“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,” The CBS 2 New York website reads.
CBS 2 New York has video of this local station feature online.
See it here.
MacDailyNews Take: Of course, the CBS 2 video doesn’t work for Macs, so shame on you CBS 2 for offering only the Windows Media format and greeting your Mac Safari users with, “Warning – Unsupported Browser Internet Explorer 5.0 (or higher) or Netscape 7.1 (or higher) is required to play video on this site at this time.” This is basically an old rehash of the Neistat B.S. in an amateurish “gotcha” local news segment that attempts to trade on the iPod name – you’d think New York City would have better local news, but, of course, this is CBS, after all.
For anyone interested in actually useful information about iPod battery replacements, Other World Computer (a long time MacDailyNews sponsor) and Newer Tech offer a well-known (except by Arnold Diaz and CBS 2 New York viewers) solution that provides up to 70% more capacity vs. Apple’s original iPod battery, includes non-scratch tools, easy instructions, and will get you 20+ hours of runtime for US$29.95 or $39.95 depending on your iPod model. Of course, if this solution was included in the “report,” this easily-obtainable information would completely douse the sensationalism in this rehash package from a disgraced network’s flagship affiliate. And who would want to do that during February sweeps?
More info about the Newer Technology iPod Replacement Batteries from Other World Computing here.
More info about Apple’s iPod battery replacement program here.
Related MacDailyNews articles:
Apple iPod replacement battery lasts longer, costs less, easy to install yourself – December 19, 2004
Apple posts iPod, iPod mini battery life information webpage – June 30, 2004
iPod’s clean secret: replaceable battery usually lasts years – February 18, 2004
I admit that the battery of my iPod was not up to my expectation, it hardly gave me 3 hours. However, during my vacation last summer, I was very very pleased when one of Apple stores in Malaysia replaced my iPod with a NEW one – yes NEW IPOD – when they knew about the problem I had with the battery. This is the service I expect from APPLE.
Re: CBS —
Nothing to see here. Move along.
I personally don’t see the problem with the battery life. I’ve had my 2nd Gen iPod for close to two years now and I use it on an average of four to six hours a day (its the only thing I listen to at work and in my car). I still am able to get between 8 and 10 hours of battery life. So I don’t see what the problem is. I completely expect to replace the iPod itself with a newer version before the battery dies, and since it has lasted me two years, I’ve been more than happy with its performance
Hmmm, I could not watch the vid but set the user agent to Windows IE 6 with the debug menu and could listen to the Audio of it. Actually MDN they DO mention the 3rd party alternative solutions and use this as an example as to why Apple should be charging less and actually sending you back your original iPod and not a different refurbished unit with none of your songs on it. So though I hate to admit it I think the CBS take is accurate and this is something that Apple should improve on. Too bad about the bad press, Apple can defuse it by changing their policy on this.
I found ipodbattery.com – downloadable do-it-yourself PDF and batteries for $2-39
I personally don’t think that CBS’s report was way off base. Yes, there are alternative means for battery replacement, but Apple does not tell you that on their website. When most people need to get their battery replaced, their first reaction (as it should be) is to go directly to Apple.
In my opinion (from personal experience,) Apple’s battery replacement program is expensive, inconvenient and in most cases sub-par. As a company, I believe in Apple and most of the time they do things right. This however, is an area where they could use some major work!
I don’t think this battery issue is as widespread as most reports would have you believe. There were probably a few bad productions runs on batteries. I’m on my second iPod (had an original 20 gig, buttons and all, and now use a 4th gen 40 gig) with no battery problems yet. Obviously my first iPods battery isn’t what it used to be, but after a few years of use and charging, I wouldn’t expect it to be.
If you really want to see it, video works fine on your Mac if you use Internet Explorer
CBS 2 needs to put themselves in the “Hall of Shame” as their website does not support internet standards. Is Dan Rather involved with this?
This is old news and the 3rd party vendors have it taken care of long ago with there new batteries as Mac Daily News indicates. $40 gets you a new battery with simple instructions and tools to replace it with.
I watched their video using VPC7 (a little sluggish and some audio echo, but it was actually viewable this way).
If you see the video, you’ll notice that the woman who complains about receiving an older iPod from battery replacement is holding up a 2nd gen iPod. Thicker, no Dock connector, etc. etc. There is no way Apple sent her that as a replacement for a 3rd or 4th gen iPod. None of the accessories/cables she’d have for her newer iPod would work with, and it would rattle around loose inside any case or skin she’d been using with it. Many 3rd party accessories just won’t fit or work with iPods as old as what she’s holding up (I happen to have one of these and I’m very happy with it).
If Apple was replacing 3rd/4th gen iPods with 2nd gen, it would have been all over the web; nobody would stand for this. So their report is inaccurate and misleading, to say the least.
I’ve sent a nicely detailed later about this, and many other things, to Shame on Your via their web site feedback and I’ll be curious to see if there’s any response.
How much does it cost to replace a battery on a Dell DJ? How easy is it to replace a battery on a Creative product? Does Sony’s latest iPod killer provide a replacement battery program?
No one knows the answers to these questions because no one has ever used one of these products long enough or often enough to wear out a battery.
Actually, their report is not off base. I can speak to this first hand. I have a 20GB 3G iPod, and when I first got it, the battery would run itself down even when shut down completely and also had some trouble running longer than a few hours unless I started using it IMMEDIATELY after I quit charging it. It would go from a full charge to absolutely nothing in a matter of days. My previous 10GB, first generation iPod did not do this, so I was concerned. I sent it to Apple twice to have the battery replaced, giving full, detailed description of the problem, and both times they sent it back without a new battery (which I had specifically asked for). The third time I tried to send it to them, they told me my warranty had expired and that, since all previous cases had been closed, I could not open a new one for the same problem. I was angry and argued with two call center supervisors over the issue and sent a couple of nasty-grams to Apple, both of which got me their standard “Thanks for your feedback!…” form letter. Frustrated, I purchased a new battery kit from Other World Computing and installed it. My iPod now does not lose it’s charge when it sits for an extended period of time. It also gets damn near 14 hours of play-life. Just as I had insisted, the battery was the problem the whole time, and Apple stalled me on it until my warranty ran out and then stiffed me. That did not win them any “points” with me, which is today’s magic word, coincidentally.
i have to agree..
really…. the battery should be user replaceable and should be easy to do so.
No reason why this should not happen…
Yeah, The iPod Battery Sucks and thats ultimately why I bought the Zen Micro instead of another iPod for my girlfriend.(I have a G2 iPod and a dead battery but I replaced it) Does anyone know what the batt life on the shuffle is? Does it become unusable too?
“Control” as in “Control!, Control!, You must learn Control!”
Diaz is a video troll. He ran his “Geraldo Lite” crap for years at WCBS and then jumped ship to WABC. When they smelled decay they dumped him and it’s back to WCBS- the choice of Nursing Homes everywhere in the NYC area. These local “gotcha” guys are not journalists or reporters- they are sideline schtick. What they peddle is heat- not light. It makes interesting TV for the easily amused, but is to news what the WWE is to real wrestling.
I have a first gen iPod, it still works great after all these years, I get about 5 1/2 hours playback. Thats better than my laptop or video camera battery. Batteries die, everything does eventually, heck my car is on its last leg, and even we wont be here forever.
I think everyone should click on the contact link at CBS 2 and send them a shame mail for their weak web site development skills.
CBS has no business pointing fingers at anyone else after shamelessly persisting in its effort to legitimize fabricated news and forged documents.
Hey retards.. if my iPod battery dies after 2-3 years.. you think i’m going to spend money on a new battery when similarly powered iPods are priced at 40% what they were when I bought the damn thing?
So I can pay another 99 bucks to extend the life of my current iPOd by another 2 years or get a new iPod with more features at a cheaper price
And you’re bitching because we have to send the iPod in the mail??
SOrry for dissing retards here by comparing them to CBS
To Bizarro Jeff:
It seems Apple’s policies haven’t changed in, ooooh, 15 years?
Back in about 1990, I bought my first Mac, an SE FDHD. A few months in, the screen image would wobble when disk activity would take place, and eventually, the Mac died. It was the power supply. It was replaced under warranty. A few months in again that too did the famililar screen wobble before dying (the wobbling was evidently a symptom of a faulty/failing power supply).
This happened at least twice (my memory fails me), the last time outside of warranty. So, of course, I had to pay for a replacement power supply. However, this last time I took it to a, how shall I say?, more reputable dealer. And do you know what? That SE still works to this day with that paid-for supply installed by the reputable dealer.
Interesting to note that, although there is probably no connection, CBS is owned by Viacom, who owns MTV/VH1, of which both channels have been making a push to get viewers to get songs from them which I believe uses MS DMR stuff.
I think we should ALL send him an email!
cbs2shame@hotmail.com
mailto:cbs2shame@hotmail.com
Let him know whats up… for REAL!
Here is the actual address for the video:
<<http://wcbs.dayport.com/viewer/content/special.php?Art_ID=22155&Format_ID=2&BitRate_ID=8&Contract_ID=44&Obj_ID=4>>