Today, the straw finally broke the came'ls back with my iPod. But first, some background:
Within a week of having bought this little bastard, the track wheel froze up so that one could no longer input selections, etc.
So I took it back to the store; they told me I had to ship the thing to Apple for repair/replacement - and so I did. No iPod for about a week. Then it came back - fixed, apparently. But within hours, problems arose - again. Not the track wheel this time, though. Now it simply would not load on the computer; the little icon that's suposed to pop up when you plug it in to the computer didn't pop up - so it was impossible to load new music or make any changes to the existing files.
Back to the store - again.
The geek there takes a look; discovers it is formatted for Windows and changes it over to Mac. Now it seems to work. But only briefly.
Today - less than a week after the piece of shit was "fixed" by the geek, it once again froze up while I was out running. It just kept playing the same song over and over and over. You could not even turn it off.
In a moment of white fury I threw the entire sonofabitch in the woods - "ear buds" and all.
I had more trouble with this hunk of shit than any CD Walkman I ever owned; $200 flushed down the toliet - and weeks of frustration thrown in for good measure.
I will never buy anything like this again.
Not ever.
My experience merely confirmed my belief that these "high-performance" electronic devices, with all their features, are by definition less durable and less reliable and more problem-prone than simpler, if less "high perfomance" devices. When they work, they are impressive. But they break easily - often - and are a huge pain in the ass to deal with when they do.
Same with EFI vs. carbs.
It's the simple life for me, chief....I'm done!
I don't have an MP3 player. Well, technically I do, but it's on my phone, and I have other uses for it.
But I've bought two cheap ones for my brother, who uses them all the time. I paid less than $20 for each of them, so they are well and truly disposable...if they ever quit. So far, one has worked almost 3 years, and the other over a year.
Now, go find that ipod, send it to me, I'll send it to him, and he'll probably get it working and be happy as a clam!
I think your experience is non-typical. My Nano has run fine for over a year now.
I've noticed that some people have a technology destruction field -- any electronic device that gets within 3 feet of them suddenly starts having mysterious faults & e-seizures. Maybe you're one of them. ;D
Chip H.
Former owner: 2012 Honda Civic LX, 2006 Honda Ridgeline RTL, 2000 Honda CR-V EX, 2003 MINI Cooper S, 1992 Honda Accord LX, 1999 Mercedes ML-320, 1995 VW Jetta GLX, 1991 Mercury Capri XR2, 1981 Mercury Zephyr, 1975 Chevrolet Impala
Well, my brother is usually one of those. We used to say he could break an anvil just sitting and looking at it. All the more reason to be impressed with these items.Originally Posted by chiph
My Ipod is little more than a dead battery at the moment. Although it works, it is formatted for a Mac, and I have a PC. I can't read any of the music off. Apple's interface between I-tunes and the I-pod sucks.
I am waiting for a way to extract my existing music off the I-pod and then chuck the POS in the garbage.
I will probably not purchase another one, as they are of limited usefulness to me. Besides, they are made in China.
I dunno what the deal is/was with this thing; I've owned half a dozen Macs (desktops and laptops) and not one has ever had a significant problem.
But this iPod was a complete piece of shit.
Felt good to throw the SOB into the woods!
I forgot to say - it didn't take you long! LOL.I dunno what the deal is/was with this thing; I've owned half a dozen Macs (desktops and laptops) and not one has ever had a significant problem.
But this iPod was a complete piece of shit.
Felt good to throw the SOB into the woods!
"I forgot to say - it didn't take you long! LOL."
I don't think the dumb thing worked for even a fraction of the four weeks or so I had it...
And I was careful in my handling of it, never dropped it - and operated it per the instructions...
Maybe I got a lemon.
But I am now very gun shy about iPods... $200 out the window. For trusting that this "great new technology" would be worth the investment and better than a $35 CD Walkman.
Not!
I suppose I could have tried to have it "fixed" again - but the aggravation just wasn't worth it anymore.
I sent Apple a cleaned-up version of the item I posted here - in the same damn box they used to ship me back my "fixed" iPod!
My condolences, Eric.
I find some appliances last beyond expectation and some break... and there is no easy way.
M and I are both installing new PCs and broadboand, she's gonna buy a new car too, which is an appliance, and while we have every modern facility, neither of us feel good about it. Must be age or something. [both in our 50s]
Tomorrow I connect a broadband thing to this machine. There will be complications. Two years old WinXP, zero problems, AVG anti-virus Windows firewall etc.
I had a bad experience with a PC in 2000,.. in the end I did what you did to that iPod... it was corrupted somewhere deep in its innards by the first repair guy, and never recovered. Pity you can't get a refund.
Thanks, Robbie!
I now sort of regret having thrown the thing into the woods... I really did enjoy it - when it worked. But it had become so frustrating I just lost it. Without question, this is the worst experience I've had with a "reputable" (or otherwise) new product in memory. As I wrote earlier, I have had half a dozen Apple computers - all superb machines that never let me down - so I went into the iPod purchase expecting a great product. I certainly would not have put $200 on the table otherwise.
But how much worse could it have been?
Stops working not once, not twice, but three times within three weeks? Doesn't function properly for more than a few intermittent hours of usage over the same period?
After the third failure, the prospect of having to go back to the store (again) or ship it to Apple (again) just lit my fuse - and I reacted like a lot of guys do, with blind, uncontrolled ape-like rage.
Maybe someone will discover it years from now.. an artifact of the early 21st century?
If your are getting Vista with that new box, I hope they are giving sufficient memory with it - two GB would be about right. This has nothing to do with broadband, just the needs of the OS. Why a new PC when the old one works well?
You fool socialists get guilt feelings every time you spend a buck on yourselves. Send me the money and dress from the dustbins, you'll feel better for it.
[/quote]
I see a lot of people (and businesses) are resisting Vista. I have XP on three machines, and it has worked very well. And the broadband install was a snap. Well, maybe a little worse than that, but I managed it, and I'm no techie. But I was able to configure it after a minimum of hassle.
Apple needs to send you a new ipod for free. It probably cost them $20.00 to make the ipod made in a chinese factory that you pay 200 bucks to own.
Very true. Of course, without the old one, how would they confirm that Eric isn't scamming them for another of their wonderful toys?
But if I ran the place, I would do that. If his Mac breaks down and he throws it, too, out the window, it could hit an innocent bystander and the resulting lawsuits could ruin the company.
I agree; we'll see how they respond to the empty box - and my note!Apple needs to send you a new ipod for free. It probably cost them $20.00 to make the ipod made in a chinese factory that you pay 200 bucks to own.
I hope they take my letter (below) in the spirit intended; I've been a loyal Mc customer for years - and this was a real disappointment on multiple levels...
cc:
Apple
1 Infinite Loop
Cupertino, CA 95014
408.996.101
Dear Apple,
Today, the straw finally broke the camel's back with my barely month-old iPod Nano. But first, some background:
Within a week of having bought my iPod, the track wheel froze up so that one could no longer input selections, etc.
So I took it back to the store; they told me I had to ship the thing to Apple for repair/replacement - and so I did. No iPod for about a week. Then it came back - fixed, apparently. But within hours, problems arose - again. Not the track wheel this time, though. Now it simply would not load on the computer; the little icon that's supposed to pop up when you plug it in to the computer didn't pop up - so it was impossible to load new music or make any changes to the existing files.
Back to the store - again.
The tech there takes a look; discovers it is formatted for Windows and changes it over to Mac. Now it seems to work. But only briefly.
Today (Aug. 22) less than a week after the iPod was "fixed" by the tech it once again froze up while I was out running. It just kept playing the same song over and over and over. You could not even turn it off.
In a moment of white fury I threw the entire iPod in the woods - "ear buds" and all.
I have had more trouble with this iPod than any CD Walkman I ever owned; $200 flushed down the toliet - and weeks of frustration thrown in for good measure.
I will never buy anything like this again and wanted to convey my extreme disappointment with my experience. I am a long-time Apple customer and have owned more than six Apple desktops and laptops over the years. I therefore had confidence that buying an iPod would be a similarly good experience.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. I understand, by the way, that throwing my iPod into the woods was not the best decision, but my rage simply overcame me. After spending $200, I spent far more time trying to get it to work than listening to music.
I hope you can understand that - and would very much appreciate a reply to this letter.
Thank you,
Eric Peters
540-651-5191
Dear Eric Peters,
Thankyou for calling.
We are experiencing difficulties after installing iPod general-server Happy Interface and have now solved these problems.
Unforunately a few customers have been inconvenienced. We apologize.
Also due to caller demand, calls may take an hour to be answered.
I am able to recognize certain words. Please say what you wish to enquire about.
I'm sorry, I did not recognize that. Would you try again, and otherwise I will put you through to a person who can help.
I'm sorry, I did not recognize that.
Thankyou for calling.
We are experiencing difficulties after installing iPod general-server Happy Interface and have now solved these problems.
Unforunately a few customers have been inconvenienced. We apologize.
Also due to caller demand, calls may take an hour to be answered.
My condolences Eric and well-written. Except you forgot to imply you are rich and eccentric and your friends are all law students.
I am installing Broadboand today, and my phone line is intermittently cut off
A very common experience, now that M$ has fixed most of the flaws in XP. As for me, I don't plan to touch Vista until the spring of 2010.
I was thinking to replace my current machine with a Vista-equipped one late this summer, but that doesn't look like a wise course right now.
Telstra were pleased that I had WinXP. Their broadband won't run easily on Vista, and requires a lot of work.
Just offered M a desktop setup with a Win XP tower and 17" TFT because she is tired and exhausted and needs a new car and a new PC and we thought mabe a laptop. But I had this 2005 setup lying around unused, interim. My Win98 runs printer and scanner and hasn't broken and while slow works OK for A4 prints on 600-4800 dpi bubble via Canon iP5000, outstanding photo-quality, but not like old silver-bromides.
I'm getting response from English train-magazine editors after name-dropping.
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