Shame On You: The Apple iPod

CBS 2 New York ^ | Arnold Diaz

[finnman69]

Shame On You: The Apple iPod
Battery Replacement Problems Are Creating Problems

Feb 25, 2005 3:00 pm US/Eastern

NEW YORK (CBS) The Apple iPod is one of the most popular consumer electronic products in history. Thus far, 10 million have been sold to music lovers.

But you may be surprised to learn what happens when the battery on the iPod dies.

Our Shame On You team reports that battery replacement problems are making some people irate over the iPod. See why Arnold Diaz puts Apple in the Hall of Shame.

Video at the link

Here: is the link to the movie referrred to at the video story:
http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/

[John Lenin]

I've tried both players Ipod and Creative. Creative was easier to operate and had way more storage for the money.

[SaveTheChief]

But how is it easier to operate? I own an iPod myself and can't possibly imagine anything being easier or intuitive. It has four buttons and a scroll wheel. I realize this is only an opinion, and everyone has his own. But I really would like to hear some details from someone who believes the iPod is inferior.

Yes, the iPod is a bit pricey and is more expensive when compared to other products. I think the trade is in having a quality product that is solid as a rock, sounds great, is small and very elegant.

That being said, I have nothing against the Creative product line. I just prefer the iPod for its ease of use, quality sound, seamless integration with iTunes, and elegance.

[Centurion2000]

Look at the Archos 200. It's like a mini hard drive. I hear you have to use special software for the iPod. With the Archos, I just plug it in to the USB port and it's another hard drive.

I loved my Archos, the best thing about it ? You can copy your mp3's OFF the Archos like a hard drive and it uses a tiny unix kernal for the OS player.

No special drivers required.

The downside ? It was bigger then my Creative Labs 30GB drive and the screen cracked if you breathed on it. If the screen held out I would still be running it.

[mastercylinder]

don't use batteries that much honestly I use my Nintendo ds, ipod and computer no AAAs for me thankyou

He doesn't use batteries either

[Petronski]

It's a friggin battery peeople! A BATTERY!

Ever buy a new battery for a cell phone or computer? A BATTERY?

[Musket]

That would instantly end Apple's computer manufacturing.

I don't think it would. Believe it or not, there are people in this world who prefer quality and superior design and don't mind paying extra for it. I DO however think it would spell the end of Billy Boys dominance and the only reason it hasn't yet happened is probably because Billy Boy is paying Jobs not to. What does Jobs care, he's comfy.

[savedbygrace]

Even if you do decide to send it to Apple for a replacement, it's only $99 plus $6.95 S&H. Apparently, they send you a new iPod, because the process takes longer if your iPod was personalized by Apple.

[Petronski]

But i guess i can only hold a few hundred songs

Are you saying your sony doesn't have a hard drive on board like the ipod?

LOL. Some comparison.

[Snowy]

I loved my Archos, the best thing about it ? You can copy your mp3's OFF the Archos like a hard drive and it uses a tiny unix kernal for the OS player.

I got the 200 for my son, and I bought the 220 (it has the CF card reader). I also move large files back and forth to work on it. It's great. I'm pretty careful with it, so the screen should be Ok.

[Bush2000]

Even if you do decide to send it to Apple for a replacement, it's only $99 plus $6.95 S&H. Apparently, they send you a new iPod, because the process takes longer if your iPod was personalized by Apple.

$107 every 18 months? Pretty pricey...

[Dont Mention the War]

The movie is accurate. Apple's battery replacement was placed AFTER the movie was distributed throughout.

The movie was made a year and a half ago. Apple instituted (and other companies started offering) battery replacements a year and a half ago. WCBS aired this "report" yesterday.

Perhaps next week Arnold Diaz can do a hard-hitting report on the dangers of the Chevy Corvair.

---

Q: Apple only released their battery replacement service" because of all the bad publicity from iPod's Dirty Secret.

A: While often claimed, this couldn't be further from the truth. Apple released the battery replacement program November 14, 2003. ipodsdirtysecret.com was only registered on November 20, 2003, and started being heavily publicized on November 21, 2003. Additionally, Apple had been planning the AppleCare programs for months - these types of service programs don't just happen overnight - before Casey Neistat even had his first contact with Apple. The video campaign had nothing to do with Apple's rollout of the battery replacement program. Further reading.

[Dont Mention the War]

More lies from CBS News (see post 251).

[add925]

Sorry....Steve Jobs....typing too fast.

When given the choice of equal equipment I ALWAYS consider the politics of the person running the show.

Stevie is a big $$$ Lib....buy his stuff, help the Dims in my view.

I've always avoided MacApple...life still goes on just fine.

[FreedomPoster]

The lack of basic repair skills, in the American populace today, is frightening.

I guess that's what happens when you eliminate middle school shop class in favor of "cultural studies" or some such.

[add925]

Talk about a group of liberals if i ever saw one.

You think these people are bad.....visit their Headquarters sometime. I did several years ago - A Liberal Palace.

[savedbygrace]

And your 18 months figure comes from . . . ???????

Surely you're not assuming that the Neistat brothers' experience is typical and usual?

Several posters to this thread have said they've gotten more than 18 months and their iPod is still going strong. Apple has posted a number of tips that can help the battery keep going longer; I suppose these can be referred to as best practices.

Come on, you're not jealous just 'cause Apple is more successful than you, are you? They've been selling a boatload of iPods, that's for sure.

When it's Microsoft that corners the market, you cheer wildly, but when Apple comes on strong, you're on their heels like a jackal. Strange, that.

[SamAdams76]

Lame complaint. Yes, the batteries are going to die eventually. You laptop battery will eventually die. Your cellphone battery will eventually die. Your camera batteries will eventually die. Your car battery will eventually die.

Tell me a device where the battery doesn't eventually die!

As for the Apple iPod, replacing the battery is a piece of cake. Take a tiny flattip screwdriver and pry the cover loose (look on the web for instructions on where to pry for your particular iPod model). Took me all over 30 seconds to get my iPod open and another three or four minutes to take out the old battery. The cover then very nicely popped back in place.

Y-A-W-N...are there people out there with REAL problems?

[Musket]

Right. A fine bunch of Conservatives here! LOL!

[SunkenCiv]

That's funny... My dad's GS is still around (he isn't), hadn't been turned on since I set up a localtalk network to transfer files to his Mac Performa 6360 (circa 1996), and when I put the components together and fired it up last month, the clock was still running. The date and year were correct, but somewhere along the line the daylight savings time changes got missed. It was off by three hours.

My anecdote beats your anecdote, because mine is characteristic of Apple customers' experience. Yours is characteristic of customers of your local computer store.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks, Martin!

pretty much the same link:
http://www.boudist.com/archive/2003/11/26/ipod_battery.php#more

then just scroll up a little.