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"iPod's Dirty Secret"

Posted by pudge on from the it-lasts-eighteeen-months-and-what-do-you-get? dept.

akpoff writes "Have you ever made a promise while in tech-support hell to let everyone know how bad the product is? The Neistat brothers followed through after the batteries in an iPod died and Apple told them it would cost US$250 to replace them. The tech rep told the guys they might as well buy a new iPod. The brothers thought differently and made a movie showing how they got the word out in a large metro area. Of course it was made on a Mac with iMovie." Their statement is a bit misleading: many people have iPods that have lasted a lot longer than 18 months (the iPod was released over two years ago). But the batteries don't last forever. What is their life expectancy? Does Apple notify consumers of a life expectancy?

3 of 262 comments (clear)

  1. Does it still work with a dead battery? by Kris_J · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If you provide an iPod with power from outside will it still run as normal even with a dead battery? If so, there are going to be some cool-looking firewire HDD arrays in the future.

  2. Not that big a deal for some :) by djupedal · · Score: 4, Interesting

    When you race electric R/C cars on a serious level, you become quite adapt at building and servicing your own packs.

    Popping the back off my iPod and installing a fresh battery, bought off the net for less than US$75.00, is nothing... I look forward to the day :)

  3. Other products ... by Midnight+Thunder · · Score: 3, Interesting

    The iPod is not the only device to use built in rechargeable batteries. Other examples of such devices are cell phones and Palm PDAs. Cell phones usually have easy access to the batteries, but the high end Palm PDAs don't. Does anyone know in comparison how easy it is to change these batteries, how much they cost and what is their life span?

    I think the issue may need to be making people aware of the lifespan of 'integrated' rechargeable batteries, no matter the product.

    --
    Jumpstart the tartan drive.