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Man Claims iPod Set His Pants Aflame
alphadogg writes to mention that an Atlanta man is claiming an iPod Nano actually caught fire in his pants creating flames that lasted 15 seconds and reached up as far as his chest. Apple hasn't responded to the claims yet other than sending him a packet to return the iPod.
Liar liar pant's on fire!
Oh, wait... let me get you some water.
Let me be the first to ask... Did he happen to be hanging from telephone wire when this incident occurred?
I know they like roasted nuts in the south, but that's taking it too far.
pants on fire
He's obviously lying.
His pants are on fire.
"News for nerds...eventually"
I'm sure they can spin this into positive PR.
In Soviet Russia music burns you.
Apple hasn't responded to the claims yet other than sending him a packet to return the iPod.
Apple to drop everything, charter a private jet with a team of forensic scientists and mob him swat style?
it sounds like they're being responsive and opening an investigation - where it goes from here is another matter.
... he needs to sue his dry-cleaners.
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
I literally smell a HP photo paper commercial.
Seriously, I can't tell
$x='S24;r)>63/* h@<5+oZ)32"5cz';$me='phroggy'x$];
$x=~y+ -xz+\0-Tx+;print$_^chop$me for split'',$x;
I was sure I posted in here earlier but its vanished..
Found it again from my comments but not here
His playlist included:
The Doors, Light my Fire
The Prodigy, Firestarter
Madonna, Burning up
Currently playing though was
James Brown, Hot pants.
liqbase
Fifteen seconds? Count that out one-one-thousand, two-one-thousand, ... or use the second hand from a watch. That's a pretty damn long time.
hmm, my testicles appear to be alight. I suppose I might have to do something about that one of these days...
The fire reached to his chest? I'm wondering what else he had in his pocket, perhaps a butane lighter. Even if I hooked an electrical cord to a 2032 Li-ion cell I seriously doubt the flames would go more than 3 inches. Usually batteries go because the current draw is very high. Perhaps polyester clothing could contribute to his misfortune, but glossy paper in his pocket protected him from severe burns? I think we'll have to see what the nano looked like afterwards before really passing any judgement, but this is just about as amazing as the finger in the Wendy's Chili.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
There has to be security video that can corroborate his story. Even if the actual event isn't on video; he goes past the camera in one direction with his pants intact. He returns with a big hole burned in his pants. Should be an open and shut case, no?
You think by now manufactures would smarten up and use a more stable power source for their products (other than lithium-ion). I wonder if Apple will have to recall the batteries and/or if there have been more unreported incidents.
Well...the iPods are a HOT item....
Presumably there's an Americanism at play here and the iPod was in his trousers rather than his pants, if not then i've a that feeling Apple could claim improper use.
Apple hasn't responded to the claims yet other than sending him a packet to return the iPod.
"Your Honor, we cannot reproduce the allegedly malfunctioning device at this time."
technical writing / development
...great balls of fire!
Write joke myself, or just lay back and wait for the flow...
"The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
It bent, the battery ruptured, the lithium reacted with the air. Fire. Possible? I doubt it was spontaneous like the Dell laptops.
Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
Anyone else wondering if that's what he was listening to?
Not knowing the version of the Nano, or how many "Recharges" he had performed, or even the Temperatures of his environment this is a puzzle. I hope more information comes to light soon as I have a 1st Gen Nano here (though I never put it in my pockets). I also wonder what materials he was wearing it was to set them alight.
Actually I dont recall ever hearing a story of iPods catching fire. But then again, maybe it's because Laptop Manufacturers want all the news coverage when their products burst into flame
In all accounts "OUCH" comes to mind
Here it comes, at the next MythBusters episode!
Will this be followed up with a story about an Apple manager stating:
"We didn't start the Fire..."?
Is there heaven? Is there Hell? Is that a Tuna Melt I smell?-Primus
...he's just happy to see you...
He should have picked a color other than pink and settled for fabulous instead of flaming.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
He was watching The Hills, and the Nano couldn't take it, so it decided to end his life.
This looks like a job for...the Mythbusters!
Or Dave Barry.
But given that no toilet is involved, I'm inclined to lean towards the Mythbusters.
Gifts for Geeks - Stuff that really matters!
"Her pants are blazing for you Newton Crosby!"
Seriously. That's something to be picked up! Almost begs to be. I wouldn't deem it impossible that Apple actually sponsored it.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
. .oh. . .wait. . .
You are not the customer.
They set him on fire for downloading non-itunes music to his ipod, imagine what they'll do to the iphone hackers!
Help! I've fallen in a karma hole and I can't get up!
my pants get on fire all the time and I don't even have a iPhone
I think everyone should tag this ipwned.
Request your free CD of my piano music.
Must be the firewire model.
Ergonomica Auctorita Illico!
It's a new kind of DRM Apple is trialling.
I think its already been said that iPods are going to be the hottest thing for the holidays this year.
there are supposedly photos here: http://www.engadget.com/2007/10/05/ipod-nana-spews-chest-high-flames-from-trousers-lawsuit-at/
I am noticing that the guy is pretty short on smoke damage for the kind of flames described. Burning plastic, which would be involved here produces copious amounts of sticky black smoke, and I'm not seeing much of any. Not to mention the fact that his pocket liner seems to be more or less unharmed. IIRC the burning temperature of Lithium is higher than that of cotton.
Apparently the flames are invisible so people will think you're dancing.
Let me be the first to ask... Did he happen to be hanging from telephone wire when this incident occurred?
Yeah, it's pretty obvious this isn't true. Everyone knows Apple doesn't use Sony batteries.
The theory of relativity doesn't work right in Arkansas.
- I guess he thought hot pants here back in season
- His little toy got too hot while he was playing with it in his pants
- I knew those ipods were hot, but i didn't think they were flaming
- He was so flaming he literally needed an extinguister to put him out
- Maybe he was listening to a Farenheit 451 audio book
- If he wanted to be a fire crotch... red hair dye is cheaper than an ipod...
I warned you.. they were bad...
Apparently the iPod and the battery rendered the songs a bit too literally...
I predict that the FAA will ban any and all devices that use lithium ion battery technology. They can't risk one of these devices turning into something of Thermite while in flight.
Life is not for the lazy.
You know the scumbag sharks are already circling and I'm sure this guy has already spoken to ten lawyers about suing Apple. It's the American Way, you know.
... for making flamebait products. :)
I got a severe case of antibiotic-resistant boogie woogie influenza from my iPod.
Victory!
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Normally I wouldn't post this, but it adds so much to the discussion it really needs to be modded up.
I think this makes it pretty obvious that Steve Jobs is secretly hiding self-destruct mechanisms inside the ipods for when Apple tries to take over the world.
Surrender or your 8 gigs of music gets it.
Klingon Software is not released, it escapes, inflicting terrible damage onto the enemy as it does
His pants had a small brown spot inside the pocket...if it were for 15 seconds, and up to his chest, wouldn't it be a little more burned than that?
This makes the ipod the second deadliest item to carry around in your pants.
Badass Resumes
From TFA: "The nearly two year-old iPod caught fire".
He kept commodity electronics more than six months! He did not consume, he is not a good citizen, he had it coming!
-1 not first post
The iPod nano is almost two years old.
:)
Apple sent him a package to return the iPod.
The battery is Lithium-ion.
The story has noted that laptop li-ion batteries that Apple used have caught on fire before. The article did not mention that the batteries in question were made by Sony.
It is possible that something went wrong with the battery and/or packaging; however, bear in mind that this is a two year old iPod nano. This is the first reported case so 1 out of millions of iPod nanos since sold is a very small percentage. In other words, no one panic yet.
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
...happened right after an unlocking hack and a firmware update?
...is USELESS without pics!
I'll let my Karma burn along with this guy.
Here is an interesting Robert X. Cringely article that explained
the troubles with lithium ion type batteries from 2006...
http://www.ecovehicle.com/new_page_33.htm
Perhaps your cell phone might be next? Hopefully the chances of an explosion are extremely small.
-- If there's one thing i can't stand, it's intolerance!
Bring an iPod to the dance
there's hotness in your pants
lalalala
It's the new penalty for unlocking an Apple product.
Rip. Mix. Burn.
just plain "fire" linky
Or one of the really poor quality Chinese knock-offs that you see all over eBay?
So this guy can send in his roasted weiner too!
The new anti-pirate mechanism worked exactly as planned. DON'T copy music, especially in your underpants.
Li-on batteries fail, for the most part, from improper exposure to heat, usually 180 degrees Fahrenheit and up. So my question is what where his pants doing arround 180 degrees in the first place?
If i had one dollar for every brain you dont have, i would have $1.
Nobody has mentioned HOT GRITS or Videos of Natalie Portman ....
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Youtube posting of modified iPod commercial showing dancers on fire in 3... 2... 1...
For security, the MD5 hash of this message and sig is 09f911029d74e35bd84156c5635688c0.
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
[nt]
It's people that burn people.
Bringing liberty to the masses. - http://freetalklive.com/
Everyone else wins these stupid lawsuits or gets out of court settlements. Or at least it seems that way.
Besides, its the american way now apparently.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
I bet he was listening to
Great Balls of fire
Gives a whole new meaning to "iPod Killer", huh?
ba-dum-ching. Thanks for coming to the show tonight. Try the veal.
No, really! I don't want to start a flame war with this guy.
You know what?
. . . and BOING! It disappears into the ether.
I can just see the new marketing campaign!
-Clio
Karma: Bad (mostly from not giving a fuck)
Blog: http://clintjcl.wordpress.com
It didn't set his pants aflame, it set them iFlame. It's one of those features that lets you know when it's time to replace your perfectly good but two year old player.
I predict that the FAA will ban any and all devices that use lithium ion battery technology.
Actually, it's not technically the FAA who'll do the banning, it will be their parent gov organization: the US Department of Transportation itself. Specifically, the Office of Safety Energy and Environment and the Office of Transportation Policy, and to a lesser extent the NTSB, although the FAA will be providing much input to the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) which will codify the ban. And right now, all of these players are looking closely again at consumer electronics devices powered by lithium batteries where the size of the battery contains amounts of lithium greater than that of a cellphone battery. Laptop computers are the obvious target since their spontaneous combustion and large numbers of battery recalls by their makers has attracted so much media attention. The iPod battery is about the same size as a cellphone battery so it will probably not be affected..... yet.
It really does sound like one of their episodes.. An implausible urban legend, a pending lawsuit.. splashed with a tiny amount of questionable science..
Now, all repeat after me ' BUSTED '.
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Sorry, I can't find any links to this, but Wikipedia (which, as we all know, never lies) says that "it also was tested on the road to Untertürkheim where nowadays the Gottlieb-Daimler-Stadion is situated"
I doubt it'd be often for the battery in an iPod to go off spontaneously. One would hope that QC would be a lot better for a battery that for all intents and purposes is permantly sealed inside the unit. So it should be a lot less risky than an interchangable laptop or cellphone battery where the QC is a lot more questionable.
So why would it go off? I'd suspect something like a coin or a foil gum wrapper finding its way into the docking slot. Small chance, but I'm sure shorting out the right contacts in there wouldn't be good for the iPod or its battery.
Obligatory double-entendre:
FUEEEEEEEEEGO en mis pantalones!
Honestly, maybe it was sparks. The iPod doesn't look like it was that badly damaged. His pocket is free from damage, as far as I can see on engadget.com, and the scorching on the "glossy paper" indicates a short, intense heat burst. It seems like something arced out in the front controls, causing a shower of sparks. I don't doubt that he was scared shitless, but I do doubt that there were flames for 15 seconds. That's quite a long time when your life is in danger, and I just don't see anything that would indicate a burn time of 15 seconds.
"Slapping lipstick on a pig does NOT make it Natalie Portman. Paris Hilton, maybe, but not Portman." - UncleTogie
youtube.com/watch?v=6bqUEpVhmVg
I wonder how long until they start banning any electronics with batteries in them on airplanes...
Is that a nano in your pocket...
... or are you just happy to see me?
Apple, pants aflame? come on...
Someone decided to find out. Here is the rusult.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7abq34mckg
it is kind of boring really. Maybe if the battery was already in flame mode it might be more exciting. Hmm, I think I have a video project.. overcharged battery on cotton string over a bucket of water.. Hmmm... Stay tuned.
The truth shall set you free!
Ah I see Apple are still using the HCF function in their assembly code
Who need's speling and grammar?
Tempted to use the cliched 'Photos or it didn't happen'...but knowing some bits of equipment, I can imagine this did! Mine you...15 seconds and up to his chest? Wouldn't you notice faster? xD I like Apple sending a bag to give it back in. I'd half expect them to send a fireblanket too...
Problem: IPod causes pants to catch fire.
Soultion: Turn porn off.
He seems to be the perfect candidate for the nickname "Mr. Hot Pants"
Knowing Google's lust for data collection, the Soviet Union is still alive and well inside the psyche of Sergey Brin....
> Not really. Lithium combines with water to form lithium hydroxide (a type of lye) and hydrogen
Oh, really?
A longgg time ago, back when they taught Chemistry in High School (do they still? Probably in China and India.)... I remember seeing potassium and sodium tossed into water... SMALL quantities only.
Rather nasty. Agreed it's the hydrogen that burns, but it is generated vigorously and is immediately set on fire by the reaction of the metal with water.
If you DO decide to toss some lithium metal into water, make sure you don't use your bare hand!
And stand well back!
Apparently Lithium is not quite as active as potassium, but...
See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium
.
- aqk
F U
You have got to be kidding!! How is that possible. The heat on his leg before it even reached the point that it would ignite would be too hot for him to handle. Another monkey trying to sue Apple. On a side note...my iPhone has gotten pretty hot too so I ran it under cold water to cool it off. http://www.everything-macs.com/
MY pants are set aflame by Miley Cyrus, but I'm not complaining!
Ars Technica had an article on this some time ago. Here's another one about Japanese scientists who think Li-Ion batteries are "inherently dangerous and must be changed to ensure safety." The thing is, all these companies have invested a ton of money into developing and manufacturing these batteries, and now they need their investment to pay off before getting rid of the technology.
Quote from the second article: In the past two years alone, Toshiba, Gateway, Lenovo, Sony, and Dell have all issued recalls on lithium ion batteries used in their products. The Times suggests that the reason many of these manufacturers haven't switched out the lithium ion batteries altogether is because the battery technology is fairly new, and the investments in lithium ion batteries have been expensive. Lithium ion batteries were first introduced to the mainstream market in 1992 by Sony.
At the risk of sounding calloused here, perhaps this chap worked for the Nestle company?
The only problem I see was that he had all the Ham slices and cheese IN THE OTHER POCKET when the Apple device caught on fire....
Oh well, those "Hot Pockets" never were good for you. Too many preservatives and such....
Do "Lean Pockets" just make your pants way tighter? I'm so confused here!~
Somebody wants a free Ipod! I hope Apple does not give in to this individual. Too many people think they can make up and LIE they want about a large company and they will be bought off to keep quiet. Does this remind anybody else of a lawsuit for cofee being too hot at McDonnalds?
that IS funny. I don't really believe it, but it's funny.
There is no lithium metal (that would be reactive to water) in a lithium ion battery. Lithium is the electrolyte that shuttles between the anode and cathode which are generally made from a cobalt salt that is oxidized and reduced during charging/discharging.
Well I AM aware that it's not the pure metal.
;-)
Explain this to the lads that slept thru Chemistry class, but now somehow consider themselves experts in 'alternative' theories.
The guys that bandy around the terms lithium, sodium, mercury, and lead sometimes aren't aware that the pure metal is not the 'active' ingredient, be it an exploding Dell laptop, an anti-anxiety medicine, or a deadly poison causing Minamata disease.
From other high-school 'experiments' I recall we students rolling around balls of Mercury in the palms of our hands. marveling at its properties.
When I tell this to people now, they gasp and marvel that I am still alive, or that I haven't suffered some brain damage. (Well, OK- this last example is debatable).
Presumably, that's one of the reasons that Mercury in our teeth fillings doesn't poison us- it's not one of those nasty organic salts that cause all the problems (or benefits).
But I digress- I'll leave it to you chem experts to explain it them.
Thanx.
.
- aqk
F U
Because Apple Warranty refused to cover: "My pants actually caught my iPod on fire!"