Today was an interesting day-well, not really. I had to go to the doctor, which is never fun. Every time I go to see the man now-it seems as if he uncovers some other issue that I need to worry about. I never really feel my age-except when I go to see the doctor. ( And/or I go out for a night of booming-then I really feel it the next day. I’m sure there is no correlation. 🙂 ).
And in the other piece of news, I had to buy a new I-pod. My old 30GB classic I-pod was not able to hold a full charge any more. I’d charge it up and it would maybe give me an hour of time if I was lucky. I had taken it to the Apple Store and they said it would be $ 129 to replace the battery. For only a $ 100 more I could get a 160GB model.
Which was my original plan. However then I realized that my I-phone has all of my movies on it anyway-at least the current ones I want to see-so maybe all I really needed was an I-Pod nano. My music library is relatively small (only about 670 songs), and since I have gotten the I-phone the only time I was using the I-pod was when I went running or went to work out. As the weather is getting warmer, I am really trying to get a run in each day. But I have to have my tunes-1.6 miles without tunage just really sucks. Having the I-pod allows me to break the run up into manageable bites: I keep telling my self, I’ll keep running till the song ends, and then I’ll start walking. Then a new song comes on and I repeat the drill.
The run allows me to hopefully get the blood flowing-and hopefully is doing something to stem off more bad news from the doctor. Perhaps. More importantly, it lets me channel my rage, something I have been experiencing a lot lately-especially when I turn on the news. During the run, I can slip away in my mind to my own happy place-where I am in control, and am beating the stuffing out of those who irritate me.
So the problem was-how to get the tunes I need for the time I need. So in the end I bought the Nano. The clincher was the fact that it had an FM radio embedded. So now I can get home, change, get my run in-and then hopefully catch market place while I sit on the front porch, wheezing.
It would seem my I-pod may not be the only thing with planned obsolescence-it might be that I might be fitting into that category. I sure hope not-I’ve still got things to do. 🙂
Nonetheless I find it interesting that Apple has designed the device to be so hard to get a battery in it. Or is there something I am missing here?
you’re not missing anything. traditional rechargeable batteries (nicad and lithium ion) are well known to have lifespan issues, and while nickel metal hydrides have a much longer life, they’re quite a bit heavier and bulkier.
apple always intended ipods to be disposable, and when the batteries first started dying, there was a brief controversy, as they didn’t even have the battery replacement program at the time.
the iphones are no better, none of them have consumer replaceable batteries either. i like my iphone 3gs, but the battery thing is annoying.
My ipod classic died and was replaced because i had a replacement warranty. But alas that perished too. Great device EXCEPT for the battery which has always been a bone of contention. A few years ago I had bought APPLE stock in the 70’s and sold and made a buck or two and its NEVER wise to look back BUT damn, I wish I had kept that stock.
oi vey.
It is possible to buy a replacement battery on ebay, open the case, and replace the battery (there are some help guides on the web) but it’s not for the faint of heart. For most of us it’s just easier to buy a new one, which is what Apple is banking on. I think the iPad will be the same deal – when the battery goes, you get to buy a new iPad.
Yep, my daughter’s Nano broke (for her it was broken at least – no more scroll function), we took it to the Apple store, and fixing was not an option. Simply trade it in for a new one (plus 100 bucks, of course).
Coincidentally, I just bought a Samsung U5 two days ago at Target.
On the plus side – Cheap (at 27 bucks on sale), lighter than a nano (@ 0.84 oz.), drag-drop mp3 loading (no I-Tunes requirement or other DRM issues), FM radio, voice recorder, built-in USB connection (no extra cables), can be used as a thumb drive for file transfers (drag-drop).
On the minus side – Only 2GB (still about 450 songs, give or take), no color screen, no scroll function for playlists, no video camera.
I’m not too worried about battery replacement issues at that price. I can live with it.
this is incredibly helpful sugar, my big ole ipod recently died and the MITM lost his very new, very cool i-thought-was-going-to-be-mine ipod (whatever the top o’line model is) and now we have to replace both! so, thank y’all again! xoxo
When my 30Gb iPod began fading, made sure it was fully loaded with all the tunes in the library, put a ton of playlists on and parked it in one of the cars with it’s own power and input line, so in essence, that car now has a 30Gb jukebox. Saves swapping ipods from one car to the next and I can jump in knowing I’ve got plenty of tunes for the road…
– SJS