Seeing that both The Student and at least one of my friends have broken the screens of their iPhones - and Apple Support have declared the phones "unrepairable" the following seems remarkably interesting :
Broken iPhone screens now replaceable at retail ...
Owners of an iPhone with a broken screen can now have the display replaced at an Apple Store, reports say. Apple has typically kept most of its iPhone repairs out of retail, instead relying on central facilities to have a device fixed if it is not simply swapped. Replacing a display involves a special machine, which removes the old one using suction, allowing a new one to be attached with minimum struggle
Read more