“I have just finished reading an opinion piece that, even by the lenient standards of opinion pieces, does a severe injustice to Apple, Inc.,” David Zeiler blogs for The Baltimore Sun.
“The sensationalist attack starts with the article’s title: “The Pusher of Cupertino.” The author, James Daley (who apparently works for The Independent newspaper of the U.K., though the piece appears on the MacNewsWorld Web site), goes on to speculate that Apple sabotages its iPods with software updates with the intent of disabling them,” Zeiler reports.
“His sources for this very serious accusation are the unfortunate iPod experiences of his wife and the anecdotal stories of friends and people on unnamed Internet forums. No facts, figures or studies, despite his claim of a ‘growing body of evidence,'” Zeiler reports.
“There’s usually nothing wrong with offering up some opinions based on anecdotal evidence. You want to complain about the shorter-than-expected life span of your iPods, fine,” Zeiler writes. “But Daley is accusing Apple of a criminal act. I think that calls for stronger facts than his wife’s conspiracy theories, his friends’ problems and some rants he read in a few Internet forums.”
Full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Intruder” for the heads up.]
We have a third-generation 40GB iPod (pre-click wheel; the one with the four buttons above the scroll-wheel) that was purchased in spring 2003 which has all of Apple’s software updates installed and it still works just fine, thanks. (Yes, it did get a new battery installed by Apple in sometime in 2006).
I too have the 3rd gen and it works great
I’ve got a 2G iPod without a new battery and it still works fine. The battery life is only abut 4 hours, but it’s at least 4 years old and that’s pretty good for a Li-ion battery.
I have a first gen iPod that still does everything it promised to do when I bought it. I have never replaced the battery. Granted, I have since upgraded but there’s nothing wrong with it.
I have a 1st gen that was in a car accident… has a new battery I installed two years ago and w/ all updates (which stopped eons ago) is working swimmingly…
My wife and my brother both have the original 5 gig iPods that work perfectly with all the new updates installed. Also have a 60 gig iPod Photo which is also still working perfectly. And now I just bought an iPod 16 gig touch for Christmas. Again with all the updates still working perfectly. Piece of advice for people using there iPods. Don’t drop them, toss them around like you do your car keys. Treat them like crystal glass and handle them gently. That’s how I treat my iPods and I’ve had no problems because of this. They are durable but many of them still have hard drives inside them. Even though they’re made to be somewhat tough, they will not with stand constant heavy vibration and shock.
I absolutely agree. Did you hear about conspiracy where people purposely publish crappy information and call it journalism? The weird part about it is that they get paid…like a real wage and everything.
Just my $0.02
I’ve had my 5.5G iPod w/ video for a year now and it’s still ticking.
Sold my ipod touch to a friend, and it was spotless and flawless. Get a protective case, and take care not to drop, harrass or molest it. It’ll be fine.
The flash based ones promise to be even more durable.
Years old–and still runs great. Including getting long hours on its original battery. I keep eveything fully up to date and Apple has not magically wiped me out.
There’s an anecdote for ya!
I heard that Apple was trying to inactivate all my old electronic devices by offering insanely great substitutions.
I hate that! I am so invested in my 3G iPod that I have to fight with myself to keep from buying a newer one.
My 20 GB iPod Photo is still working. No problems whatsoever.
I don’t know about Apple but I’ve dropped one or two on purpose. “Oh noes! My iPod is broken! I need a new one!”
Ironically, like MDN, I also have a 3rd gen ipod that still works fine. I never replaced the battery, so no, I don’t get very good battery life out of it, but it does just fine otherwise.
The bigger Apple gets, the more stones will be hurled at it…
My 2G model purchased in January, 2003, still works perfectly. I replaced the battery last year.
I recently replaced the batter in my 4G iPod Photo. The instructions from Newertech were easy to follow and the installation went without a hitch. For less than $30, I now have an iPod with longer life. I think anyone who throws away their iPod because of a dead battery is a fool.
Love my 1st Gen 5gb iPod brick! It’s a refurb from back in the day, but still rocks. FireWire connections for everyone!
my 4th generation 20 Gb iPod works just fine. I have not replaced the battery and have all updates installed
I’ve got a 4g 40gb that keeps on truckin. No complaints here….
“I have a first gen iPod that still does everything it promised to do when I bought it. I have never replaced the battery. Granted, I have since upgraded but there’s nothing wrong with it.”
Me too.
I have two 1st gens, they’re fine, they’re awesome! It’s like using a classic mac….always works.
I replaced the battery for my 3G ipod a year or so ago, and it still works great. My iPhone is great, but 8 gigs sometimes doesn’t cut it. Also, the ipod fits the speakers in the kitchen and the iPhone doesn’t. Yet. I still have to take the scissors to that thing and cut off the plastic guard around the jack.
yeah….I don’t believe it, I have 2nd Gen Pod still doing great, batty life probably isn’t what it was but who unplugs them from the car anymore. Sounds like a bunch of FUD to me.
My 5th Gen 60GB (ordered day it was announced) flew off a 2nd story balcony (indoors) & splattered all over the place. Followed the tutorial from ifixit & put it back together. After 30 mins of reboots & a restore, it worked just fine. It died 7 days before the classic/video nano/touch came out due to a fall of my desk (killed stereo in the headphones, pulled it apart to reset the cable). Thought it was the drive (2 screws fell out of the case for it!) so I bought an adapter board to use a CF card. The logic board was toast. Found another guy with a busted 5th Gen 30GB. Offered him $20. Plugged in the HDD, cover. STILL HAD ALL MY MUSIC & DATA!!!!! I use that one for the gym.
Stuck with my 80GB Classic tho I orfered at the time to repalce it. Oh well
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@SRB & jjjj
Same here: 1st gen 5GB still works like new. I keep it in the minivan (cuz I hate radio.) I’ve since purchased several others, all still working like new as well. The only problem I ever had was the 1.1.2 firmware update on my 60GB gen 5.0 – I got the scrambled screen bug and had to downgrade. The next update fixed it, though.
My next iPod will be the inevitable touch 100+ gig.
Boycott all Apple china made products! Free Tibet!!
My 3rd generation 15GB iPod gifted to me on my birthday in August 2003 has original battery and still works great and gets used often. Original slip case from Apple is the only case I have and it is hardly scratched up at all. It all depends on how you treat your equipment.
Last year one of my students offered to give me her 4th gen ipod because it didn’t work anymore. I was so tempted – but I’m a teacher and I’ve got those professional ethics to deal with (damn those ethics, damn them all to hell).
Anyway I took it home, recharged the ipod, then restored the software and it worked just fine. Next week I gave her the ipod back and loaded some music as well. Now she has two working ipods.
Oh, and for the record I’ve got a 3rd gen. ipod with a clapped out battery and a 4th gen 60 gig ipod photo which is a tad unstable and about twice a year I restore the software, and then reload music collection via a firewire 800 cable. My wife has a blue ipod mini and it works fine as well.
The moral of the story is if you know what you’re doing ipods last a long time but if you’re an uniformed f-whit then it’s your own fault. Anyone out there wanting to throw away any ipods and you’re not one of my students…?
Total BS. I and my family are still using several versions of iPods going back to 2nd gen units. My first gen would probably still be working if I hadn’t accidentally flung from my car (don’t ask).
My 3rd Gen iPod is still spinning choons as well. Hacked it up with iPodLinux, and do some digital wildlife recording with it sometimes, too.
Whatevs, Daley. You’re just a hit whore.
chrissyTwo,
While you’re at it you can throw out all your T-shirts that are made in China and parts of your computer etc. and some of the components in your car.
Look the Tibetans and getting really pissed on by China and the Chinese gov. is really oppressive AND it supports regimes like the Burmese generals as well as the Somalian government.
If you really want to hurt them then boycott the Olympics; don’t watch the bloody thing at all. That’s what I’m doing and maybe you should as well.
Goodnight All. It’s almost 4.00 A.M. in the land of OZ.
My touch works perfect. My 5g video that I gave to my daughter works perfect. My 3g – with new battery that I gave to my daughter who gave it to her boyfriend works just fond, thank you.
Well my 20GB 4th gen iPod gave up after about 2 and a half years use. I suspect it was a hard drive failure, but never had it fixed… just bought a new 8GB nano instead.
I have personally heard of other people having iPods die on them as well.
Why are people bragging that there 5.5G iPods still work? Whoopee Do?!
I bought my 3rd gen iPod (15GB) in Feb 03 so it has been in use for over five years. It has been heavily used both as a stand alone and in the car. To bad Apple doesnt have a runtime counter on them or something. People are dumb about batteries in general these days. Even though there is “supposed” to be no memory with new battery types, why not charge it completely when you by the device (cell phone, iPod, whatever) run the battery down completely, and then charge it all the way up before you use it again. Do that 3 or 4 times and everything works great. If people don’t treat there things properly, no shit they don’t work. Why is the manufacture blamed for that? Because they (the customer)are morons to begin with.
WTF!
I boycott all China products. Apple is the one that is relevant to this site.
I have a third-generation that was purchased in spring 2003 which has all of Apple’s software updates installed and it still works just fine, and didn’t even need to change the battery. What’s wrong with that guy?
My 1st Gen iPod is still kicking it real good in the car. Never had any problems with it whatsoever.
My 3G still works fine while the battery lasts.
I took it to the local independent Apple store for a replacement battery, but it never seemed to make a difference. Use a 5th Gen now anyway.
new acronym: PEBHAC
“Problem Exists Between Hand And Clickwheel”
1st gen 5Giger still works fine, never replaced the battery though so only 2.5-3.5Hour battery life now.
Chrissy Two writes, “Boycott all Apple china made products! Free Tibet!!” Unfortunately, virtually *every* hardware offering from Apple is sourced in China. I walked over to Best Buy last week just to see if at least the high-end Macbook Pro was made elsewhere. Nope. China.
But I agree with your sentiment. I’d rather my money not go to enrich a country lacking basic human liberties. Apropos, check out James Kynge’s “China Shakes the World”. Dealing with a rising China will be one of this century’s great challenges.
From the original article: “About a year ago, when her old 30 GB machine began to pack in, she managed to persuade Apple to send her a new one, as she’d bought an extended warranty that was still just in date.”
This is typical of pieces that cannot really prove their point, so shade every sentence in a manner that is consistent with their point. In this case, Apple is being accused of killing iPods in order to make you buy a new one. Thus, the implication that Apple did not want to honor a warranty: “managed to persuade”. As if Apple does not honor warranties that are only days from expiring. Bullshit.
“Interestingly, however, the replacement — a never-used 30 GB iPod, which was no longer available in the shops — began to run into difficulty just weeks later — regularly crashing, until it eventually stopped working altogether. This didn’t make too much sense. After all, the problems couldn’t be blamed on wear and tear. Short of it being a defective unit, the only obvious explanation was that it was struggling to get to grips with the newer software.”
Another example. The author implies that, well, it obviously could not be the logical explanation of a faulty unit, so it must be the made up shit in my head!
Toting around a hard drive is going to lead to short lifetimes. Instead of 2 yrs marking some Apple conspiracy, how about concluding that 2 yrs is about the lifetime of hard drives that are carried around all the time?
My Generation 1 Zune still works.
Your potential. Our passion.™
My wife has trashed first gen, second gen, third gen, mini, first gen Shuffles and nano iPods, Apple software updates had nothing to do with their demise. She goes running with with her iPod daily and her run is a 15 miles and it is a run and not a sissy jog. When you run everyday in Arizona you’re going to trash a few iPods. The summer heat destroys Li-Ion batteries, plastic parts, Rubber, PVC, and any parts that move. The new aluminum clip Shuffles are tanks her last one was more then a year old with about 10,000 miles on it. So, bought her a new 2GB one. The old one is scratched up a lot, has a bent clip but, works fine.
@Spark
Aw, C’mon! I know you said not to but I have to ask. I want to hear how a iPod “accidently” gets flung out a car window.
The UK Independent newspaper are knocking Apple in other ways too. They recently published a list testing technology myths. Most of them were based on fact, but one that stood out was “Even Apple Macs can catch viruses”
Surprisingly, this was declared to be true. Here is the reason they offered …
Clive Longbottom, a director at the IT analysts Quocirca, says it’s wrong to say Macs don’t get viruses. “They could; it’s just that nobody can be bothered to write them. Worldwide, only about 3 per cent of desktop computers are Macs. At that level, it’s not financially viable for hackers to write viruses for Macs.”
Macs used to be more resistant, but times have changed and Mac users are complacent at their peril. As more PC users install antivirus software and Microsoft ups its game, hackers might turn their attention to Macs.
*** note that they weren’t able to offer an example of it happening, they just found somebody who said it might be theoretically possible. Compare that to their analysis of other myths on that page….
“Mobile phones can cause planes to crash, life-support machines to fail and petrol stations to blow up” – Theoretically possible, but hasn’t been proved to happen, so that myth is declared false.
“Flatscreens are worse for your eyes than traditional monitors” – Theoretically possible, but no proof that they are, so it’s declared false.
“You won’t get the best sound from a CD unless you put it in a freezer first” Theoretically possible, but no proof that it’s true, so it’s declared false.
Note the contrast with the Mac virus myth. Just like the previous myths there’s no evidence that it has ever happened, but for some reason, that one is declared true.
http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/truth-or-scare-technology-myths-put-the-test-803430.html
The HD in my twice replaced 5g 30GB Video iPod is dead once again (HD Failures in all 3 yay) but this time its out of warranty so I just bought a 60GB HD on ebay for 60 bucks.
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The UK Independent newspaper is a third rate publication.
Rabidly anti-war, pro-animal rights and anti-globalization – not surprising its journo’s would hate Apple.
Just like that pratt Jack Schofield at the Guardian.. read this if you want raised blood pressure:
http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/04/05/companies_struggle_to_remove_apples_safari_browser.html
Interesting to see the comments he attracts – and which he calls ‘bullshit’…
“”You won’t get the best sound from a CD unless you put it in a freezer first”
Coldplay?
Apple should sue that asshole for slander.
I wonder how much Microsoft paid that idiot to such crap?
Don’t EVER buy the independent, its run by losers who know as much about journalism as a corpse.
I have a 3rd gen and it’s still very usable, 5+ hrs on a charge.
All updates
I have a 60gb ipod. It has been in my car for 4 years now in the roasting phoenix sun. Which the apple store says not to do. All updates and original battery. It is a beast. I love it. Never had a problem with it.
Apple don’t kill ipods, people kill ipods.
Guns don’t kill people, people kill people.
Which raises the question…could you garrote someone iPod headphones? Just a question.
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I have a refurbished first gen iPod nano that went through a full wash cycle. Today, it still works like brand new.
My sister has a 1G iPod, and it still runs fine. Battery sucks on it, because she’s never had it replaced, but it does still work. This guy’s on some serious crack.
Yes, I also have a 20GB 3rd Gen that is working with the original battery. It spends most of its time in my car. Don’t tell Apple.
I bought one of those old, white, long, 512 MB, iPod shuffles at a garage sale for 25 bucks. I downloaded the latest software update through iTunes. It has been running fine with me for over a year. In fact, I’m listening to it right now. I’m sorry that James Daley had problems with his.
I’ve got a first generation iPod that I’ve loaded and unloaded with linux several times and it still works great. I did replace the battery (myself) about two years ago because the old one failed to hold a charge. Replacing the battery in the iPod cost less than half the price of a new battery for my Razr. Not a bad deal.
I have a first generation iPod that is still running – the battery isn’t good so I leave it plugged in – but it plays just fine.
I think Apple also brought down the world trade center.
Sheesh – to try to pawn off your inability to deal with technology on Apple is pretty sad.
But FUD like this makes good, if not honest, news.
Guy is obviously an asshat and a whiner and with all the nanny state crap happening in Britain you MUST blame someone other than yourself.
Got three iPods, never a whimper out of any of ’em.
I have a brand new iPhone. Had it for tons of minutes and it still works like new! This guy is a moron!
My iPod Touch doesn’t work,
because I don’t have one.
I blame Apple.
My old 2ndGen iPod is updated and is still alive and kicking. I bought a replacement battery because I was making a large order of Apple stuff and threw it in, cause I figured I’d need it one day, and have yet to put it in, since I haven’t.
I wonder if his 2-year conspiracy theory has more to do with the finite number of recharges roughly being 2 years of active life, more than anything.
I have a 10 gig 3G iPod that hasn’t left my truck in the two years i’ve lived in AZ except to change the music. And when I do occasionally use it for hiking, spring training games, etc. I still get 4 hours of charge on the original battery.
For what it’s worth, I have a previous gen Nano, bought December 2006. Never had a problem with it. Still works.
Just replaced it with an iPod Touch. But I still have my trusty old Nano, in perfect working order.
All updated.
Mind you, these aren’t hard drive based iPods. I’m pretty much against HD-based mp3 players and portable media devices. I’m pretty leery about how they might handle wear and tear. I’ve never had HD-based portable media device, though, so I could be wrong.
@ LTD
I’ve had my 60GB iPod Photo for a good while and have bounced it all over the country as I use it to give conference presentations and also as an “external hard drive” to transfer files to/from my office Mac. It’s had all it’s updates and still works like a charm. So I guess the HD works fairly well, for me at least.
First gen 5gig and third gen 30gig still work fine, but then I’ve never updated the software. Next one’ll be a 64-gig touch. The battery of the 160-gig goes on and on and on…. MW: life.
@ macaday: if the Independent is anti-war, pro animal rights and anti-globalisation, then it sounds like a First-Rate publication.
The shear number of iPods out there means that even a tiny percentage failure rate does mean there are a significant number of people affected.
That’s what happens when just about everyone owns an iPod. I suspect iPods are no less unreliable than MP3 players from other companies.
iPods are ace, fact!