iPods suck

I have now owned three iPods. Credit to Apple.com for the following image, by the way. I have no idea if there are legal issues with using it, but I'll let them contact me and yell at me if there are. At least that would be once instance where you can get a human at Apple on the phone easily.



We got the first generation brick when we bought our Powermac several years ago. We loved it, but it was a little too big for the hand, didn't have a ton of storage, and the software interface wasn't that wonderful. All in all, though, it was light years ahead of the HipZip we had at the time, a miserable MP3 player that required the use of Clik discs, 40MB discs that could barely hold a full album.



Again, that sucker was great when it came out, but quickly became painfully obsolete. So, we were happy with our new iPod. Then, Apple decided to come out with all sorts of other stuff, thinner designs with more storage, color screens, etc. So, Audrey bought me a 40GB 3G iPod. It was beautiful and worked great and I couldn't fill up all that space no matter how hard I tried. I got into listening to podcasts on long drives, particularly enjoying stuff from IT Conversations, and I just loved having access to all of our music anywhere I went.

Then, I started running. A 40GB iPod is too big to run with. There are no armbands available for it and holding it in your hand is a real pain. But, I did it anyways. Funny thing was, it would stop working on almost every run. In many cases, it "died" on the same song. I figured it was just a problem with the file itself and that the iPod couldn't play it. So, I took the iPod to the Genius Bar...nice name, but not exactly accurate. They should call it Spiky Hair Bar or Sexy Geek Bar or Jerky Teenage Nerd Bar or Smelly College Kid Bar or We Can't Do Crap For You Bar or something like that. They could at least name the one at my local Apple store something like "Place for stupid people in expensive clothes to complain about their iPods" Bar. Okay, so I went there (not stupid and not in expensive clothes). And, some turd with a wacky hairdo "helps" me by holding my iPod to his ear to diagnose that the hard drive has gone bad. He then tells me I am past my warranty and that I can trade in my iPod for a 10% discount on a new one. Oh, wonderful. He also gives me a card for iPodRESQ, a company that fixes busted iPods. After considering my options, including destroying my iPod in some display of Apple-focused hatred, I decide to try out the iPod repair service.

Okay, these dudes must be running a scam or something. You pay $30 for them to ship you a box and give you an overnight diagnosis. Then, when the diagnosis comes up with a repair that costs as much as a new iPod, you have the option to have them return your busted device or they'll buy it from you...for $30. So, you end up having spent nothing more than some of your own time, but you have no iPod at all and two silly transactions on your credit card. In the end, I'd be better off having just sold it for scrap on eBay and then buying a refurbished one from Apple. Or, going without a stinking iPod altogether.

My iPod Shuffle works well enough, though.