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Attorneys Prepare iPod Class Action Lawsuit

Posted by pudge on from the nothing-better-to-do dept.

An anonymous reader writes "Well, it was bound to happen. It looks like some lawyers are preparing to file a class action lawsuit against apple computer due to the iPod's battery problem (previously discussed here, here, and here)."

8 of 175 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds like BS to me. by ITR81 · · Score: 5, Interesting
    Sounds like someone is just trying to make a quick buck off of Apple.

    What I don't understand is how do you make a class action lawsuit out of any issue where the company it's self already has something in place for consumers that have battery issue problems.

    Just sounds like a scam to me for someone looking to make a quick buck.

    1. Re:Sounds like BS to me. by TylerL82 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      What I don't understand is how do you make a class action lawsuit out of any issue where the company it's self already has something in place for consumers that have battery issue problems.

      Apple ran into the same problem with their 1st gen slot-load iMacs that had "choppy DVD playback". It was fixed in software within a few months, but still, a class-action lawsuit over a year later was filed. I guess providing a fix to the consumers isn't in the best interests of the lawyers.

    2. Re:Sounds like BS to me. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

      My original 5 gig got went from 11 hours to 45 mins over three years of constant use. Based on a tip from a friend, I just popped the back cover off, unplugged the battery, waited 5 mins and then plugged it back in. Now I am back to about 7 hours and I did not even need to re-sync any data.

      That wasn't so hard!

  2. typical by TomSawyer · · Score: 4, Interesting

    It seems Apple is periodically on the losing end of class action lawsuits over product standards other companies appear to get a pass on. The court remedy is usally lame for the affected consumers and at least in one case where I received an offer to join, the original problem no longer existed. I wonder how much tougher being in California makes it for them.

    --
    If you disagree then it must be overrated, redundant or trolling.
  3. Re:See the light. by Otter · · Score: 4, Interesting
    The iPod is not a "throwaway player". The batteries can be replaced by the user and are available from third party vendors for $49. Yeah, it's not a somewhat cheaper stock battery. That's why Apple was able to make a form factor that was such a quantum improvement over the players available at the time of its introduction.

    Anyway, as someone else said, the only winners in these suits are lawyers. The plaintiffs will get $5 coupns and the lawyers a pile of cash.

    --
    What I'm listening to now on Pandora...
  4. Re:See the light. by Fletch · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There is no excuse for producing throw away players that cost several hundred dollars.

    Um, they don't? I've got a first generation, 5gig iPod (the kind with the wheel that is an actual wheel, not a touchpad). I've used it every day since I bought it two years ago. I've even dropped it once or twice.

    I've had one problem with it, and it was battery related, but it was fixed by a software update a year ago.

  5. Re:See the light. by MalleusEBHC · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There is no excuse for producing throw away players that cost several hundred dollars.

    Good, I hope this dicourages anybody else to make such dumb decitions in the future.

    Apple chose to make an an audio player that was much smaller and much more sleek than any other player available at the time (or even now IMO). One of the tradeoffs of this design is that the battery is not removeable. However, this is nothing new for Apple. The iMac is basically impossible for the average consumer to tinker with (save adding RAM), but it still has sold well because people love the simplicity of an all-in-one design.

    If you don't like the iPod because of this, don't purchase one. However, for many of us, the iPod has served faithfully as an excellent audio player. I recently replaced my original 5 GB with a 40 GB for HD space issues, but the 5 GB still runs as well as the day I got it. Hell, it runs better now due to the firmware updates. If these were dumb decisions on my, I guess I'm happy being dumb and satisfied.

  6. Worth looking at similarities to the Palm V? by Angostura · · Score: 4, Interesting

    The iPod case reminds me a lot the similar questions and arguments when Palm bought out the original Palm V. Until, then of course, Palms had used good old AAA batteries, and there were all kinds of concerns voiced over the fact that the V's LiON batteries would 1. eventually degrade in performance 2. The only way to get into a Palm V involved using a hair dryer to melt the case's glue. Palm, of course gave no up-front warnings abou tthis when you bought the device. Now I know that the parallels are not exact, however it would be interesting to go back and see if there were any similar class action suits levelled against Palm, and to see how they fared. For what it's worth, my Palm V; bought in 1999 is still bhaving fine, with daily use and no noticeable reduction in battery life.