July 30th, 2006
Keep Your Checkbook Handy; iPods Only Designed for a 4-Year Life
By Michael Santo
Contributing Writer, RealTechNews
Makes me wonder if this is “planned obsolescence” or what. Yes, I realize that even if the iPod was designed for a longer life, it will most likely be technologically obsolete long before then, and most people will want to update. I was reading a Chicago Tribune article, which was brought to my attention by a follow-up Macworld UK article. The original article was about the problems that people seem to have with iPods, in terms of reliability. You might remember, for example, the article I wrote earlier about the nano’s seemingly fragile screen.
An Apple spokeswoman, Natalie Kerris, said iPods have a failure rate of less than 5 percent, which she said is “fairly low” compared with other consumer electronics. “The vast majority of our customers are extremely happy with their iPods,” she said, adding that an iPod is designed to last four years. Source: Chicago Tribune
We Say: My wife is really against change … if it works, don’t fix (or change) it. So despite any technical obsolescence she won’t change a gadget or electronic device she uses. Thus, the only way to get her iPod updated would most likely be this 4-year life. More thoughts here.
Joe Merchant says:
Meanwhile, my Diamond Rio rocks on… clunky tune loading interface and all…
July 30th, 2006 at 12:46 pm
Terry says:
You would think a reporter for the Chicago Tribune (or the Editor) would have clarified the spelling before publishing:
Apple 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.
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/apple-denies-four-years-ipod-report-clarifies-for-years/
July 30th, 2006 at 1:37 pm
Brett says:
You beat me to it Terry, hopefully the webmaster will ammend the main article with an update soon
July 30th, 2006 at 5:07 pm
MissingFrame says:
Time to switch to Microsoft English(tm) … they have an upgrade that solves for homonyms … license fee is 1 cent per word …
July 31st, 2006 at 5:43 am
Jeffery A. Haremski says:
Unfortunately, that’s the problem with the world of blogs and “news” sites. They propagate bad and/or inaccurate information faster than ever, with little to no effort to verify their facts. Not that big of a fan of Digg anymore, but at least you can mark a story as inaccurate.
My Diamand Rio didn’t last 2 years, btw, made me so sad.
My last car barely lasted 6 before it started nickle and diming me.
July 31st, 2006 at 8:30 am
Jim Frost says:
Actually “4″ years is about right given the use of lithium ion batteries. They have a shelf live of 3-4 years, no matter which vendor you get them from. Apple is unusual in that they don’t make the batteries in their products user-servicable, but even when they are it’s commonplace to have a hard time finding replacements beyond a few years out; this issue is particularly acute with laptops.
My guess is that these things are going to get cheap enough for them to effectively be disposable within a few years, so I don’t much care.
July 31st, 2006 at 11:06 am