“It’s hard not to be impressed with the turnaround at Apple Computer, or the general beauty of the iPod and the overall marketing of the Mac,” Herb Greenberg writes for MarketWatch. “But I have a gripe and something tells me I’m not alone: My iPod is terrible if I use it while running for any longer than 20 minutes or so. And it doesn’t really matter if I have it on an arm strap, as salespeople advised when I bought mine almost a year ago. There was certainly no reason to think the iPod would consistently freeze after 20 minutes, which isn’t cool if you like to run for any period of time over 20 minutes, as I do — and like listening to music while you’re doing it!”
Greenberg explains that, although it didn’t used to happen, now his hard drive-based iPod stops after 20 minutes and how he can’t fix it, can’t find somebody to fix it and then he asks Apple for a new one, writing, “I think Apple can do better, and this is my suggestion: For goodwill’s sake, give current iPod users claiming exercise-related freezing one-time amnesty to swap their iPod for 50% off on an iPod Nano, which doesn’t have a hard drive. (I don’t care if the Nano scratches easily, as long as it works!)”
Full article here.
We agree with Mr. Greenberg that Apple shouldn’t promote hard drive-based iPods for jogging (iPod: http://www.apple.com/ipod/color/musicandmore.html). Hard drives – we don’t care what Apple says – aren’t meant to be pounded and shaken around repeatedly. Apple does promote jogging on their iPod nano (http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/) and iPod shuffle (http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/musictogo.html) web pages. This is good, because these flash-based iPods are perfect for jogging. Should Apple give 50% off iPods for people like Greenberg? We’re not completely sure about that; mostly we want to tell Greenberg to just crack open his wallet and drop $99 on an iPod shuffle or $199 on an iPod nano. After all, these aren’t $60,000 sports cars we’re talking about. iPods are becoming pretty much disposable. (Why does it seem everybody these days immediately goes looking for a handout or someone to blame? They can’t figure out not to bang a hard drive around, but they have no problem determining their just compensation in a flash!)
The very first time we jogged with hard drive-based iPods, they made quite a nasty sound as they reloaded their cache memory at the 20-minute mark, so we stopped running with hard drive-based iPods. A little common sense goes a long way. We can debate forever if Apple owes the common sense-impared a special deal, but Apple does tell people to go jogging with hard drive-based iPods. So, it seems to us that Apple lacks the most common sense here. Apple should STOP advertising hard drive-based iPods for joggers and runners. If you’re going to run on a treadmill and can put the iPod on the machine’s magazine rack or somewhere else (not on your bouncing self), that what works for us. For people that want to run outside and bounce around with iPods, get an iPod shuffle or an iPod nano – those models are perfect for joggers.
It’s called technology evolution. You bought what was the best in the market at that time for a good price. Now, the flash technology is improving. Quit whining and get a new iPod if you please.
Why did the other flash based players market saying that it is best for joggers? Did you miss that?
Time to get an iPod Shuffle
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If an iPod fails to operate properly when used in a manner suggested by Apple (e.g., it will not operate for longer than 20 minutes without having to reset it — which is what Herb Greenberg claims has happened to his iPod) and if it fails within the one year warranty period (which is also what Mr. Greenberg claims) then Apple should replace it. Period. There should be no “50% off” of a different model. The warranty covers malfunctioning iPods which are used in a manner consistent with Apple’s suggested uses.
If after Apple replaces the iPod a person wants to buy one that is practical for jogging/running/active sports/etc. then they will have one for static use and a new one for high impact activities.
However, I agree Apple should stop advertising — or even suggesting — that the hard drive based iPods are fine for high impact activities (and yes, I consider jogging high impact).
“Nothing is so uncommon as common sense.”
— Will Rodgers
(Apologies if that’s not quite correct)
My Mac Quadra doesn’t run OS X, come on Apple give me a 50% discount off the price of a new G5.
MW: sarcastic. You just can’t make this sh*t up!
“Why does it seem everybody these days immediately goes looking for a handout or someone to blame?”
Because no one wants to take any personal responsibility anymore. They’re always looking for the government or some corporation to bail them out of their own messes. And then when anything goes wrong, they sue and/or scream about it to the media. It’s all a product of the “Great Society” and everyone thinking they’re entitled to everything. Personal responsibility and common sense have taken a nose dive ever since…
I agree with MDN.
This is a brainless customer problem.
The writer has had his iPod for over a year, give me a break.
He’s used it all this time and now that the iPod Nano is out he wants to flip it for something cooler.
I’m sure he didn’t use his iPod exclusively for jogging.
Let flame this idiot and let him know he’s just trying to use his exposure for a new iPod.
I use a 4G 40 GB iPod with an arm-strap and it rarely freezes when I jog. My music is encoded at 160 kbs and I also listen to podcasts that are 20-40 MB in size. The only times when my iPod freezes are the days when the weather is really hot. I would recommend a full-size iPod for jogging to anyone. Just because some people have a bad experience with their iPods does not mean that everyone else will too.
I have only owned 2 iPods and used them both for running – with NO problem. Of course, I hold it in my hand so it doesn’t get “pounded” I like the way it fits in my hand and I use my thumb to skip songs, turn volume up or down etc.
i use an iPod mini (first generation) with armband. no problems while jogging for an hour or longer. maybe his has a problem.
It seems the writer is trying to get a iPod Nano on the cheap.
I may be cynical but I think the writer is full of hot air.
My Sony (cassette tape) Walkman did work that well during hard running either. Songs sounded a bit garbled and once a tape got tangled and stuck inside. It’s not that these things SHOULDN’T be used this way… they can be… but they might not work as best as they can.
Maybe he jogs like Phoebe from Friends?
I use a first generation 5 g ipod (that I put 2-3,000 miles on). It was clipped to my belt. No problem except having to replace internal battery once.
Based on my experience, fine to jog with…
I bought my wife a 3rd gen, 30GB iPod when they first came out. My wife does long 1-2hr runs and the iPod crashed consistently at about 25 minutes into her runs. We tried all kinds of differerent ways for her to hold it, strap it on, etc., and nothing worked. To Apple’s credit, they replaced the unit *twice* because of my complaints, each time reminding me that “it’s a spinning hard drive in there – not a good idea to be bouncing it around.” I later noted that just before they released that model Apple removed language from their website specifically encouraging running and jogging with the iPod.
So I kept the 30GB iPod and my wife limped along with a Rio unit – until the 1GB Shuffle came out. It was an absolute hit with her! She says it is perfect for her needs and even declined an iPod Nano because she likes how incredibly tiny the Shuffle is.
I think anyone doing more than very light jogging with a HD-based iPod is “running on borrowed time”…
It’s not like Apple is the only one.
I used my 3G iPod for jogging and never experienced problems during 30+ min runs. However, after about 11 months, there was a problem with the disk and it had to be replaced. Althogh I can’t say for certain the wear and tear during jogging was to blame (I also dropped it couple of times), it is likely enough that I am getting a nano for jogging.
Just so it doesn’t go unnoticed, MDN was highly critical of Apple in their take, accusing them of “lack[ing]… common sense”. Let’s remember this article so we can point to it the next time an anti-MDN, anti-Apple troll accuses MDN of seeing Apple as faultless.
There’s a big time difference between running and the dancing in the videos. Dancing often has breaks. Unless you’re at one of those dance marathons, I think a hard drive based iPod would do you fine.
I never bought an iPod until the shuffle. Why? I wanted to run. I knew better. Problem is, the shuffle opened the door to three more iPods and a PowerMac G5.
Now, I have run with my 20GB iPod many times and had zero problems. I have a feeling Herb may end up with knee and joint problems soon with that kind of form.
For whatever its worth, I’ve used a 3g ipod 30gig and a 1g mini 4gig. The mini never skips while the big ipod did quite frequently.
I have a 3G 40gb iPod, and an XtremeMac armband. It works fine, and I’ve never had any problems with it whatsoever. Well, actually, the thick plastic on the armband scratches the wheel, but my iPod has suffered enough drops that I don’t really care at this point.
On a side note, LordRobin, MDN may not see Apple as faultless, but more often than not its opinions are very slanted, so that’s not a completely baseless accusation. I don’t think you could consider me an anti-Apple troll, as I own many Apple computers and wouldn’t consider buying anything else.
Where does Apple suggest that you run or jog with your iPod? I have never seen an Apple ad that shows somebody running with a hard-drive based iPod. Can someone link this?
Apple sells a belt clip for minis and big iPods. That is not the same as telling them to run with it.
I have a 20 gig 2nd generation iPod that I use for jogging all the time. I’ve even dropped it 3 times. Once was on a treadmill and it hit the moving running surface and shot across the room into a wall. It was fine. The other two times were on asphault; the most recent time I made things worse by trying to catch it, which launched it down the road, bouncing several times. I picked it up and it was still playing the same song, like nothing happened. Claiming that all hard drive based iPods are unsuitable for running based on a bad experience with one unit seems a bit much. 50% off a Nano my arse.
Same here – jog on the street & treadmill with my ipod mini – zero problems. Have no idea what’s wrong with that guys machine.
Years ago – it was true that Hard drive weren’t so impact-friendly, but several things have evolved since the first gen iPod.
1. – size. the 1″ Microdrives slider (that little arm that reads the disk surface) is extremely light and isn’t so prone to inertia as the heavier 1.8″ drives that are [still] in the full-size iPods. Yet uses simialr servos – ergo stronger servo compared to the wight it must control. This basically means that it takes a concrete-floor impact in the slider’s direction-of-movement at about 100mph. You’d have to dance like Phoebex10 to interfere with the operations of a Microdrive.
2. these portal drives like the 1.8″ and 1″ have impact ciruitry that causes instant ‘parking’ of the head if it detects a damaging impact coming.
In conclusion, the drives these days are fine. Flash Ram and Drive both have their share of strengths and weaknesses as anything does.
To name a few:
Drives Pro
Cheaper (usually half)
Faliure can (usually) be predicted and measured
Drives Con
Inertia can affect use
Will eventually wear out
Flash Pro
Immune to inertia
Faster read/write
Flash Con
Can fail at any time (no MTBF or predicability)
Expensive (not so bad anymore)
Will wear out (Surprise!)