Slashdot Mirror
iPod Nano Scratches Result In Suit
Evil W1zard writes "Earlier this week a class action lawsuit against Apple was filed claiming that the iPod Nano has a widespread propensity for scratching easily. The lawsuit alleges that Apple violated state consumer protection statutes, as well as express and implied warranties and charges that Apple knew that there were design problems with the Nano." From the article: "An Apple representative declined to comment on the suit, but Apple has stated that the Nano is made of the same polycarbonate material that's found in previous iPods and maintained that the scratching problem does not appear to be widespread. The lawsuit charges, however, that the Nano contains a thinner coating of resin than on previous iPod models."
"The amount and durability of the resin applied as a protective coating during the Nano manufacturing process is clearly defective in that it is not sufficient to adequately protect the face of the Nano from extreme scratching and ultimately irreparable damage," the lawsuit says.
Notice that this statement is meant to sound like Apple just rigged Grandma's respirator to fail due to shoddy workmanship. While there is certainly damage to the Nano, and the coating process is "clearly defective", I don't buy for a minute the last statment that the players are irrparably damaged. There are plenty ways that Apple can make good without paying a fucking nickle to these assholes.
Mind you, I am no Apple fanboy and am not against filing law suits when people are being scammed, but this suit is just one more reason to ship lawyers to the Moon to minimize contamination of the rest of the world's population.
"Rocky Rococo, at your cervix!"
I didnt know you could just sue people for releasing a crappy product.
I guess Microsoft and ATI both owe me a few bucks.
They just put a regular iPod in a cloner and reduced the scale. If you put a Nano in your cloner and increase the scale back to normal, the resin layer will compensate.
No sig for you!!
Did anyone else have to read this headline four or five times?
I finally got it, though. Someone had their iPod in their suit, which managed to scratch their results.
What if I do the same thing, and I do get different results?
Materials aside, these scratching problems seem symptomatic of a big step backwards in design. The iPod mini that the nano replaced was built from tough, brushed aluminum that stayed beautiful even after months in a pocket with change and car keys.
(I [heart] my iPod mini.)
The lawsuit seemed somewhat legitimate until I read this little gem at ipodnn.com http://www.ipodnn.com/news/05/10/21/ipod.nano.laws uit/
I got a ridiculous amount of hits to my blog posting from a couple of weeks ago where I cleaned the scratches off my nano with Brasso. Actually, I got the idea from the original slashdot thread on the nano scratching issues.
My take: the nano doesn't scratch more than a normal iPod, but it's so small that you're tempted to pocket it, causing more scratches than you would get in the un-pocketable full-size iPods. I see that with the new iPods w/video Apple is now including a *really* basic (fabric?) case. Maybe that was a response to all the talk about the nano. I do think that the nano needs some sort of screen protector or case in order to stay scratch free. I made mine from some old PDA screen protectors.
- "When you want something with all your heart, the entire universe conspires to give it to you" -Paulo Coelho
I'd be more concerned with the fact that the battery is soldered onto the unit! Of course, before the rechargable battery's worn out, you'll buy the IPod Pico ... and a magnifying glass.
[Insert pithy quote here]
"I hate to advocate drugs, alcohol, violence or insanity but they've always worked for me" - HST
Well, I don't know about CHEAP watches. Good watches have sapphire crystals, which aren't very easy to scratch.
Fundamentally it's a matter of hardness; anything will scratch if it encounters something harder. Hard materials like diamond and sapphire are pretty much inherently expensive. Thus, any material that would be practical for an iPod will scratch.
I have seen the future, and it is inconvenient.
do the scratches prevent operation of unit or cut it's life short?
NODRTA.
OMFG! Where do I begin?
1. Every iPod I own has gotten scratches.
2. If you don't like scratches, get a case.
3. If you already have scratches, try Brasso or iCleaner. I've tried both and they work well.
Bottom line, scratches are the responsiblity of the owner. GM won't replace your car if YOU scratch it, so why should Apple pay up if your iPod gets scratched. Meaning that if you own an iPod Nano, it's YOUR fault that you have scratches. Please deal with it in a way that does not involve the justice system as it is NOT their problem.
This is my opinion. To make sure you don't steal it, it's covered by the DMCA.
Clearly, Apple should have provided guidelines to help keep everyone's iPod Nanos from getting scratched. I guess it falls to me to provide this valuable public service:
3 . / show/70's_badluck.wav.
1. Do not keep iPod Nano in the same pocket as your keys.
2. Do not run over iPod Nano with your car: http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/nano.ars/
3. Do not use iPod Nano to scratch off your lottery tickets. Invest in a quarter, instead.
4. Do not keep iPod Nano in the same pocket as your keys, dumbass: http://www.fortunecity.com/lavender/tombstone/839
5. Do not gnaw nervously on iPod Nano.
and finally...
6. Maybe think about investing in a $20 ultra-thin case for iPod Nano: http://www.speckproducts.com/nano-skintight.html.
FWIW, in my experience, there are two kinds of people in this world. Those who know how to take care of personal electronics and those who casually throw their new toys in with their spare change. I've had the same iPod for almost 2.5 years now. Still runs fine, still without scratches, and I've taken it jogging, biking, to work, to the bathroom, across state lines, etc. I guess some people just can't have nice things.
Complaining about a few scratches?!? How about running over it twice with a car and still playing music on it?
People are being too obsessive about the "status" the iPod gives the owner, and not realizing that it's a damn solid product.
IWARS.
People, in general, disappoint me. Politicians even more so.
I bought an iPod nano since they first started shipping and I don't have one scratch on it. It's black too, so scratches would be more visible.
I don't keep it in the same pocket as I do with keys, or other objects. I also run an hour daily, and the nano's in my hand/pocket during this time.
I don't know how people treat their nano - I'm somewhat alarmed at all this. It's an electronic product: treat it as such.
Apple has attracted a group of people that place an inordinate value on aesthetics. This isn't the first grumbling we've heard from the faithfull. Remember the Apple Cube and people complaining about "cracks" (small imperfections in the plastic) in the case? Now it's that the nano can get scratches in the screen. This is the price that Apple pays by attracting people that only seem to care about aesthetics. When something goes wrong with the aesthetics the faithfull scream their heads off.
AccountKiller
considering that it's not being scratched by the freakin' air, you have to do "something" to it to scratch it. Pay attention, find out what that it, stop doing that. problem solved.
I'm no apple fanboy, but not a big fan of idiots either.