Gripes Over Breakdowns Grow As Players Become Ubiquitous; The Drop-Start Technique
This holiday season Apple Computer Inc.’s iPod is once again a top seller in stores and the music player’s white earphones remain a nearly ubiquitous sight on city streets and at gyms. But as it reaches deeper into the mainstream, more users are becoming familiar with a new sense of loss: the death of an iPod.
Among users of the device, it’s long been common to hear of iPods laid low by batteries that no longer hold a charge, malfunctioning hard disks and screens with cracks. In some cases, problems are caused by users who accidentally drop their iPods or otherwise subject them to abuse, but other users say their iPods go belly up even after normal use.
The iPod’s durability could become a more important issue as consumers become less dazzled by cutting-edge technology and more concerned about longevity, especially for a device that can cost hundreds of dollars.
“Some people swear there’s a self-destruct mechanism in it after the warranty is up,” says Matthew Bremner, a founder of iRepair.ca, an iPod fix-it service with a store in Toronto and on the Internet. “For a small device that’s that expensive it probably should last a little longer.”
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