“You may have heard of Matthew Peterson, the individual behind the now infamous (and defunct) website flawednanoplayer.com. Matt is done complaining about his broken nano screen (now that Apple has given him a replacement) and has moved on to bigger and better things. Mainly harassing innocent Apple store employees about issues out of their control,” Clint Ecker writes for Ars Technica. “Matthew posted this excerpt on his website on 9/25/05 and while I think Matt might have had a legitimate complaint behind his LCD problem, his rhetoric and over the top attitude about the whole thing really shine in this little ‘sting operation’ he pulled.”
Ecker provides an excerpt from Peterson’s website:
Well I had gotten a few emails from people saying that the Nano’s in their local Apple store were severely scratched. I couldn’t believe that Apple would have scratched models on display. I have never seen a scratched iBook or PowerBook, so I decided to investigate for myself. There were several Nano’s on display. The one nearest me was a white model that looked like someone had taken a steel wool pad to the screen. You could barely see the LCD underneath through all of the scratches. When Amanda was finished speaking to a customer I started asking her questions. It went a little something like this:
Matt: This iPod looks really scratched. How did this happen?
Amanda: Well we have had thousands of people handling them.
Matt: This happened from people just touching it? They weren’t rubbing them on something or putting it in their pocket? Is it really this easy to scratch?
Amanda: Yes it can scratch easily but I don’t think that really matters.
Matt: Well most people buy an iPod for the look. You don’t think they are concerned with an iPod that scratches this easily?
Amanda: No, I mean I have an iPod for the music not how it looks, but if someone is concerned about scratching we do sell cases for them.
Matt: I have seen some sites on the internet where people complain of scratching and cracked LCD screens. Has your store had any returns for this problem?
Amanda: No it is still a new product. I don’t think we have had any returns yet.
Matt: So you sell a product that scratches easily, so that you can sell a case. That is a pretty good marketing strategy
Amanda: Well, that’s how they get you.
Matt: Interesting. May I have your card?
Amanda: Sure
Matt: By the way, I run a website that is collecting information from Nano owners about all of the problems they are having. I am going to post the information you have given to me on my website. I really hope you don’t lose your job. Have a good day.
Ecker writes, “Wow! Talk about a class act. Matt goes on to post the information on his website (taken down, but mirrored here) claiming that Apple’s official position on iPod nano scratching is ‘we’re screwing you and we don’t care!'”
Full article here.
Related articles:
Apple shares fall on iPod nano screen issues – September 28, 2005
Much-ballyhooed iPod nano screen concerns ‘a real but minor issue’ – September 28, 2005
Apple replaces iPod nano cracked screens; handful of units affected, WSJ: ‘barrage of complaints’ – September 28, 2005
Apple responds to iPod nano screen issues – September 27, 2005
iPod nano ‘screen issues’ really just FUD? – September 26, 2005
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
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
Hands on with Apple iPod nano – September 09, 2005
Mossberg: Apple iPod nano ‘beautiful, incredibly thin, and exceeds Apple’s performance specs’ – September 08, 2005
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
I like how this guy is trying to get Apple to improve the iPod, and everyone in here responds by calling him names.
It’s not like he was eating babies or something. He was just bringing to light how easy to scratch the iPod is, and how Apple doesn’t care as long as people keep buying it.
I love my iPod, and I would love it even more if it didn’t get badly scratched up by being kept in the pocket of my cotton shorts all by itself.
As you already know jadistwo, the only view you get with vista is the tail-lights of Tiger.. then Leopard… then.. Good laugh you give us though.
Noella, In my experience (apart from my Nano one,) I’ve never known tissue to cause damage. I don’t wear glasses, but yes, I have wiped my camera lens, LCD and previous iPods with tissue. Never had this problem.
Shadowself,
I’m pretty sure that the highly scratch-resistant coating on my eyeglasses, which cost me an extra $19.95, is not man-made sapphire. I wipe my glasses on my cotton shirts all the time and they are not scratched at all.
By the way people, tissues are typically made from paper products, so they are much more abrasive than cotton fabric. I wouldn’t wipe my eyeglasses with tissues, but cotton fabric is fine since they are pretty tough. For my camera lenses, motorcycle visor, iPod, and PowerBook screen, plush microfiber cloth is the only way to go to avoid damage.
“He was just bringing to light how easy to scratch the iPod is”
Nick,
He was making a big fuss about that fact that his screen broke. A problem he could have easily remedied by calling Applecare. His website attracted negative nacys like flies to fly paper once the media got hold of it and turned it into sensational “news”. Buy some plastic polish and stick your Nano in protecctive case and stop crying if you care so much about the cosmetics of your iPod. Other wise suck it up and enjoy the music. That IS what the iPod is for. Right? Playing music?
this just in….
this is really Rob Enderle!!!
Matthew Peterson:
“Ooh, lookit me! I’m famous ’cause I’m all whiny ‘n bitchy!”
geez. give some people a computer and web access and look at what happens. just like most of the people here said… use AppleCare, buy a case and be more gentle with your stuff.
whiny bastid.
Hmmm… Matt, Nick, Mike….
They must have all been born in families where the runt wasn’t given any attention and thought it deserved more….
That is if they are in fact different posters.. which I highly doubt.
Suck it up guys and get a life. Take a little personal responsibility and stop thinking that everyone owes you something!
Nick, the hard coat on some high end glasses is a thin layer of man made sapphire vapor deposited onto the lenses. (A neighbor owns an optical coating company. I checked with him. There are several different vapor deposited coatings for hardness, several for anti-reflective, several for anti fogging, etc. The selection is often cost driven.)
An interesting point most people don’t know is that several brands of facial tissue have clay embedded into the paper. The dry clay acts like sandpaper on many surfaces. People should never use facial tissue (unless the know exactly what’s in it) to clean or polish any very high gloss surface or any optical surface. I saw a person destroy a front surfaced mirror valued at a few tens of thousands of dollars with one swipe of a Kimwipe (sp?) tissue. He never did that again.
Mike, it’s very possible you’ve used a purely wood tissue that has been bleached and otherwise treated so that the wood fibers are very soft — and one that has absolutely no clay or other abrasive fillers. You were lucky. My experience is the only safe way to go is as Nick suggests, use microfiber cloth. You can pick it up in many of the big box stores and can even sometimes find it in grocery stores.
I definitely believe Apple should have made the iPod nano more scratch resistant (just as they should have used a different flow process on the Cube to minimize the seam). However, how resistant is enough? No noticeable scratches (say from a jeans pocket) for 1 month? 3 months? 6 months? a year?
Mike,
Then you take that risk. I wear glasses and I have a nice SLR Camera and an Apple 20 inch display. Under no circumstances should you be wiping those things with Tissue. People who wipe their glasses with tissue are lazy and definitely have scratched glasses. I mean, if you wipe your nose a few times, it turns red and if you wipe it more, it’ll start to bleed. Tissue is like sand paper on sensitive items. And tissue comes in different grades…but even the softest ones will scratch LCD displays and your iPod screens.
You probably have scratches on your camera lens, you just don’t know it. Tissue is not soft. At least now you know. I bet many people are like you and assume things like Tissue will be okay to wipe their iPod with. But, the real problem is that none of the cases are available yet so people are walking around with unprotected Nanos.
The site is flawedmusicplayer.com (not flawednanoplayer.com) – and it’s not down or defunct…
Unfortunately, having had his 15 minutes of ‘fame’ he’s got addicted to publicity. Sad case.
He now needs a stiff ignoring for several months or years until he’s overcome his addiction
Wow, what a jerk!
I really hope that girl doesn’t lose her job over something that stupid.
Ya, the iPods at the Apple Store in NYC have scratches. But that’s because of how many people visit the place everyday. They aren’t careful with them. They drop them on the tables. If there are smudges, they wipe the on their jeans. I’m careful with my iPod. The number of scratches on iPods at the Apple store is what most people get on their iPod in a year. Its mainly because of the sheer number of people that handle them.
Shadowself,
I really dig your additional info! I didn’t know about clay content in tissues, and I didn’t know that my cheap scratch-resistant coating on my eyeglasses was made-made sapphire (I would have expected anything made of sapphire to cost more than $19.95 for four sides of coating). Hopefully Apple will eventually use some such coating, since anything would be way better than what they are using now.
I used to use standard microfiber cloth, until I found the plush kind of microfiber cloth. It looks more like a tiny bath towel, but is made of microfiber. It’s totally amazing, leaves no streaks at all on optical glass and LCD screens.
” just bought a dell dj and i love it. my brother got a nano and he steals my dell all the time just because it is better in all functions.”
i ate your mother’s *** out last night. it’s a lot better than the dell dj
Mark,
Thanks for the personal attacks, that’s really cool.
On a side note, I was more concerned with the Apple store’s iPod nano display models being all scratched up from customers handling them for a few days than with the cracked screen. Had you read my post, I’m sure you would have noticed.
Maybe the Apple stores should request that all customers abide by the following rules to avoid scratched up demo iPod nanos:
1) remove all hand/finger jewelry prior to handling.
2) do not wipe iPod nano on anything, including cotton cloth.
3) have one of our employees trim and file your nails prior to handling.
4) do not put the iPod down anywhere unless there is a microfiber cloth underneath it.
“Mark,
Thanks for the personal attacks, that’s really cool…”
they really were cool you self-absorbed p***y
no one knows how to eat it like my boy!
Actually finger nail is probably what scratches iPods the most. Nails are hard! If you’re fishing for it in a bag or pocket, you might accidentally scrape it with your nail and not know it.
But anyway, I’m not going to get another iPod until they come out with a Video iPod. I don’t need something small, I need something with a larger storage!
Apple sells an ipod “sock”, it might keep the nano from scratching. That’s what I am using till some other cases come out. I forget it all the time and end up treating my nano like that egg-baby project from my high school days.
hey, got back from best buy taking my ipod photo back AGAIN. this is the third ipod i’ve had to exchange. first a 30 gig photo after 3 months and then a 60 gig after 10 days. in both cases, they simply quit working and started making tiny clunking sounds.
man, i LOVE my ipod, but damn, don’t get one without applecare or a store extended warranty!
“Any normal person would have simply went to the Apple Store, showed them the damaged nano, and took home his free replacement and been happy with that.”
Had you actually read my site you would see I did take it back to a store and was told it wasn’t covered. So much for your precious Apple making it right for the customer. As far as the employee she chose her words. Do you really think Apple wants someone like her working for them and saying these things to a customer? You are taking it completely out of context. By the way she said it in front of a dozen other people, she had no expectation of privacy, and was given an opportunity to say she didn’t want it on the site, so get over yourselves. It is so funny to me. Apple has admitted this problem, and is fixing this problem, and yet somehow I am still an asshole. Well if your Nano screen breaks and you get it fixed you remember that I helped with that. Before me Apple said no to everyone. So do I deserve some credit? Yeah! By the way, the media contacted me, I never contacted them, so to say I was doing this to make a name for myself couldn’t be farther from the truth. Just like the person who keeps calling the media and saying I work for Microsoft or Creative and that is the only reason I made the site. People are still doing this AFTER APPLE ADMITS TO A PROBLEM. Who is the real asshole here? The person helping the innocent consumers who got nowhere with Apple or the people trying to shoot down that person? Hmmm……. By the way from the emails I am getting from people who sent emails to my site they are all getting replacements, and they are thanking me. Seems kind of difficult to think that I had nothing to do with it, yet these people are thanking me for my time and effort. Why don’t you people get off your fat lazy asses and make a difference in the world instead of posting “news” to an unethical website claiming to be real news.
it is absolutly beyond me why all you people are defending apple on this. the iPod scratches way too fast and to much. i have a panasonic lumix with a 2,5″ screen and a black plastic back. though i often wear it in my pocket without a cover there are no scratches on the screen or the back, after 6 month of using it! why can’t apple do this if panasonic can? why defending apple for a bad material-decision. i don’t wonder why people call us a cult, if we react like this.
by the way i am a mac user since 1993 and i have an iPod mini which is absolutly fine, no scratches after more than one year.