“The only real beneficiaries of a class action over scratched screens on Apple’s tiny music player may be the attorneys,” Arik Hesseldahl writes for BusinessWeek. “I have no insight into any legal strategies Apple may pursue with this latest lawsuit concerning the nano, and Apple had no comment on the matter. A spokesman said the company doesn’t comment on pending litigation. But if you bought a nano and find you’re unhappy with it, why not just take it back for refund?”
While Hesseldahl messes up the details (see “Take” below), he gets the idea right when he writes, “It seems to me that Apple could have saved itself a lot of “expense, hassle, and frustration” of its own if it just offered full refunds on unwanted nanos and lengthened the return period to 30 or 60 days. But it also seems to me it’s far too easy to hassle a big company like Apple with stupid lawsuits, to the measurable benefit of no one but trial lawyers.”
Full article here.
Advertisements: The New iPod with Video. The ultimate music + video experience on the go. Buy it now at the Apple Store. From $299. Free shipping.
Apple iPod nano. 1,000 songs. Impossibly small. From $199. Free shipping.
Hesseldahl writes, “While Apple has offered to replace nanos with cracked screens, it has said less than one-tenth of 1% of units shipped have a proclivity for scratches.” That’s incorrect. Apple really said that they would replace iPod nanos with cracked screens due to a manufacturing defect in a batch of nano units that comprised less than one-tenth of 1% of nano units shipped at the time of Apple’s statement on September 27, 2005. At the same time, Apple also recommended that iPod nano owners who wished to avoid scratches should get a protective case for their nanos.
Two separate issues:
• Cracked screens (less than one-tenth of 1%) get replaced.
• Scratched screens and exterior plastics do not get replaced; buy a case if you don’t want a scratched iPod, nano or otherwise.
An AppleInsider report yesterday stated that Apple is “expected to include a standard protective casing with future revisions to the iPod nano.”
Related articles:
Related articles:
Report: Apple relaxes 5G iPod return policy; to include protective cases with future iPod nano units – October 26, 2005
Class-action lawsuit filed against Apple over iPod nano scratches – October 21, 2005
PC Mag’s Ulanoff on iPod nano scratches: ‘I could see a jealous competitor planting the story’ – October 06, 2005
Mossberg: Apple iPod nano scratches easily, get a case to protect it – October 06, 2005
Apple iPods have always been far too scratchable, protective cases required to keep iPods pristine – September 30, 2005
invisibleSHIELD offers rugged, clear protection for Apple iPod nano and other iPod models – September 30, 2005
Got some nano scratches? Restore your iPod nano to new condition with a $4 can of Brasso – September 29, 2005
The Motley Fool: Apple did the right thing in quickly addressing cracked iPod nano screens – September 28, 2005
iPod nano ‘screen issues’ really just FUD? – September 26, 2005
Apple responds to iPod nano screen issues – September 27, 2005
Were are my trix
That rabbit is something else
I’m sueing you Jeremiah, you scratched my cereal.
Only in America are there people who are pathetic enough to sue for something like this- it is probably also because the people suing dont have to cough up the legal fees like they would do in the UK, Australia or NZ for the same sort of thing.
I love the comments of the first 3 posters!
All lawsuits benefit lawyers, that’s their purpose.
You heard the one about the lawyer who moved to a small town where he was the only lawyer and he almost starved to death?
Another lawyer moved to town later and they both became millionaires.
~M
very much appreciated btw…
Hey guys, I am doing a project for my marketing class on the nano…if you have a nano or have experience/opinions on it, please fill this survey out for our group:
http://www.zoomerang.com/survey.zgi?p=WEB224QTNQQSM5
Also, it may be worth noting that Apple probably welcomes the class action law suit.
It sounds crazy, but it’s true. Some big companies who recognize some sort of liability actually request a class action be brought against them and trial lawyers are always happy to oblige. (I’m not saying Apple did this, or would. Only that it happens.)
Companies with in-house legal departments love class action suits because it consolidates their efforts. It is far easier to handle 2 million people with one lawsuit than it is to handle the individual suits of even 200 people.
~M
PS- I bought my wife a black 4GB nano for our 5th anniversary and she loves it. She has been reasonably careful with it (pending the purchase of a case) and has had no scratches show up. Personally, I think the whole business was blown out of proportion by an anti-iPod group.
I hear Germany is pretty quick with the litigation too. But definitely: The US has way too many lawyers.
Despite having only a small percentage of the world’s population, the USA has the overwhelming majority of the world’s lawyers. Nobody else is even close.
Keep posting like that, and I’ll notify my attorney.
The UK has its share of slime lawyers touting and tempting on a ‘no win, no fee’ basis.
Watch daytime TV or visit a hospital and you can see the vampires, ready and waiting.
On Nano: if you have a prob just return it to the store for a refund!
this law suit is nonsense.
but you know what? get injured because of a defective product. get charged with a crime, and it maybe an unintentional one like vehicular homicide, facing jail time.
these sleazy lawyers you’re villifying will start looking a lot better.
“get injured because of a defective product. get charged with a crime, and it maybe an unintentional one like vehicular homicide, facing jail time.
these sleazy lawyers you’re villifying will start looking a lot better.”
Here in the states there are different lawyers who handle tort vs criminal law vs civil law. No matter how much trouble I get in, tort lawyers are always slime in my book!
Maybe joell is right.
Maybe we are being a little hard on lawyers.
I mean let’s be fair. It’s not all lawyers that are bad, it’s just that 99% making the other 1% look bad.
Just wondering, does anyone know a lawyer joke?
~M
My wife just bought a black Ford Expedition, and my dad has a white one.
I’m going to sue Ford cause the black one scratches way too easy and shows all the scratches very obviously
Anyone want in on this class action lawsuit?
If a bird did his business on your Expedition and it left a dent in the metal, then you would be a little closer to an accurate analogy.
The Nano scratch problem is real, and anyone who actually owns one with the problem knows that all too well.
The rest of you just look like a bunch of moronic Apple apologists with their heads up their asses.
Lord Byron,
Yes, we should sue Ford so that maybe they will include a protective slipcase with each Expedition…
I am starting to the think that the nano issues are not real, not because I have learned anything new about the issue lately but because I haven’t learned anything new.
If it was too easily scratchable other manufacturers or anti apple groups would just buy a couple and release a video of it getting major scrathes from miny grazes. The fact that no one has proven it to me yet, and there are so many people who would love to prove it to me, makes me think that it is just false.
I refused to design an advert for a UK solicitors once. They had just bought ad space in the A&E department and wanted an advert with the following:
DID THE DOCTOR OR NURSE MAKE YOU WORSE? IF SO, GIVE US A CALL.
What a shitty world we live in.
Interesting that Steve Berman, the managing partner of the plaintiff’s SEATTLE based law firm is also on retainer with Microsoft to handle their problems with monopolistic practices. How does someone with less than $1000 damages get a law firm to listen to even talk to them? I smell a rat…er, monkey boy.
We need tort reform now. The majority of lawyers are money grubbing aholes that will rot in hell. The majority of politicians are lawyers.
Hi,
I can speak from my own personal experience with the iPod nano that the scratching problem is very real. The scope of it, however has yet to be determined.
It is important to note that I own the 1st generation 5GB iPod, the 4th generation 40 GB iPod, and a shuffle. I purchased the nano because I wanted the screen. I am very careful with my iPods, so much in fact, my 4th Gen 40 GB and the shuffle both look brand spanking new!! No scratches at all.
My nano was a completeley different story.
I ordered the nano less than an hour after it was available, and received it a few days later. Within a week, my personalized white nano looked like hell. A co-worker ordered a black nano and his looked awful as well. Bear in mind that it wasn’t the scratching on the back or the lower front portion of the nano that annoyed me. It was the scratches and lines on the display that had me extremely concerned. I was not going to wait around a few more weeks or months for the display screen to become completely obscured. There was clearly something terribly wrong with the front of the nano.
I called Apple and explained the situation. The technical support person and I chatted for a while, then he put me on hold for a very long time. When he came back on the line, he was joined by someone from the iPod product group. He informed me that he wanted my iPod to examine it. So I sent it back and was was told a week later that Apple was indeed going to replace it for free even though it was personalized.
Needless to say that it’s been over a month and I haven’t yet received my replacement nano. I was told recently that it will ship in a few days. I am extremely confident that Apple has taken the time to investigate and correct the problem.
For those who do not have this problem, rest assured it is very real for some people. I was very happy with the way Apple handled the issue that I subsequently ordered and have received my 60GB black 5th generation iPod with video -it rocks!!!!!
By the way, the 5th gen iPods not only come with a slip case, but the front of the iPod has a stick-on transparent protective sheet that I will only remove once cases become available. I also see that Apple has informed all authorized repair centres that for the time being, they are to replace any 5th generation iPods that customers have problems with – no questions asked – even if it was abused by the customer.
I don’t think the vast majority of people involved in the nano lawsuit want to “get” Apple, they just want to get an obvious problem taken care of. If this also makes Apple design a more durable iPod, then perhaps this is the silver lining in all of this drama.
MDN Magic Word: Costs – “If Apple designed the iPod to be more durable, the added costs would be negligible. It would also cost customers far less than having to also purchase a case to go along with their iPod. The iPod mini was very durable.”
Cheers!
ITG
Hey IT Guy, you are probably correct in thinking that the majority of the people with the problem just want a solution and are not out to get Apple. HOWEVER, the slimeball lawyers and the 1-2 people involved in bringing the class action who slipped in the “and want a cut of iPod profits” part are nothing but gold diggers seeking a quick $$$$ at Apple’s expense. Replacing the defective nano and giving a $10-15 gift card at the iTMS would be/ should be compansation enough. BUT if the whole cut of iPod profits thing flies, it means that the actual consumers who were ‘harmed’ will get a replacement, and maybe $5. The lawyers involved will make millions. That expense will be made up by the iPod buyers in the form of higher prices, or same prices even after economies of scale lowers the actual production cost.
I have glasses with plastic lenses which I cleaned with rough toilet paper. Now they are scratched. I will sue the manufacturer of the glasses. If nothing else, I will get my name in one or two newspapers and my pathetic blog will pick up a few more clicks.