“The high street chain Dixons says it was selling an average of five [Apple iPod nano units] per minute over the weekend… Except… the story that first appeared here last week, about how amazingly easily the screen scratches, has spread far and wide, and so far down the food chain that even local and national newspapers have written about it. Oh dear,” Charles Arthur writes for Th Register. “More importantly, the post on Apple’s discussion boards discussing the issue has grown from 188 posts to 583 (at last count), and now includes people who have cancelled their orders. Ooooh dear.”
“So what, we asked Apple, is it going to do about those screens? The reply: ‘Apple has no comment at this time.’ Stores will decide for themselves whether to swap scratched or broken machines,” Arthur writes. “If Apple has used a different polycarbonate formula for the Nano, then it should be able to change that in the manufacturing process, which will mean later versions – even in the next few weeks – will be better. But that creates the ticklish media management problem of whether to say that the new versions are tougher (because that implies the older ones were soft). Past form from the ‘cracked Cube’ episode suggests Apple will blithely ignore all the hubbub, leave stores to choose between annoyed customers or profits, and use a harder polycarbonate compound in future, if not at once.”
“But there’s another problem. If Apple can’t get this right, then the launch of the fabled (but now confidently expected) video iPod will stutter as would-be early adopters wait for someone else to buy one and test the screen. That could give an important lead to existing products like the Sony Playstation Portable, and breathe new life into Sony’s flagging finances,” Arthur writes. “Then again, who are we kidding? Seeing how the iPod battery life gave rise to a whole branch of iPod battery replacement companies, it may be more realistic to expect that this problem is going to lead to a whole new species within the iPod ecosystem: companies marketing scratch-filling plastic polishes for iPod screens.”
Full article here.
Related articles:
flawedmusicplayer.com website alleging iPod nano ‘screen flaws’ hosted on Apple’s .Mac – September 26, 2005
SiliconValley.com editor: ‘The iPod nano is fast becoming Apple’s next Cube’ – September 26, 2005
iPod nano ‘screen issues’ really just FUD? – September 26, 2005
Alleged problems surfacing with Apple iPod Nano screen – September 26, 2005
Site reports iPod nano screen failures – September 23, 2005
Thurrott: Apple iPod nano is almost perfect – September 23, 2005
Inside Apple’s iPod nano; how healthy are Apple’s margins? – September 22, 2005
CNET iPod nano review: ‘Sets new standards, stretches boundaries of tech, Apple’s done it again’ – September 16, 2005
The New York Times’ Pogue states iPod’s Law: the impossible is possible – September 14, 2005
Associated Press praises Apple iPod nano, takes swipe at Microsoft WMA-based also-ran music services – September 14, 2005
Apple’s music competition having tough time and the iPod nano won’t help them – September 14, 2005
One of big stars at Microsoft’s PDC show: Apple’s iPod nano; Microsoft reps ‘in awe’ – September 14, 2005
Piper Jaffray: Apple seeing high demand for iPod nano – September 14, 2005
Australian IT: Apple iPod nano ‘a little bar of techno-joy’ – September 14, 2005
Apple iPod nano takes a beating and keeps on beating – September 12, 2005
Apple’s iPod nano: The ‘thin lady’ sings unwelcome iTune to competitors – September 09, 2005
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Apple’s iPod nano will make competitors whimper, Motorola’s ROKR inexplicably bland – September 07, 2005
Tech pundit Enderle: ‘iPod Nano is a hit,’ Motorola ROKR ‘simply doesn’t have enough Apple in it’ – September 07, 2005
Jupiter analyst Gartenberg: ‘the market is going to go for Apple iPod nano in a big way’ – September 07, 2005
Analyst: iPod nano ‘could be Apple’s next home run’ – September 07, 2005
Video of Steve Jobs introducing iPod nano, ROKR iTunes phone now available online – September 07, 2005
Apple’s Steve Jobs predicts ultra-thin iPod nano ‘will become the highest volume iPod in the world’ – September 07, 2005
Apple’s iPod nano will make competitors whimper, Motorola’s ROKR inexplicably bland – September 07, 2005
Apple introduces iPod nano – September 07, 2005
Yeah it will hurt it about as much as a bad batch of crack hurts drug dealer’s sales. The iPod is the opiate of the masses
I agree with some of the posters above. Users have to take responsibility for their actions. If they’re careless in handling the nano, then they’re bound to get scratches or suffer worse damage. If they choose not to invest in a protective case, then they better take extra care when handling the nano. When I got my used 1st gen iPod, it had a bunch of scratches front and back, but I still got a protective cover for it, because I knew that it would get even more scratches if I didn’t. Take responsibility for yourself and your property and stop blaming others.
>Apple’s great, but never buy their early versions of anything:
-OS X 10.0-10.1 slow
-First release of Panther–buggy
-First release of Tiger–buggy
-Original iPod–battery issues
-Al Powerbook – white spots
-iBook – logic board failures
-Cube – cracks
-iTunes 5.0 (OK its free) but the list can go on and on…Tony Gabriel.>
OK Tony, so tell us all about the Dells and Microsoft issues, so that we have some comparative analysis.
OSX Tiger and iTunes 5 are hardly early versions.
Download MacTracker and see how many items Apple have released over the years. How many of them had problems?
Plenty, but it wasn’t limited to any one category or version of products.
How many users were affected?
A low percentage in most cases. I have had their early versions of lots of things and never had a single issue up until March when I purchased a G5 1.8 which exhibits the G5 Freeze issue (G5freeze.com).
Surprise, it’s not a first generation product either.
I am a little frustrated about the fault, but I will give them their chance to do the right thing and I count myself lucky that this is the first issue that slowed me down in 18 years of Mac use.
If they can’t come close to even competing with the beautiful iPod, why not start some rumors, smear it with their most stinky sh*t.
I was unfortunatly one of the unlucky ones to test a new ipod video screen. My story is just like others with cracked ipod nano screens. Ipod breaks in pocket under no unusual stress. Apple has been less than helpful, and have tried to bury and posts i made on ther website. Apple is in complete denial.