A chronology of failure:
iPod the First:
- Purchased: 28 October 2004 for Canadian $443.46, all taxes included
- 10 July 2005 – two extra years of AppleCare purchased for C$75.97 – best investment ever
- Broken out of the box: would pause at the slightest bump
- Time in my company: less than a week
- Fate: replaced by iPod the Second
iPod the Second:
- Received in November 2004, too late for my birthday party around the 28th
- Time in my company: eight months
- Fate: hard drive failed on 7 July 2005, the day of the London Bombings
iPod the Third:
- Received in late July 2005
- Time in my company: just over a year
- Fate: hard drive failed before 13 March 2006, sent back to Apple, returned to me with claim that it was not in fact broken, sent back to Apple again, replaced
- Note: Prompted the purchase of an iPod Shuffle as a backup. No problems with it, so far. I actually use it more than the 20GB ClickWheel iPod, even when both are working.
iPod the Fourth:
- Received 18 April 2006
- Time in my company: about five months
- Fate: hard drive failed 18 September 2006, in the process of being replaced
Summary:
- Mean survival time: 6.25 months
- Mean cost per iPod: C$129.86
- Approximate time spent by iPods in transport: 18 weeks
- % of total time since purchase that represents: about 18%
- Functional reliability rate of iPod, not counting broken time before being sent to Apple: 72%
1) I bought it directly from the Apple website. It was a bit cheaper than the student price at the UBC bookstore.
Being an Apple-obsessed moron, you will buy another iPod, rather than some more reliable mp3 player.
@B,
C$129.86 isn’t so bad. And that doesn’t even take into account iPod the Fifth, which will be here soon.
I have yet to see any player that matches the iPod in style or function.
Also, most of my library is now in AAC format, so I am a bit stuck.
1) Why didn’t you just return iPod the first to the store? Why wait several weeks for sending it to Apple?
2) I can see why you don’t need Spotlight to find your information.
iPod the Fourth is now packed in the little cardboard iPod coffin they sent me. Tomorrow, it goes to meet its maker.
Product: IPOD (CLICK WHEEL)
Serial number: ————
Repair ID: D——-
Service Requested: 26-Sep-2006
Status: Product replacement pending
See also: my new gear tracking page
My iPod Shuffle stopped working reliably a long time ago.
Nowadays, it usually needs to be turned off and on again several times before it will play any music.
iPod the Fifth continues to function. That makes its lifetime so far about 2 years and 11 months – a lot better than the previous four.