Tuesday, August 5, 2008

My 160GB iPod is Dead

"It just works," they say about Apple products.

Sorry, no, it's not always true.

After being the proud owner of a 6G iPod classic 160GB model, for a week, it pained me to watch/listen as it went defunct during work today.

I get to head to the quote-unquote Genius Bar at the Apple Store in the U-Village tomorrow. Good times. On a quick tangent, I wonder how Apple promotes its employees to Genius Bar status... "Congratulations, you are now qualified to be a genius."

It is unclear exactly what brought this device to its knees; it must have been all the great care I took not to move it too much that killed it. The Red X of doom is the Apple's equivalent of the blue screen of death.

Just to set the record straight, I already did everything I could to revive it from its state of death. Tried to reset it. Tried to restore it. Immersed it in water. Stomped on it. Microwaved it. Threw it 40 feet in the air to see if the impact upon hitting the ground would wake it up. Unfortunately, none of those did anything to revive the iPod.

(For those who are sense-of-humor-impared, I was just joking in most of the last paragraph.)

Getting another 160GB model in its place is almost out of the question. Especially after all the horrible and horrific reviews this product has been getting. I should have read these reviews up front.

But at the same time, assuming that this device had worked properly, this would have been perfect for what I need.

Apple has been doing what it can to transition from hard-drive-based iPods to flash-drive devices. Note that Apple hasn't been very forthcoming in admitting that its hard-drivers are prone to kaputness - in fact, they probably don't say a word because they know all the consumer reviews will.

Don't get me wrong; I'm one of the few numerous people out there who appreciate both the PC and Mac universes. I'm a PC user, and I predict sometime within the next decade I will buy an iMac or a Mac Pro (the latter of which, despite its overly-massive cost, is massively good). The biggest complaint I have about people who are sold out for either universe are the fact that neither is totally right - and will stubbornly attack the other without thinking. They're a little worse than American liberals vs. conservatives in my honest opinion. Many PC users hate the cost and relative un-upgradability of the Mac, while many Mac users go out of their way to dis-credit anything that has to do with PCs. The fact of the matter is, there are good and bad things about both.

If the device that I'm using was anything other than an iPod, all the Mac people would immediately say "get an iPod." Fair enough, it's a great device. If it works. Well, guess what, I will stick with the iPod, the $34 if-you-open-this-then this-is-what-you'll-be-paying no-matter-what fee notwithstanding. OK, let's explore my options:

I once said no-no to the small nano, but that might be my best choice because of its relative durability, and also (most important to me) the fact that it can still record out on the field (using a great device called the Belkin TrueTalk Stereo). The downside: only as much as 8 GB capacity in the current 3G nano models. Not bad, but I suspect that this device will only last me a year as I'll want to upgrade to much more capacity in the long run.

I could go for the iPod touch (the iPhones that aren't phones) but I'm not all about spending all that dough for only 16GB or 32GB, for a device that (at least without breaking into it) has no recording capability. Friends of mine have it and are happy with it; but that's one of Apple's big pluses: marketing for niche users. The iPod touch isn't my niche, and that's OK.

Or I could go back to the classic, and just get the lesser 80GB, which has slightly better consumer reviews than the 160GB counterpart.

On the bright side, there is one ounce of legacy from my kaput 160GB - I was able to get a recording of a live performance of a band that I play with once in a while... I get to market the live EP as being "recorded on an iPod that only lasted a week." Fun stuff.

Needless to say, I am disappointed in this turn of events. But as they say, one bad Apple doesn't spoil a whole bunch. Two bad Apples, on the other hand... well, we'll see.

3 comments:

David Wu said...

I replaced it with the 80GB, and did get a $100+ refund for the difference. It's been a week so far, and it's working well.

Jordan Stepp said...

I would appreciate that very much Mr. Wu. :D

I'll make sure to reciprocate in like fashion once I revamp the collection at WUOG.

Jemstone123 said...

Nothing like a dead Ipod o.o
:)
Take care! David
x