Eeek!
Is it really so hard to spend $30 at an Apple Store (or less at a third party repairer) and get it fixed?
I can't believe anyone who owns an iPhone is that cash strapped that they can't afford to get the back replaced.
wow.. all that money and it shatters the first time you drop it.
not to be cynical, but it's also happened with watches, etc which come from 'designer" brands. I mean really, are they squeezing so much profit out of the name that they can't afford to upgrade the glass on these things?
while the display replacement on the iPhone 3G/3GS is simple, the iPhone 4 is a very different process. Still doable, just takes a lot longer and more screws/connectors.