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FOIA Documents Detail iPods Overheating, Catching Fire
suraj.sun passes along a report from a Seattle TV station that has been investigating reports of Apple iPods overheating and bursting into flames. "An exclusive KIRO 7 Investigation reveals an alarming number of Apple brand iPod MP3 players have suddenly burst into flames and smoke, injuring people and damaging property. It's an investigation that Apple has apparently been trying to keep out of the public eye. It took more than 7 months for KIRO 7 Consumer Investigator Amy Clancy to get her hands on documents concerning Apple's iPods from the Consumer Product Safety Commission because Apple's lawyers filed exemption after exemption. In the end, the CPSC released more than 800 pages which reveal, for the very first time, a comprehensive look that shows, on a number of occasions, iPods have suddenly burst into flames, started to smoke, and even burned their owners. ... Apple refused to comment, and refused to answer all of the other questions [the reporter] has been asking of the company since November."
...for people engaged in petrol sniffing.
http://michaelsmith.id.au
Apple just said it had a smokin' quarter...
If he's the Walrus then can I be a penguin please?
Apple will block it, their zealots will ignore it, the masses won't here about it.
Microsoft scramble to add explosion functionality to the Zune.
The nature of things hasn't changed.
Apples can and do still go bad.
Viable Slashdot alternatives: https://pipedot.org/ and http://soylentnews.org/
Apple will still be adored by the public, the iPod is too ubiquitous with mp3 player at this point to be shunned. Its like Windows, it may be bad and seem to be hated by a lot of people but it will still be the most dominant in the market.
Summary:
> Investigation reveals an alarming number of Apple brand iPod MP3 players have suddenly burst into flames and smoke
.
Article:
>When the documents finally arrived more than seven months later, they included more than 800 pages of information, including 15 burn and fire-related incidents blamed by iPod owners on their iPods.
.
> After conducting its own preliminary investigation, the federal agency determined that, with more than 175 million iPods sold, âoethe number of incidents is extremely small in relation to the number of products produced, making the risk of injury very low.â
.
I'm ALARMED!
Apple failed to correctly implement the CMD IDE chip used in the Revision 1 B&W G3 macintoshes. They used to have a techinfo library entry that told you to buy FWB toolkit or an IDE card to fix the problem. (FWB toolkit would let you force the drive to PIO mode, at which point it's about half as fast and requires more CPU intervention, but UDMA is what Apple screwed up.) When the merged the TIL into the new Knowledge Base they omitted this article; there are earlier and later articles. I used to have the TIL number, and you can search the KB by TIL number and find things, but only if they are there.
Apple customers are mushrooms, they are only happy as long as you keep the in the dark and feed them shit. If people at large had longer memories and more geek awareness they might still not avoid them, but they would stop paying a premium for what is after all essentially the same experience you get from anyone else: a bloated, chunky, choppy operating system (sometime compare NeXTStep on an '040 Turbo slab to OSX running on a Dual core anything, and be depressed) extremely wasteful of resources running on simple motherboards built by Foxconn and populated with simple commodity parts.
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
I would appreciate it if we didn't tag every apple story with macbook if it doesn't have to do with macbooks. One day, I or someone else may actually want to use the tagging system for its function of looking up stuff that has to do with that tag, and I will not be happy when I want to look at macbook related stories and see 90% of the articles are about ipods.
Seattle huh? Did they get an "anonymous tip" from some unnamed, but well funded local source?
I mean, my iPod's only exploded what, three times? Okay, four, but that last time my girlfriend loaded some Celine Dion on it, so that falls squarely under self-defence.
That's a far better track record than most of my electronic devices.
. . . no Spontaneous Human Combustion http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spontaneous_human_combustion ?
Now, THAT would be real news for real nerds . . .
"Hey, that dude drank too much Jolt, and just like, sorta burned up!"
Schroedinger's Brexit: The UK is both in and out of the EU at the same time!
Mmmm...I love baked apples
According to Apple in a statement:
"Apple is about innovation, this is a self destruct feature that
demanding consumers requested"
Anyone else want to take a ride on the "spin machine"?
High enough energy density and you go from energy store to high explosive.
Best Slashdot Co
...and the burning ipod did speak unto Jobs and appointed him to lead the users out of Vista and unto the promised land of OSX.
...to buy an iPod. Those cunning devils at Apple have found a legal way to sell portable incendiary devices! Who wouldn't want one now?
TLR
A man no more knows his destiny than a tea leaf knows the history of the East India Company
I've never had any of my ipods burst into flames. I've never known anybody who has had an ipod burst into flames. None of my ipod owning friends have ever mentioned any of their friends having an ipod that burst into flames. ...I'm thinking maybe this isn't such a huge, gigantic problem as all that, which is why it's not in the mainstream media...
Do they scream "BUY COWON!!!" as they burn? Good effin' riddance.
According to the article (you DID read the article, didn't you?) there has been no serious injuries. The article details how, after 7 months of investigation, the reporter has found bloggers blogging about overheating iPods, but the number reported in the article is about ... 35. That's out of the 175 million devices out there...
Hardly a product flaw. Perhaps some rare individual and isolated parts are flawed, but this isn't a systemic problem.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission conducted its own preliminary investigation and determined that, with more than 175 million iPods sold, âoethe number of incidents is extremely small in relation to the number of products produced, making the risk of injury very low.â
Nothing to see here, move along. kdawson, queue the apple haters. Oh, and start posting real stories or find another job.
- real hackers don't have sigs -
A while back I had a problem with the power brick for my Macbook Pro. It was running awful hot, and some of the plastic on the cable near the magnetic adapter was starting to melt. Applecare kept trying to tell me that the problem was my fault for unplugging the adapter by pulling on the cable instead of actually grabbing the magsafe plug, and that despite me having paid for applecare, they would not fix it.
A couple days later while playing a game in bootcamp, I went to unplug it, and was so hot that the power cord's coating actually melted to my hand. I called up AppleCare went through the situation again. I even explained that it had melted, I seemed to get nowhere. Where I had touched the cord it had now darkened considerably, probably from me being able to see the bare cable beneath it. I was trying to describe this to the tech and said something along the lines of, "Well there's melting damage, and the area is blackened a bit as if there was a small fire there"
Suddenly the whole tone of the conversation changed, and I was immediately transfered to a supervisor. I went through about 10 minutes answering a series of questions off a script. "Did the Fire cause any property damage?" "Was there any bodily injury caused by the fire?" "Have you suffered any loss of income due to this problem?" etc etc etc.
I answered no to everything, but simply mentioning "Fire" got me a new power brick, when no other method did. It is something Apple is clearly concerned about.
Introducing Microsoft Vacuum 1.0 The first Microsoft product that doesn't suck.
Honestly, after the second time that some device blows on your face, you should get it fixed or get a replacement.
Same can be said about men, of course.
...I still get sick and tired of all of these absurd "special reports" on the news about the "unseen dangers" in the world that are orders of magnitude less likely to cause you serious harm than being struck by lightning. Certainly, Apple should be held responsible, particularly for their gross mishandling of the situation (trying to sweep it under the rug), but can we grow up a little? It does not seem that there has been any serious damage or injury as a result of this. This culture of fear that the news has been cultivating is beyond nauseating and is destroying our society piece by piece. Because of all the news coverage into child abductions, for instance, we teach our children that strangers are dangerous and keep them close to our chests at all times, despite the fact that the odds of a child being abducted by a stranger are literally 1 in a million! The same thing has happened with the War on Terror (TM), one terrorist attack and all of a sudden its necessary to start stripping away human rights and make air travel more or less unusable. We feel that airport security is necessary, despite the fact that it logically makes no sense. We see all the exposes on the dangers of drug use, yet fail to recognize that in reality aspirin is more dangerous. We humans are terrible at assessing risk, which leads to crap like this happening. I could fill an encyclopedia with examples of this, but I think the point I am trying to make is fairly clear, that this is juvenile behavior.
To the haters: You can't win. If you mod me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine
"no iSmoke without iFire"
Guess apple will out an iCream for flamin-iPeeps
"more than 800 pages of information, including 15 burn and fire-related incidents blamed by iPod owners"
Lets see, according to wikipedia, over 173 million ipods have been sold as of last September. Out of these, there are only 15 documented fire related incidents? Not to downplay the impact this had on the individuals but I can hardly see where this constitutes a risk to the public. At that rate, there are probably more ipod related choking incidents. The article keeps referring to the "800 pages" rather than the actual number of incidents which looks like they're trying to create the appearance that this is a big problem. If anyone feels that this is a serious danger then they need to be wearing a motorcycle hemet when walking around the house and and a life preserver at breakfast in case they might drown in their cereal bowl. Living involves some risks but I think this one I'll safely ignore.
Alex, I'll take keybindings not used by Emacs for $400....
Apple has quashed reporting of 100% of them.
"...When the documents finally arrived more than seven months later, they included more than 800 pages of information, including 15 burn and fire-related incidents blamed by iPod owners on their iPods."
"...After conducting its own preliminary investigation, the federal agency determined that, with more than 175 million iPods sold, "the number of incidents is extremely small in relation to the number of products produced, making the risk of injury very low."
I love the media. "Coming up at 11, stunning new government documents reveal that **your** iPod may burst into flames!" Seriously? 15? If there was a problem with 15 Honda Insights, I doubt there'd even be a service bulletin.
Moral of the story; rechargeable lithium batteries are dangerous. Rechargeable lithium batteries made under sketchy conditions couple with charge controllers made under equally sketchy conditions are probably slightly more dangerous.
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
That's what this story is about. It's not about iPods burning up. It's about Apple hiding the fact of the iPods burning up.
The article in question does not cite any raw data. Useless.
Nokia had a similar problem with a subset of their BL-5C batteries. Nokia sold 300 million of these batteries, of which 46 million were defective. Of those, only 100 resulted in thermal failure, and all but a handful resulted only in the destruction of the device itself.
By comparison, Apple has sold about 175 million iPods. No doubt, only a subset of those contain a defective battery which could result in destructive failure. This isn't Apple being lazy, or even worthy of the publicity this news outlet is trying to generate. At worse, the chances of YOUR iPod bursting into flames is about 1:100,000
If you want to be cautious anyhow, follow these guidelines for protecting your iPod and any other device with a lithium ion battery:
1. Never leave it in your car or any other environment which would reach temperatures in excess of 120 degrees.
2. When charging a lithium ion device, do so while you are awake and in the room. If you charge overnight, do so on a non-flammable surface.
3. Buy a leather case for your cell phone. Not only does it protect the device, it also provides a thermal barrier should the battery fail while it is on your person.
"Apple will block it..."
Getting a story on Slashdot cannot be considered blocking the news. And Apple has made the story far, far worse by attempting to block it.
Just Google it: iPod Fire, and Google news: iPod fire in the news.
But, in general, I agree with your underlying point.
Another subject: In spite of what appear to me to be lies about Steve Jobs, it seems the company is becoming a different place now that he is less influential.
"ipod related choking incidents"
Umm, huh? I think we should be told about this hazard. I mean, I'm used to exploding batteries since Dell, but choking? Did you tell Fox? Or KiroTV? :-)
Insert
I suggest holding a good oldfashioned mass iPod burning.
We don't even need an accelerant!
Just curious... what catastrophic failure rate is the margin between a cover-up being ethical and a cover-up being unethical?
This space available.
I suppose you use yours for phone calls . . youngsters today . . . [sigh]
Confirmed, same experience from Apple Store in Tokyo (it's a script). Also told me "no, never heard of this before" while clearly asking scripted questions.
Proof is the shorted power adapter can apparently cause damage to the smart battery (there is a little processor in there), and he knew this. He went right for the battery, and sure enough it no longer reported it's serial no and status... changed that too.
My business partner had the same experience also.
NOW--- the problem as many have said, is that there is so much energy in such a small space. Lithium Polymer batteries explode, and those power adapters have ~70W of output which is more than enough to char a cable. Apple handles -each case- well (very well), I don't fault them for something like this because it's an energy density issue.
R E M O V A B L E
B A T T E R I E S
I think it is plain and obvious to see that the reason Apple doesn't want removable batteries is to prevent a 3rd part market in battery sales but also to make products without removable batteries more "disposable." People can argue to the contrary, but the conclusion needs to fit with typical consumer behavior. Such behavior includes a high failure and low willingness to follow through with warranty claims and procedures among others such as the tendency to throw away instead of recycling. (It is useless to point out that some people WILL do those things. The majority of people will not.)
Can we get an "undocumented feature" tag please? I find it hard to believe Apple could have done something like this by accident, therefore it must have been deliberate.
Maybe it's for when you're out on cold days, or want to heat some coffee or food or something? Apple just need to send out an addendum to the device's manual.
And this relates to the iPod problem... how? 15 defects out of 175 million sold does not make a pattern.
Now, your own problem is one to consider, and has been addressed by Apple. I believe they issued a recall on those particular power blocks.
Where they hid news?
If that rate of explosion is so unimportant, why did Apple try so hard, spending YOUR money (you think they're going to take a hit on profits because of this?) to pretend that this unimportant defect rate didn't happen AT ALL?
Either they enjoy wasting your money and the courts time on trivialities, or Apple doesn't agree with your assertion of its triviality.
Color me shocked. I saw this "expose" on the news last night, and it reeked of sloppy reporting. They mostly talked about incidents from 5-6 years ago (i.e. older, no longer sold versions of the ipod). Pictures from the internet of melted ipod Nanos (current versions are made of metal so would never melt). Consistently showing pictures of older ipods on segment. Never once did they widen the scope to talk about similar breakdowns in similar products - I'm pretty sure you'd find stories just like all of the ipod ones on cellphones, other mp3 devices, heck, even the Zune. They did not talk about incidents involving the currently selling product line. It seemed to go out of it's way to give Apple a black eye. All in all it was a pretty stupid, sensationalistic presentation. I'm sure their masters in Redmond were rubbing their hands in glee, saying, "Well done, my pets."
I did something similar to replace my HP laptop power brick. I simply mentioned that I almost burned myself on it and a new one was shipped out immediately. Granted I don't think I could burn myself, but the power brick was running a lot hotter than it should have so I just exaggerated a little bit. Whenever something is malfunctioning, simply mention almost being injured by it and companies will most likely send you a replacement item (within reason). It's cheaper to send a $20 power brick then pay a lawyer to just read a lawsuit being brought against them for negligence.
Buying accessories to prevent bodily harm from a freaking cellphone or mp3 player seems pretty excessive to me. I'd sooner reconsider my purchase of such a device than go to these lengths...
"linux is just DOS with a UNIX like syntax" -- Galactic Dominator (944134)
NOW--- the problem as many have said, is that there is so much energy in such a small space. Lithium Polymer batteries explode, and those power adapters have ~70W of output which is more than enough to char a cable. Apple handles -each case- well (very well), I don't fault them for something like this because it's an energy density issue.
Look again. Those power adaptors don't run at 70 watts. 7w, maybe--that's hot enough to burn you, just touch one of the old C7 Christmas bulbs if you don't believe me. The power adaptor is made to recharge the battery. The battery can provide a higher wattage to the computer and thus power it properly. Using the adaptor to power the computer is misuse of the adaptor. Modern electronics, especially modern batteries, don't work they way they used to. That's why today's batteries tend to fail too quickly. Charge and Deplete is the way they're meant to be used, not Charge while Using. Think of them more like deep-cycle marine batteries rather than your car battery. You might understand them better.
Good explanation. I wish you were a Slashdot editor.
...they have an app for that.
I'm curious, why do you hate Apple? I don't own one, but I'd probably buy a Mac if they were cheaper and I'll probably buy an iPod sooner or later (my daughter has one).
Do you work for Microsoft or Dell or something? Or did your iPod explode?
Free Martian Whores!
"... I don't fault them for something like this because it's an energy density issue."
There are ways the problem of energy density can be solved, such as using an embedded circuit breaker. We all use circuit breakers to prevent house fires.
Easy way to test what to think of Apple on this: have an exec carry an iPod in his pocket 24/7. If his pants catch flame, they're liars.
My webcomic
A new iPod built by my company plays a few songs. The battery flares up. The iPod explodes and burns the person wearing it. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of iPods in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do.
There are a number of trailer park kids out there that seem capable of choking on anything. And, sadly enough, I think there are a number of trailer park parents willing to kill their kid for a shot at a "big money" lawsuit (so they can get a settlement check that they'll use to buy a new meth lab, lottery tickets, and NASCAR memorabilia).
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
Funny.
It's not the Jolt Cola, it's the Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters.
Free Martian Whores!
Back when 10.3 was coming out, Apple announced a feature entitled "Home on iPod", that would let you take your home settings, etc., with you on the iPod, so that you could recreate your home operating environment on any mac. It was in developer builds, and then was suddenly dropped. For those of you who don't remember it, here's a bit on it from Apple Insider.
There was a lot of speculation at the time that it disappeared because it was overheating iPods, but Apple said nothing about it. I can't help but wonder at this point if that's exactly what happened.
Suddenly the whole tone of the conversation changed, and I was immediately transfered to a supervisor. I went through about 10 minutes answering a series of questions off a script. "Did the Fire cause any property damage?" "Was there any bodily injury caused by the fire?" "Have you suffered any loss of income due to this problem?" etc etc etc.
I answered no to everything, but simply mentioning "Fire" got me a new power brick, when no other method did. It is something Apple is clearly concerned about.
"Hi, Applecare. I bought a mac mini and a month later you released a better one with more specs. I'd like to return and upgrade."
"No."
"Did I mention it, ah, burst into flames?"
"Fire?"
"Fire fire fire!"
"Holy fuck, we'll get a new one out immediately, just promise not to talk to the press!"
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
I think a consumer has a right to know about all safetey hazards. The obvious ones like toasters are hot or lawn mowers will eat your fingers I hope people get, although how hot the toaster gets would be nice to know. Everyone accepts some level of risk by getting in a car or using a gas stove, but you are aware of both the risks and benefits. Instead of letting a company decides when the risk is enough we should know about it, they should let the consumer decide what is acceptable by putting all the information out there. Sure, there will be some consumers that see one exploding iPod and run for their lives every time they see white earbuds, but it makes no sense to put the average consumer at unknown risk just to avoid spooking the dumb ones.
Apple could report all safety issues- including consumer idiocy. They have good marketing so they can push how they want to be up front about safety, letting people learn from others' mistakes to avoid further injuries, and the risks that are Apple's fault get watered down by their minority compared to stupid mistakes.
My webcomic
Now i know where that missing iphone prototype went. http://mobile.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=09/07/21/1814212
42?
"He is so stupid. And now back to the wall!" Moe Szyslak
Will crApple cover up anything and everything even if that means tampering with the law and/or (American) constitution ? You bet
How, given that the constitution only applies to things the government can and cannot do, is "crApple" going to tamper with it? I know that it's a very precious document to the USA, but let the poor thing rest unless it's actually appropriate to wave it about, will ya?
People replying to my sig annoy me. That's why I change it all the time.
For every fanboy there is an equal and opposite fanboy. Some come out to hate Apple, some to hate Microsoft.
...but it still sounds like the usual support drones trying to get rid of you, as to increase their daily call rate. Also, support working through a fixed script is a showstopper for me. I stopped using product support for everything but very specific questions about particular pieces of hardware. Usually I'm pretty good at getting things working on my own. Chances are that not even the designated support is able to help me if something really doesn't want to work.
Currently the newest story is "Visualizing False Positives In Broad Screening", regarding how to convey the rarity of events to people not familiar with statistics. While companies shouldn't be fighting to hard to keep these sorts of thing secret, I think we're probably forcing them to as a society since the public is largely unable to put these kinds of rare events in perspective. The 24-hour news channels will jump all over this sort of thing and blow it out of proportion to fill airtime, and the public ends up with the mindset that they're playing Russian roulette every time they use an ipod.
Ultimately, companies are probably going to keep suppressing this sort of info until everyone learns to look at this sort of information like adults.
but would you really want your child to be the lucky winner?
How may kids are 'lucky winners' in cars, on bicycles, or simply falling down stairs? It's a heck of alot more than 15 in 11,000,000.
I don't understand why anyone would hate a company unless that person is an employee of that company, an employee of that company's competitor, or that company's (former) customer.
I dislike Microsoft for a lot of reasons (primarily the way they design their programs and interfaces), I hate Sony because they rooted my PC.
You are right, but I never could understand the "Chevy vs Ford" greaser wars.
Free Martian Whores!
you would just about half to live in the Midwestern US to give a description so accurate.
It's really just human nature. Microsoft vs Apple, Chevy vs Ford, Democrats vs Republicans, Christians vs Muslims...People tend to take sides against other sides, making up factions if they have to.
Rate for apple = failure rate of microsoft * 10
That is, the time untill its reported and the ammount of anger people feel.
It is also pretty excessive to worry about a low cost event that is so incredibly unlikely that neither you nor anyone you know will ever experience it. The three suggestions I provided will also protect the device from other phenomenon (thermal expansion, short circuits, impact damage, etc) which after adding up all the benefits, may make the behavior or product worthwhile. Safety freaks should do these things. I don't use a leather case - the risk just great enough to worry about. But ignoring the thermal restrictions is just downright stupid.
Lithium Ion batteries are a wonderful technology - you just have to recognize that they require a little care.
RC planes use lithium polymer (lipo) batteries, similar as what ipods use, just bigger with much higher capacity. My friend was charging a lipo in his car and the battery burst in flames and within minutes the car was toast. Lithium is great, but everyone who flies planes knows lithium polymer batteries are very finicky. They have a maximum charge rate, if you exceed it the consequence is overheating quickly followed by bursting into 1500 degree flames. The warning label says to stop using it if it is hot, never exceed the charge/discharge rate and never charge a battery if it is hot. It's really bad for the battery to be hot, and it's worse for it to be charged when hot, but Apple insists on charging their batteries at maximum capacity ignoring what is pretty much second nature for RC hobbyists. Also, charging/discharging battery when it's hot greatly lowers the life span of the battery. I always charge my batteries at half the max charge rate and always make sure it's not warm before/during charge. My batteries that have gone through several hundred charge/discharge cycles over two years and they still work like brand new... iPod batteries w/ same chemistry last about 6 months last time I checked.
Just the latest reason to not buy Apple. Scheduled obsolescence. DMCA legislation support. proprietary hardware & software. Concealed liability court cases. Intentional hardware incompatibility. Throw away hardware. What if M$ was small & Apple giant? Would you approve of Apple as giant company?
Then how does the power adaptor manage to power AND recharge the battery at the same time? It certainly worked for every laptop I had. If the power adaptor was not strong enough to do that, one would have to leave the laptog plugged all night to recharge the battery because at the end of the day the battery would be exhausted.
If this is really what you meant, you should try to learn more about batteries and laptops.
Nobox: Only simple products.
Many of the people who are saying that it is no big deal because it was a small number of units would be calling off with their (Apple's) head if something bad were to happen, say causing a fire in an apartment building that results in fatalities.
I wouldn't be surprised if there was more unreported claims, but not by fault of the iPod itself. I've got an older 30GB Video one that I would dock every night on an Emerson clock radio. After the first year the dock started to overcharge the iPod. I pulled the iPod apart to discover the battery had swelled to almost twice its original size. I'd be more skeptical of low quality third party devices, and there are a lot.
I had a similar experience though it was for a Powerbook adapter and it was the other end of the plug, i.e. near the the power brick end of the skinny cord.
I don't recall any specifics though I was trying to get a new brick since it caught fire so I'm sure I did my best to get my point across. They made me answer a bunch of questions, but unlike you I wasn't offered a new brick. I called Apple Customer Relations the next day and after shortly describing my situation and giving me my info, they agreed to send a new brick. They said it would take about a week but I got it early next morning. Obviously they used the most expensive shipment method. Quiet impressed with that as I was happy enough getting a new brick.
Kind of odd how they have a script for this thing now that I think about it. I even remember the rep saying it he's reading off the questions or something like that because he knew the answers to a lot of them he paid a bit of attention to my incident. A lot of them sounded redundant.
According to the Article, it might be the battery that is the problem within the iPODs. I am a bit curious about this, because, I have had my Hard drive iPOD get rather warm in the past. And I bought a second Hard Drive iPOD to replace the 1st when the 1st died. Did it die because the battery burned something out on the inside, and never caught fire? I always wanted to open up the old iPOD to see what it looked like from the inside and to see if I could tinker with it and get it to work again. Could this issue also be why iPOD put in their warranty, that if you open it up, you're warranty is null and void?
Has anyone read or heard whether this only affected the Hard Drive iPOD or if it affect the Solid State iPODs also?
Life takes interesting turns, but the most interest is when you're off the beaten path.
I think Apple already covered that:
http://www.engadget.com/2005/01/12/the-ipod-shuffle-do-not-eat-in-the-us-or-chew-in-the-uk/
What changed under Obama? Nothing Good
In related news, Sir Lewk was killed in an automobile accident for not wearing his seatbelt. He was quoted earlier as saying, "Using seatbelts to prevent bodily harm from a freaking car accident seems pretty excessive to me".
Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
Buying accessories to prevent bodily harm from a freaking cellphone or mp3 player seems pretty excessive to me. I'd sooner reconsider my purchase of such a device than go to these lengths...
So what you are saying then is that you'd rather go without a cell phone at all - since pretty much any modern cell phone uses the same battery tech.
Really? You'd really be without any cell phone ever, even for emergencies? That seems even less rational.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Several tabloids and at least one Canadian TV station released more than 200 articles which reveal, for the upteenth time, a comprehensive look that shows, on a number of occasions, people have suddenly burst into flames, started to smoke, and even burned
Depends on what you want to bash these days I guess and who's making the most news.
Why bother
Made me curious... I bet the military has some information - somewhere - on cell phone/laptop batteries rated for 120 degree environments. I couldn't find it in a trivial search, though.
Look again. Those power adaptors don't run at 70 watts.
Look yourself - Apple sells 45W, 60W and 85W parts.
Please stand clear of the doors, por favor mantenganse alejado de las puertas
So perhaps the station was just trying to lure more viewers by being anti-apple? That's one way to make 15 iPods into an "alarming" number!
but it unfortunately doesn't come as a surprise either. Apple is always reluctant, if not downright shady when it comes to defects. "Deny Deny Deny" is the mantra there, and it hasn't helped me one bit. I've had an iBook G4 for a while, and up until a couple months ago it was dead due to loose solder joints on the GPU (caused after about a year or two of normal use). The solution? Purchase a new logic board at around $250-$400, depending on options and seller. A friend happened to be scrapping his old iBook for some of the parts in the display and was kind enough to give me the logic board. Suddenly, I had a Mac, and I loved it. 1 month later? Same problem with the loose GPU solder joints.
This issue has been documented by many an iBook G4 owner, but so far Apple has only been held responsible in Denmark where their version of the BBB did an investigation and found defects in the logic board GPU connections. This is troubling because who knows what other Apple products have had this kind of track record (remember iBook G3 batteries? other iPods pulling this?) and have been kept hush-hush, all at the expense of the customer until enough people get loud enough and then MAYBE they'll do something about it.
I wear clothes to protect my skin from sunburn. Buying a case for my phone isn't much of a stretch beyond that.
My comments here are my own; I do not speak for my employer.
You will catch your house on fire!!
I doubt that Apple has sold 175 million of the same iPod, making all of the comments about "15 out of 175 million" a complete misrepresentation.
I hate iPods and Zunes, but what of Zunes starting on fire, or any other MP3/video player?
GO BLUE!
Yes, because stupidity of drinking super hot coffee is exactly same as 'stupidity' of switching on your electronic device which plays music.
If there is any moron here, it is you. And a fanboi too.
Keeping in mind that Apple doesn't make the batteries, they have to have some degree of trust in their suppliers. I doubt anyone can picture Apple stupid enough to bait PR nightmares and lawsuits when their image is very important to their business model. Apple's typical reaction is the industry best-case product-problem-coverup-job - do everything reasonable to stick a lollypop in the mouth of anyone that screams, and quietly correct the problem so it doesn't happen again. They're unlikely to admit fault, that would just fan the flames. (pun?)
Batteries lately though do seem to be a serious problem all around for everyone. DSLAM phone boxes blowing up down the street, laptops and ipods catching fire, liio batteries puffing up like balloons. Inadequate testing if you ask me. New technology trying to get rushed into a highly competitive new market, skip the tests it's good enough, just ship it. Then stuff blows up catches fire, or generally misbehaves. But right now rechargeable batteries are making a shambles out of Moore's Law.
This isn't really news any more than the 5 o-clock rush hour. Blame Apple, blame Sony, whatever, it's going to happen. It's not anywhere outside the bell curve yet.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
I work frontline support for an insurance company, and this special behavior for fire-hazards doesn't surprise me. Think about it from a liability perspective.
Let's say you mention fire or fire-hazard and your claim is denied. Nothing happens, who cares? Well you do because your device doesn't work, but as far as insurance, service contracts, or warranties, the administrator is saving a dime and won't budge. What, then if your house burns down because of it a week later? Oops! If it comes to light the claim was *gasp* denied, the administrator is potentially in for a world of hurt if the client litigates. Would you rather spend a tiny amount of money for a single part that you have a warehouse full of or a house, injuries, and possibly a wrongful death suit?
This is not something I was trained on, mind you, but I damn sure like putting food on my table so it pays to think a little further on things even if something is not covered or supported.
Sidebar: People mention brainless scriptreaders. I hate them too. They sound like robots and it drives me up the wall when I hear them at this center.
Seem to be lacking in today's internet based culture. The article states that the 800 pages contained 15 incidents, not that there were only 15 incidents. Considering the difficulty in obtaining that information, is it not likely that there is more information to be had? The last statement of the article even states that another court case in Cincinnati was not included in those 15 incidents.
From the description of the cases involving simple overheating causing surface burns, a common thread seems to be that the device designed to be clipped to clothing while you work out was not properly sealed against moisture seeping into the case. This is what happens when you develop and manufacture electronics devices in a country with little quality control and the tendency to bully a scapegoat into suicide when mistakes are discovered by the public.
Standardized testing of an electronic device should include HALT (Highly Accelerated Lifecycle Testing), which subjects the device to a wide range of temperature and humidity, as well as vigorous shaking and dropping. It may be acceptable to release a product that stops working under those conditions, but not one that is likely to cause damage to surrounding objects if some moisture makes it into the case.
How quickly people seem to forget Apple's history with banning people from the forums and removing posts when being critical of an apple product or discussing problems/bugs with them, and does no one remember the silky smooth white iPod earbuds from China with the lead contaminated sheathings?
How many iPods did not burn the user but simply stopped working mysteriously?
Catastrophic failure is usually a minor failure that escalates for some reason, such as improper sealing allowing moisture to seep in which slightly changes the capacitance of a charging circuit, which over time causes the battery to be stressed bit by bit until it either fails safely, by no longer taking a charge, or depleting rapidly, or fails unsafely, by discharging very rapidly causing a cell to overheat and explode?
Ignorance is Bliss -- And the Opposite is True -- Genius is Madness
That's the stupidest bullshit I've heard in a week (I hear a lot of bullshit).
Take, for example, my laptop. It says right on the adapter that it is a 90w adapter; it puts out 19.5v at 4.62a, DC. My computer uses less than 4.62a while running at full load, so the extra charges/maintains the battery. In fact, if I plug in a 65w adapter (same plug) it will underclock so it can *still* charge the battery.
If what you said were true, you couldn't leave a laptop on 24x7, or even for more than a few hours.
I have developed a truly marvelous proof of this comment, which this signature is too narrow to contain.
Were they listening to firestarter by Prodigy at the time?!! (sorry..couldn't resist ;-)
100% Mortgage
Instead of a "hot-foot" will baseball teams be slipping an Iphone in their teammates socks this season? ""(Bert) Blyleven was known as one of the more colorful players of his era. He was often involved in clubhouse pranks, and was especially known to be a master at giving the "hot-foot." The hot foot was a classic baseball prank where one player would sneak up on another and set his shoe laces on fire." - TheBaseballPage.com"
issue a press release: "yes, there is a possibility that your iPod will burst into flames. that possibility is 10,000 times less likely than being stuck by lightning."
odds of being struck by lightning in your lifetime is about 1 in 5000
404: sig not found.
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
Dammit, you've just posted the info on a public forum accessible to all the(ir) terrorists. I think this counts as Aiding and Abiding?
ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
by a local CBS affiliate in Seattle?
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
Jumping online, KIRO 7 Consumer Investigators found plenty of complaints about iPods overheating. Bloggers post photos of their charred and melted iPods. And in Japan, the government even issued a warning to consumers citing "a number of accidents in which iPod Nanos" overheated and sparked, injuring two people.
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
Top Secret Apple Document: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2099
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
It's common to see the Apple fanboys stretch the truth around here, but it seems for this article this case there isn't really anything they can do but blatantly make shit up. Pathetic.
Your link to Apple shows is about iPod Nanos overheating. The story is about all sorts of iPods.
You FAIL it fanboi.
Yes, that's right. Just because it has never happened to me means that it has never happened and anyone else who says otherwise is a liar and a drunkard who wears women's panties.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
HAHAHAHA! Look everyone - this fanboi is implying that Microsoft are behind this investigation, while his sig talks about malice & paranoia.
Ironic FAIL. Fanboi.
What cover-up exactly?
Are you fucking stupid? The linked article states:
Right in the first fucking paragraph.
You FAIL it. Fanboi.
Cough [apple.com].
Again, you link to that KB, but the comment you're replying to even states:
FAIL again. Fanboi.
Do you think you're refuting the cover-up claims by linking to a document published by Apple?
If you do think that, you're wrong. The cover-up being reported on here is attempts by Apple lawyers to prevent public documents being obtained under freedom of information laws.
It shouldn't take seven months for someone to obtain access to documents funded by the public purse.
What's up WMF, forgot your password?
Lars T.
To the guy who modded me down from perfect to terrible Karma - Apple haters still suck
I agree to a certain extent. Everything has risks. Too many warning labels and you start to ignore the real hazards. There is a lawsuit against hot dog makers wanting them to put warning labels on hot dogs and other processed meats stating to the effect that eating processed meats raises your risk of colon cancer. It's stupid. If you put warning stickers on everything that could possibly cause problems, you wouldn't be able to see the actual product.
Stop Global Warming!
Just say no to irreversible processes!
By right to know I mean they put the information out in public. I agree warning stickers for everything is stupid- only things that have a severe risk or a non-obvious risk should be directly labeled. Lots of things can be cancerous to some degree, but all of those things should have unsuppressed accurate information available, even if most have such a small risk they do not merit warning labels. As much as I think that hotdog suit is silly, I would stop being on Kraft's side if they tried to suppress any and all information about the harmful effects of their food. I certainly understand that just putting a "may cause cancer" sticker on things is extremely misleading as it is safe to eat a hotdog, but I would like to be able to find at what point I am putting myself at undue risk without going to court to do so.
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You have no idea who I am do you?