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204 Comments
- Quix, on 10/12/2007, -9/+147Are they sure Apple didn't say "for years" and not "four years?" Would any company be dumb enough to publicly date-stamp ANY electronic device that way? I doubt it.
I suspect poor reporting... - blapierre, on 10/12/2007, -5/+52They should back up that bold claim with a 4 year warranty. If they don't it doesn't mean anything.
- Phyltre, on 10/12/2007, -7/+48I know it's a small electronic device, but 4 years from a hardware perspective seems awfully small. I can understand the rechargeable battery dying, but 4 years for a device is a very short amount of time. I wonder if, once we get enough flash-based storage to hold the average person's portable media needs (i draw the line now at 100GB, even considering video, since it couldn't be high definition on that screen), they will start making them more to last?
- gronne, on 10/12/2007, -6/+40That kind of sucks. They're not cheap.
- zachws, on 10/12/2007, -5/+36Is it a leap year?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+30So basically you're really only leasing an ipod for $100 a year?
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -13/+33i got mine for free from one of those free ipod sites. It died 1 month out of the 1 year warranty. After that, I bought a cheap 2gb flash based mp3 player for $50 and it has worked for over a year now, still going strong.
I will never have another ipod. - laurentlasalle, on 10/12/2007, -3/+21It's basically a hard drive that you throw anywhere you go, receiving shocks with every steps you walk while using it...
- speel, on 10/12/2007, -2/+16My brick walkman is like 300 years old.
- OrangeTide, on 10/12/2007, -5/+18I hate disposable electronics.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+16You fool! You've disrupted the natural order!
- Sk8SkaNJ, on 10/12/2007, -10/+21Funny, I'm on my 4th iPod in under 2 years.
- Crypty, on 10/12/2007, -7/+18Holy *****. What am I doing wrong. I'm on my fourth iPod in 1 year.
- graemee, on 10/12/2007, -5/+15right, the ipod lasts 4 years, but the battery won't - 18months-3yrs
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13As others have said, the weak link is really the hard drive (to say nothing of the battery). All hard drives die sooner or later, and this one doesn't even have the amount of shock-mounting and protection a laptop would provide, giving the HD in an iPod a much lower expected meantime before failure than the exact same drive in a laptop or other device. I know I've dropped my 3G 15gig iPod more than once. Never dropped my laptop. I just pay more attention to the laptop (due to it's higher price mainly), and carry it with me less. Goes with the territory.
Taking that into account (and again ignoring the battery which is unlikely to last 4 years but is replaceable - just not easily replaceable) I think 4 year is a reasonable MINIMUM estimate. For something I paid $300 (or more) for it had better last at least that long.
The flash-based Shuffle and Nano on the other hand I'd expect to last a lot longer so long as I took decent care of them, and I'd be highly pissed if they didn't. No reason that everything in the flash models other than the batt shouldn't last well over a decade, and really they should last indefinitely. - EasY_TargeT, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9I knew i got that 5 year warranty for some reason
- thejokell, on 10/12/2007, -7/+14Mine is still going strong after 5 years. The original 5 gig model - still my favorite.
- fanboydcs, on 10/12/2007, -3/+10Hmm Surprisingly Toshiba 1.8" Micro drives have a 4 year life span also...
- klang, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8You are the kind of person who brings the average lifespan of the iPod DOWN to 4 years.
- MechaFenris, on 10/12/2007, -1/+8Machine wash COLD, lay FLAT to dry. Don't IRON it, either.
Man, the care instructions are in the tag..... - Chompy, on 10/12/2007, -8/+15And yet you keep buying them.
Myself, I'll consider an iPod once they have a user-accessible battery slot and I can buy a LiOn replacement at Circuit City for $19.95. - TurboDerek, on 10/12/2007, -4/+11This could be a misquote
"adding that an iPod is designed to last four years."
or
"adding that an iPod is designed to last for years." - rewritable, on 10/12/2007, -6/+13Mine just died last Friday, It was a 1GB nano and it was only 4 months old. I sent it to apple and they sent me a new one yesterday. The problem was that I hold the nano while I am jogging and the sweat from my hand got into the data/power slot and then it would refuse to charge. So I sent it to them, and Apple found that it wont charge up anymore (duh) and sent me a new one! (YAY!) I just bought a protective case for it so I dont have to worry about this happening again.
- fanboydcs, on 10/12/2007, -4/+10Does it have a harddrive?
I bet it has removable AA batteries... and 32mb flash memory right? - Morph_Ball, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11So what Apple is trying to say is, "Life is short: Rock hard"?
- Lazrius, on 10/12/2007, -5/+11Mine conveniently ended one day after the warranty expired.
- poipoipoi, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9if you were a sucker for upgrades, you'd buy the next model REGARDLESS of the condition of your current player.
- Phlag, on 10/12/2007, -3/+9What they didn't mention is that for the iPod to last 4 years, it has to remain in a goddamn vacuum with no physical contact throughout. Or at least that's my personal experience with the 2 iPods I've owned over the past couple of years. I wasn't careless or hard on them, physically. Indeed, I cared for them like they were hemophilic, diabetic babies.
While I love the iPod's interface, my personal experience (that of me and my friends) with them is that they probably won't last years - and don't get me started on cosmetic damage. I wish that the next generation iPod would boast increased durability, rather than squeezing in 10 more gigabytes.
Take a lesson from Nintendo and Texas Instruments. They can make a ***** tough portable device. - Grub, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12Ive had mine for just over 1 year. Im on my 3rd iPod, and its scroll wheel is broken. 3 out of 4 of my friends with iPods have had a problem to where they had to return/ecnahnge them, and as well, my sister had to send them in. As well, my cousin has had to exchange his 5 times over the past 2 years.
This 4 years thing is highly unbelievable in my opinion. - pivo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6"How many people have the exact same computer they did 4 years ago?"
Me. Unfortunately. Actually, I've had it for six years. Just don't have a good reason to upgrade, and it works fine for me. - fanboydcs, on 10/12/2007, -2/+7Seriously:)
- MechaFenris, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6Chompy, how about a $29 high capacity replacement battery with included pry tool?
I mean, $10 more dollars and you get your own tool to keep. Worked for me. I consider my iPod to have a user-accesible battery. Unless you're all thumbs and have extremely bad luck, the replacement is painless and takes less than 20 minutes (being careful...) Nothing adverse happened to my iPod as a result, and now I've got a "like new" 2nd Gen 10G. ;)
That's about as user-accessible as you can get without buying yourself an original nomad Jukebox. :-) - TheCheeks, on 10/12/2007, -4/+8although its a short life i dont care as much because i get extended warrenties for $50 that cover 3 years. all that means is if my ipod dies all i do it pay $50 and i get a new one, that years newest model. i dont lose.
- inactive, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9My first and only iPod Mini First Gen still works like new! Its probably close to the 4 year mark. Like Leo Laporte says... all harddrives die eventually.
- sondosia, on 10/12/2007, -1/+54 YEARS? I paid $250 for something that won't even last me all the way through high school?
Definetly didn't mention THAT on the box... - jon61575, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris has confirmed to iLounge that she was misquoted in a Chicago Tribune article on failing iPods published earlier this week. The article had quoted her as saying that iPods have a low failure rate and that they are designed to last four years. Kerris said she told the reporter that the iPod was designed to last "for years"--not "four years." The Tribune has yet to correct its original report.
"for years" is vague and the lifespan still could be four years. - xtarburst, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Well I think it is inacurate, I friend asked a employee and he said it lasted from 1 to 4 years.... maybe they are publishing now the Maximum life expectancy, because if the hard drive crashes it only the warranty can replace it for another one.
- birch25, on 10/12/2007, -5/+9i'm going on 3 years with my ipod, and it's doing just fine. besides the inevitable lower battery life (still get a good 7-8 hours out of it) and scratches on the back, there really isn't anything wrong with it. as long as you treat your ipod with some respect, it should last AT LEAST 4 years.
- jtjdt, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I've had mine since Aug 2003. I've replaced the battery, and once the hard drive cable fell out. It's still running great though!
- ngageguy, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4@ggko I was lucky, I got a 4th gen b&w off eBay for $40 that was in need of repair. Found out later it was the 'click of death' issue and a few taps on the table and it works fine. I would NEVER pay $300 for a music device like an iPod when there are plenty of less expensive alternatives.
- hiredgun, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4yea it wierd to see them say that..my dad's old sony portable cassette player still works after ~15 years.
- stomicron, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
- tdowling, on 10/12/2007, -5/+8It seems a little strange that Apple would quote a specific number like that. Is there any reason to believe that what was understood as "four years" by the Tribune reporter should have actually been "for years"?
- DarkSideofMoon, on 10/12/2007, -1/+4I have to call ***** (and not on bukakke bit)...
The clickwheel iPods came out in summer 2004... how could your clickwheel iPod be three years old? Just curious, not trying to be a dick, seriously... - skywake, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3damn strait!!
when did internal non replacable rechargable batteries become a good thing?
everything i own has an openable battery compartment
well, everything that uses batteries..
why is "non replacable" an advantage?
and is it just me... or is everyone who mentions Creative being buried?
methinks iPod fanboys are out
quick, hide anything that is shiny and white *pockets DS Lite* - TheKillDoctor, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Most consumer devices are engineered to fail. There's no incentive to design a device that will last a life time when said device can be replaced with a new one that has NEW features. Everything is disposable should be the first law of consumerism.
- johnnyrotten, on 10/12/2007, -4/+6The thing is that a "still working" vote doesn't counteract a "broken" vote. The device is supposed to work - that's simply what you expect. If it breaks, that's unacceptable.
- osbjmg, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I wish I could get 4 years out of that piece of crap Gen3 iPod - the battery lasts about 30 minutes after just over 1 year. Now it just collects dust.
- ZergyPoo, on 10/12/2007, -2/+4My girlfriend's iPod died about 3 months out of the warranty, and they made her buy a new one. The least they could do would be to repair it or something. Her sister's ipod broke 2 days before the warranty expired, luckily, so they replaced that one.
For a $300 dollar eletronic item, it's ridiculous that it would break that quickly. - fuzzytoad, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2"don't even talk about batteries. Li Ion, i mean, come on. you think a creative player will last longer?"
My first-gen Creative Nomad Jukebox has lasted 6 years. Since Creative didn't treat customers like children back then, it has replaceable, rechargeable standard AA size batteries.
"I have not found among people I know (yes, anecdotal... thanks for noticing) anyone who's been satisfied with a Creative MP3 player. I had to go through 4 firmware updates on my original Nomad Jukebox to get it to xfer more than one song at a time. Granted, I was beta-testing a new idea in electronics, but yeesh. ;)"
I love mine. I'm not sure what your complaint is about firmware upgrades. Are you saying you *prefer* having to purchase a new player everytime a feature is changed or added?
Sure, the first few months it was out, you could only transfer one song at a time, unless you used the bundled software.
I've been thru countless firmware updates to mine, upgraded the hdd 3 times, and it's still running strong. -
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