“The toilets at the Santa Clara University are flowing freely this graduation week, but that was not the case for the entire spring semester,” NBC11.com reports. “A pink iPod mini, just four inches long, caused a huge headache for maintenance workers at the Santa Clara University for the last few months. A female student accidentally dropped the iPod in the toilet… at the College of Arts and Sciences building.”
“It got stuck in a way that maintenance crews could not get it out. They told NBC11 News they first tried to break the iPod into pieces, but that failed. One maintenance worker called the device ‘indestructible.’ An independent contractor was called in to deal with the problem. He was able to get the iPod to move 20 feet, but then it became stuck again underneath the office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences. In order to get the iPod out from under that building, crews simultaneously flushed as many toilets as they could and they turned on every sink. That caused a water surge which pushed the iPod into a larger more accessible pipe. Next, a water company was hired to blast water into the pipe in yet another attempt to get the iPod out of the pipe. That effort worked, but at the same time, the blast of water along with a build-up of air caused geysers to burst from the second floor toilets. Crews were finally able to retrieve the iPod from a nearby sewage disposal point outside of the building by using a piece of rebar.”
Full article, complete with a slideshow of the toilet where it all happened and the clogged pipes below, plus a video report (you’ll need Flip4Mac WMV (PowerPC – Intel (beta) .dmg – note: will start downloading immediately), here.
MacDailyNews Take: No word on what we all want to know: did it still work? We’d guess “no,” as spending months, or any amount of time, underwater aren’t good for most electronics. According to the full article, It cost the university $1,000 a week to fix this problem, which seems rather high to us. Anyway, it took months to clear the iPod mini from the plumbing and the female student – who came forward voluntarily – will not be fined. Maybe this thing should come with a seat-belt for the iPod?
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Related article:
The full poop on Atech’s toilet paper holder with dock for Apple iPod – June 14, 2006
news you can use
Well, it was time for her to get a nano anyway…
I wonder if it was scratched after it finally was out system ?
MDW : Power as in the power to bloc the whole pipesystem
The real question:
Was it loaded with shitty music?
OK, so if it came out in one piece, who was going to test it to see if it worked?? Not me, that’s for sure
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Did it still work?
Auction it off on eBay.
Better that than those brown kidney-looking Walkman Beans.
If it’s yellow, let it mellow.
If it’s brown, flush it down.
In related news, the Norwegian government has given Apple Computer Inc. ninety days to make all of its products flushable.
Jens Stoltenberg, Prime Minister of Norway, could not be reached for comment. According to his press attache, the Prime Minister was “very busy in the loo, disposing of his brand new Electrolux vacuum, and Ikea dining room set”.
Is it just a coincidence there is an advert on this page for a composting toilet, or oportunistic marketing?
Aha! John Dvorak has been writing for years that Apple is ready to go down the tubes, and you guys never believed him.
It’s gonna be a long day.
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Of course now she will be suing Apple for not including a plunger with the Mini.
This is exactly why you need to stay away from Atech’s “iCarta” Stereo Dock for iPod with Bath Tissue… In the long run, you’ll dump more money away than you will feces.
Too bad it wasn’t a Creative MP3 player. Those pieces of shit flush fine.
“If it’s yellow, let it mellow.
If it’s brown, flush it down.”
actually it’s “poopsi pinot”
She wasn’t from “The Valley”, was she?
“This is exactly why you need to stay away from Atech’s “iCarta” Stereo Dock for iPod with Bath Tissue… In the long run, you’ll dump more money away than you will feces.”
No way, the iCarta would have prevented this catastrophe because she would have had a dock to put the iPod while using the toilet, so she wouldn’t have dropped it in there to begin with.
I guess we should be really worried if the iPod market ever bottoms out.
I guess iRiver mp3 players are designed to flush…
No guesses. This is what passes as news!
Over $4,000 labor for $149 pinky iPod. Interesting!!!!!!
Crap! That’s MUCH better than a cherry bomb down the pipe!
How, exactly does one ACCIDENTLY flush their iPod down the toilet? I can see accidently dropping it in the toilet maybe, but could you do that, and not notice? Was there any drinking involved?
The University should just be glad she had an iPod and not a Dell DJ! They’d NEVER get that out of there!
horray!