[Per-Ling]

That’s not the point. For the money I paid for both items back then, I should not have had to purchase any “accessories” to get more than 18 months use out of them. And self-replacement batteries for iPods back in the mid 90’s were unheard of. Shoddy workmanship, bait-and-switch like sales philosophy, and the birkenstock/granola eating/latte sipping culture they promote is not for me.

[IncPen]

That’s not the point. For the money I paid for both items back then, I should not have had to purchase any “accessories” to get more than 18 months use out of them.

Agreed. I got about 6 years of life out of my Gen2 6GB iPod. I beat that thing mercilessly, and the only thing that killed it was when I lent it to a buddy and he plugged it into a dodgy Firewire port.

And self-replacement batteries for iPods back in the mid 90’s were unheard of.

You're absolutely right. Unheard of. Because The iPod was introduced in 2001.

Shoddy workmanship, bait-and-switch like sales philosophy, and the birkenstock/granola eating/latte sipping culture they promote is not for me.

I feel the same way about the US Auto industry. Clearly you're more of a man than me. I salute you.