Pain In The Pod

[AdamBomb8]

The iPod is invaluable in the everyday lives of millions. We name our iPods, coddle them, buy cases for them, insure them and sing their praises—until they break down.

Then we curse them, throw them, mock them and spread the bad word—before buying our next one.

And the cycle repeats.

"When they're working, they're great," said Tim Vargo, an early adopter who is on his fourth iPod. "But I've had the Nano for four or five months, so now I'm really getting to the point where I'm waiting for it to screw up."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technolog ... &cset=true

[longlinergirl]

F that...I got one, and have had nothing but problems with it. Never again...

[sy]

F that...I got one, and have had nothing but problems with it. Never again...

That's what I hear from more and more people who have them. Then I ask them why they didn't just get a regular mp3 player, or one of the multimedia players, more often than not they answer with 'hmm, never thought of it... or 'didn't really know there were that many options..'

I'll give Apple's marketing credit for that, they flooded the market so well people forgot there were other options.

[longlinergirl]

F that...I got one, and have had nothing but problems with it. Never again...

That's what I hear from more and more people who have them. Then I ask them why they didn't just get a regular mp3 player, or one of the multimedia players, more often than not they answer with 'hmm, never thought of it... or 'didn't really know there were that many options..'

I'll give Apple's marketing credit for that, they flooded the market so well people forgot there were other options.

I wanted the ipod because , well, it was popular. Everyone seemed to have one so I figured it was fine. I should have done more homework...my next one will be a Creative Zen I think. My mom has that one (after my advice, no ipod) and its been great!

[sy]

I wanted the ipod because , well, it was popular. Everyone seemed to have one so I figured it was fine. I should have done more homework...my next one will be a Creative Zen I think. My mom has that one (after my advice, no ipod) and its been great!

I have the first model Zen that came out a couple of years ago. I use it almost every day, and haven't yet had a problem with it. Sturdy, too. I've dropped it a couple of times while I was outside, and no problems.

I like the software with it, too...nice, easy, and quick.

[longlinergirl]

I wanted the ipod because , well, it was popular. Everyone seemed to have one so I figured it was fine. I should have done more homework...my next one will be a Creative Zen I think. My mom has that one (after my advice, no ipod) and its been great!

I have the first model Zen that came out a couple of years ago. I use it almost every day, and haven't yet had a problem with it. Sturdy, too. I've dropped it a couple of times while I was outside, and no problems.

I like the software with it, too...nice, easy, and quick.

If my mom figured out AND hasn't broke it...it must be good!

[sy]

If my mom figured out AND hasn't broke it...it must be good!

I like that.

[sonofabeach]

I suspect it not just with Ipods. When my Philips Go Gear mp3 player finally craps out I know I'm gonna have to get another because I'm so used to it now. Of course it "should" be around for quite a while longer although it has hit the concrete once and has a few scratches on it.

of course the first thing that you should do when you buy any mp3 player is throw the headphones away and get better ones

[Crazy Navy Flyer]

My small battery operated cassette player still works great.

[longlinergirl]

My small battery operated cassette player still works great.

A what player

[Drumkat]

F that...I got one, and have had nothing but problems with it. Never again...

YOu should've taken it back. I've had about 7 of them and never had a problem with any of them. Following your logic, I doubt you'd use windows after about 3 days. (crash, blue screen of death, ect...)

[Harry_Fins]

I just bought a kit and schematics off the web for $20, now if anything breaks on mine, I usually buy the part which is about $40 or less for any part other than the Hard drive and replace the parts myself. I've had my black and white 20 gb ipod for almost 2 years without any major issues.

[Lightning Bolt]

I just love my Delco 8-Track.
You get used to the track skipping occasionally, but what are ya' gonna do?




...oh, and my iPod Mini still works pretty OK, despite my best efforts to kill it with impact
It works VERY smoothly with a Mac

[MojosMama]

Ironically, my little-used ipod Nano just gasped it's potential last breath last night. The PC doesn't "see" it at all. Anyone have any ideas what could be done, or should I pack it in? I just bought the freaking thing in March.

[tikitatas]

As a Mac user, iPod has been my choice and I have never had a problem with it. It will be two years old this Christmas. However, if I had a PC, I'd never have an iPod. Not enough friendly interface factors.

[land_shark3]

For those who don't want to log in:
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Pain in the pod

From news services

July 24, 2006

The iPod is invaluable in the everyday lives of millions. We name our iPods, coddle them, buy cases for them, insure them and sing their praises—until they break down.

Then we curse them, throw them, mock them and spread the bad word—before buying our next one.

And the cycle repeats.

"When they're working, they're great," said Tim Vargo, an early adopter who is on his fourth iPod. "But I've had the Nano for four or five months, so now I'm really getting to the point where I'm waiting for it to screw up."

There's plenty of anecdotal evidence calling out Apple's portable media player as a faulty device on many counts. The company has acknowledged some problems, offering subsidized replacements for faulty batteries of certain-generation iPods and free replacements to the easily cracked and scratched screens of some Nanos.

However, based on anecdotal evidence and online forums of iPod users, other problems remain. Exact repair/replacement numbers are unknown; those are controlled by Apple.

But Apple maintains that failure rates are low.

An Apple spokeswoman, Natalie Kerris, said iPods have a failure rate of less than 5 percent, which she said is "fairly low" compared with other consumer electronics. "The vast majority of our customers are extremely happy with their iPods," she said, adding that an iPod is designed to last four years.

A survey done in late 2005 by macintouch.com, a 12-year-old Web site for Apple users, offers a window into the type of problems users most frequently encounter. Of nearly 9,000 iPods owned by more than 4,000 respondents, more than 1,400 of the mp3 players had failed. The survey reported a failure rate of 13.7 percent, roughly half battery-related, while the other half were hard-drive-related. Other data indicated Nanos and Shuffles, which operate without hard drives, were less prone to failure.

Gregg Radell, who started a company that refurbishes faulty iPods, said "the single weakest link" is the iPod's hard drive. "When they're being carried around and being tossed up and down, they go through such a variety of environments that I think the hard drive has a tendency to fail," he said.

But several analysts said the problems have more to do with the popularity of the iPod and the tendency of users to abuse them than with Apple's manufacturing policies.

Bob O'Donnell, a vice president at technology research firm IDC, said, "Any time you have that many of anything," some will not function properly.

Fifteen percent of iPods will fail within one year, estimates Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group in San Jose, Calif. He said that's roughly comparable to other small electronic devices, such as cell phones. Nevertheless, he said, cell phones are much easier and cheaper to repair. Hard data on iPod repair and replacement rates may be spotty.

But consumers at least appear to think the devices fail at an unreasonable rate. Lately, as the iPod approaches its fifth birthday in October, the accounts of hard-drive failure are commonplace on online tech forums.

"Right now mine is a $400 paperweight," wrote one blogger in February after his hard drive died without apparent reason.

Apple created a device that is unparalleled in size, functionality, design and capability. But many modern digital products, whether hardware or software, seem to be manufactured with an eye toward frequent replacement and updates—the sort of built-in obsolescence that has frustrated consumers for decades. Companies such as Apple and Microsoft hope at least some customers will update often to get a more advanced product.

There appears to be no lack of customers willing to do just that. It took more than three years for Apple to release its first 14 iPod models, but the company has introduced another 12 models in the past 15 months.

Dano Shattuck had recurring problems with his old iPod, from a balky headphone jack to a dead battery. But they were easily handled until he dropped the mp3 player on a concrete floor. He accepted fault and bought a new 60-gig video iPod.

"None of that changes my opinion that the iPod is the best thing to ever happen to music," Shattuck said. "It's such an incredible product."

Replacing a $150 cell phone is one thing. A $400 60-gig video iPod is another story. Yet still, many people mourn the premature loss of their iPod with the purchase of a new iPod.

"The first one I bought new, and it wasn't long before I got the little frowny-faced guy, and there was no recovering," said Jason Lucero, an iPod enthusiast now on his second player. "I'm a computer geek and can figure that stuff out, but it was broken, it was done."

Enthusiasts know and fear the frowny-faced guy, which means the iPod must be sent to the company for repair or replacement.

"When I sent the first one back, they sent me a refurbished one within a week," Lucero said. "But I still have the same problems. It'll just freeze up, pretending it doesn't want to work sometimes. I've gotten so [angry] that I've thrown it across the room. And then it worked. Banging it up a little bit helps sometimes."

Regardless of these problems, brand loyalty isn't something Apple has to worry about. Vargo, a longtime Mac user, is content with his Nano and doesn't see himself without an Apple-made MP3 player.

"Walkmans were everywhere in the '80s," said Vargo, "and now iPods have that exact same effect on this generation."

[SharkOnLand]

I'm loving my iriver clix:

[spendingmoney]

As a Mac user, iPod has been my choice and I have never had a problem with it. It will be two years old this Christmas.

Also a Mac user and have also had my iPod for a couple years and haven't had a single issue with it.

[PirateJohn]

I'm loving my iriver clix:

One of the guys at the sushi restaurant that I hit was showing me his multimedia something-or-another. I think that it was a Sony product and it ran games, videos, and music. Pretty slick -- I was thinking that something like that loaded with photos would be handy to throw into my briefcase.

I recently bought a Sirius S50 radio, which combines a satellite radio (can we say "Radio Margaritaville?") with an MP3 player that you can download albums and songs into. It will also record music off the air. The MP3 part is pretty slick and I enjoy carrying it on my walks, but the radio is a two-part operation and when I use it to listen to radio the portable portion has a bad habit of undocking from the base. I am using it on motorcycles; dunno if it would work better in a car or not. Since it loses the signal and confuses itself when it undocks I am debating whether or not to see if Sirius thinks this one is defective of if there is a software fix to make it less sensitive to interruptions.

[Soraya]

The iPod is invaluable in the everyday lives of millions. We name our iPods, coddle them, buy cases for them, insure them and sing their praises—until they break down.

Then we curse them, throw them, mock them and spread the bad word—before buying our next one.

And the cycle repeats.

"When they're working, they're great," said Tim Vargo, an early adopter who is on his fourth iPod. "But I've had the Nano for four or five months, so now I'm really getting to the point where I'm waiting for it to screw up."

http://www.chicagotribune.com/technolog ... &cset=true

You know.....I've had my iPod for over 2 years...never a problem with it. My husband has had his nano for a year...and no problem. It does have once scratch on the case....but it's hardly big.

I didn't think we were easy on them...in fact I've dropped my multiple times dancing on the deck...once off the deck down two stories (It did land flat on some soft dirt).....and I am listening it right now.

Just have to wonder what people are doing with them!