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Apple Powerbook and iBook Battery Recall
doubleacr writes "The Register is reporting that Apple is recalling batteries in 12 and 15 inch Powerbook and 12 inch iBooks sold between October 2004 and May 2005. Apple has set up a page with info on model number and serial numbers of batteries affected, and also how to get a replacement."
From the article:
"Apple said the risk of combustion was very small. The recall comes after the US Consumer Product Safety Commission received six reports of batteries overheating, two from the US and the rest from around the globe."
Six, man. SIX! And only TWO in the US!
And they're taking what must be a pretty big loss just for the sake of having good business integrity.
I dunno, man. Sounds pretty cool to me.
http://augustwestproducts.i8.com
On the flip side, if they didn't decide on a recall, and someone were to get injured, they'd face a serious liability suit. "You already had six reports of failure, and yet your company did nothing. Your negligence is directly responsible for my disfiguring burns." Not a pretty idea.
Good business practices and fear of lawsuits often yield the same results. Which motivation you choose to ascribe depends mostly on how cynical you are.
Companies too often get a bad press when they do the responsible and praisworthy thing of honoring their promises to consumers and recall their products to repair a fault. Yes, ideally the product should not have the fault in the first place, when that would be in an ideal world, and these thing just have to happen from time to time. I think companies should get a bad press when they don't recall a product when they should, not when they do the right thing.
That is a bit of a misleading statistic don't you think? That is like saying:
When I worked at AA, we always had drunk people coming in for help. Based on this, I think that most people must be drunks.
I would prefer that to "Offtopic" or "Troll" or "Flamebait".
more robust, more stable alternatives, while free, are not as easy to use.
easier to use, more stable alternatives are far more expensive...
and my machine isn't virus/worm/trojan/spyware/malware-ridden. get over yourself. while apples are higher quality, they are still susceptible to problems as seen here. and don't get me started on the problems with introducing linux to the mainstream average computer user...
please me, have no regrets.
That was only true if the motherboard fuse was blown (which wasn't all that hard to do, considering). With the fuse gone you needed the battery in place in order to power up on the wall adapter. Otherwise you could power up with no battery in place.
Having replaced those surface mount fuses several times, I learned this.
Heh, though really Apple should send you a battery if you call them and then have you send the defective one back when you receive the replacement. That is what they did when my AC adaptor broke(a week before the warranty ran out). Apple rushed me a new AC adaptor and had me send my defective one back(they paid the shipping). I think the only reason they had me send mine back was to ensure that I wasn't just getting a free power supply. I see no reason they shouldn't do the same for the batteries.
Monstar L
Why is this recall not coming from the Original Equipment Manufacturer? I mean, does Apple actually make the batteries being recalled?
It also seems like battery recalls are happening more and more on electronic devices. Is it that we are using more batteries or is there something going on with battery manufacturing?
Dell issued a large recall last year, this is Apple's second recall on batteries I believe. Certainly there are others that I don't know about.
I only came here to do two things; kick some ass, and drink some beer...looks like we're almost out of beer.
If you're like me, your battery is wearing out anyway and a free (and new) replacement is a pretty good deal!
(If it hasn't exploded yet, it probably wont anyway)
Notice that it's in the Apple section. If Apple isn't of interest to you, you can disable it in your account. For those who do use Macs, this might be important. The risk is certainly small, but at least for a person with one of these three models, why take the chance? Apple's wouldn't be recalling the batteries if they thought it so minor. I think it's perfectly appropriate for the Apple section of Slashdot to spread this news more widely.
Signature.
I think the only reason they had me send mine back was to ensure that I wasn't just getting a free power supply.
That's one possibility. Another is that Apple wants it so they can have their engineers do a post-mortem to figure out what went wrong. A relative called the toll-free number on a well-known brand of kitchen sponge and they asked her to send the defective one back postage-paid, which probably cost them more than the sponge did.
palmOne is also rumored to have been asking Tungsten C owners with a zeroed-out MAC address to send it back postage-paid, in exchange for a new (not refurbished or repaired) unit, because they didn't know what the problem was.
"However many laptop power supplies are designed with the assumption that there will be this big battery installed acting as a capacitor."
No, they don't. Li-Ion batteries are destroyed if they are mischarged, and placing the battery in parallel with the power supply would be extremely dangerous. The battery would likely burn and/or explode the first time that it was connected due to overcharging.
Modern laptops have extensive power circuitry to preciscely control the charging cycle of the battery. The battery is never used as "a capacitor". That's what the real capacitors are for.
But to take advantage of something like that would be dishonest unless Sony wanted to replace everyone's 60min battery. Has it occurred to you that if people didn't try and exploit loopholes that policy filling them wouldn't exist and therefor wouldn't get in the way of legitimate problems.
Help I'm a rock.
I am confused on whether to be pleased that a scarcastic statement about apple was modded up or be disappointed that it was modded up due to people believing it.
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