You have to laugh. Yesterday I received a mail-shot from Apple
Frustrated with your PC? Time for a Mac.
In the past 30 days has your PC:
A. Crashed
B. Frozen
C. Made you want to pummel your screen with a sledgehammer
D. All of the above
It just works.
Another great reason to own a Mac.
To which I would reply
Frustrated with your iPod? Time to give up.
In the past 16 months has your iPod mini:
A. Cost £170
B. Had a battery die
C. Had a hard disk die
D. All of the above
They just don’t work once your initial 12 month guarantee runs out.
Another great reason to avoid iTunes like the plague.
Let me be clear at the outset. There are times when I’m watching the Watchdog consumer affairs programme on the BBC (I try not to but it’s sometimes on in the same room as me) when I find myself thinking … what do you expect? It’s a business you’re dealing with, not a charity. In other words, I’d like to think of myself as an informed consumer who has to accept responsibility for their own purchasing decisions (and, believe me, I do).
So, when I bought not one but three iPod Minis about 18 months ago, I was aware of some of the pitfalls.
1) Why bother paying money for tunes that I could probably find on the internet for free? Answer (believe it or not) is that I don’t believe artist’s work should be ripped off. In most cases, I’d buy the CD anyway and just copy it on to the iPod. Apparently I’m breaking the law doing that, too, but I’m not expecting the police around my house any time soon.
2) Why buy music from a source that copy protects it and uses a proprietary format that I can only use on one manufacturer’s devices? Damn good question, particularly in hindsight, but I thought a) Apple’s a reputable company who won’t let me down; and b) My partner and my daughter were a little focussed on Apple’s products over all others 
So, I gave in and thought Apple is in this for the long term and in a few years time, when it’s maybe time to buy a new iPod, they’ll be able to use all of their old tunes.
So here’s what happened. Two of the three iPods lost their ability to keep a charge for more than an hour or so after 13 or 14 months. Not very handy in a portable music player. The other one had a faulty hard disk after 14 months. Note the dates – just outside of the one year guarantee.
It is possible to get these repaired by third party companies (for any investors out there, this is a *big* business opportunity – mark my words!). However, the cost is pretty prohibitive, relative to the cost of the iPod itself and the repair is only guaranteed for three months.
So we went to the Apple Store in Regent Street in London, booked an appointment and waited to see an ‘Apple Genius’ (god, how *embarassing* must it be to have that on your t-shirt?!?!?). In the end, there was nothing the guy could do for us because the faults developed out of our guarantee period. But here are the punchlines
1) The place was *full* of people with broken iPods and their reactions were not pretty! ‘£250 and it breaks in 18 months?’ etc… etc… etc…
2) Now you get to laugh at me. What would you do? The sensible consumer would tell Apple to stick their products where the sun doesn’t shine and never go near them again. What did this idiot do? Buy two new iPod Nanos? What?!?!? Why on earth …. etc. Because I have a 14 year old daughter who thinks that iPods are the second coming and has £50 worth of tunes downloaded from iTunes Music Store!!!!
Therein lies the problem. If Microsoft can be hauled through the courts for anti-competitive business practices, I’d like to see what the US and European courts make of a scenario where you buy a tune, it can only be used on one manufacturer’s devices and those devices seem to break just out of the guarantee period. It’s the most wonderful example of consumer lock-in I think I’ve come across.
Make no mistake about it, I’m not looking for a shred of sympathy because I’m the world’s biggest mug, but
1) I will be watching these iPods like a hawk. If the battery is getting weak, it will be going back after 11 months. Good luck with all of those returns, Apple. The Nano also uses flash memory, so I’m hoping there’ll be no hard disk problems. These are the last iPods I’ll buy if the experience doesn’t improve.
2) Not everyone has my money and I feel really sorry for parents who saved and saved to get their teens an iPod mini a Christmas or two ago and will face this soon. I hate moaning blogs, but maybe there’s a parent out there who will read this, think twice, and I’ll have saved them from a little pain and a lot of money. I hope so. If I lose Apple a potential customer, well, they lost them themselves by their own strategy.
3) In the long run, this will hurt Apple. Consumers will only keep being mugs for a period and it doesn’t matter how cool you try to make your company look – if you let your consumers down, they’ll move on.
4) The iTunes/iPod combination is anti-competitive and needs to be stopped. The simple answer is to make iTunes compatible with other devices. That way, even if there is copy-protection involved, I can buy another manufacturer’s devices when Apple’s break down.
Updated later
Here is a link to how you convert iTunes files to be used on any other MP3 player. It’s the first one I found on Google, so I can’t vouch for it’s effectiveness because I haven’t tried it yet. You should make sure you read all of the comments attached to that article for other points of view.
Thanks to Grash for pointing this out and I’m sure it’s completely legal, right?
Some people are only happy when they are complaining. I’ve had my iPod for 3 three years and have had no problems. What aobut other makes, come on, we want a balanced arguement with examples.
iTunes tracks are mp4! free converters on the web just rename them to mp4 and then convert to mp3 takes less than a minute. A few minutes on google and you’ll find one.
>>Some people are only happy when they are complaining.
Yes, but not me. Trust me, I’m only really happy when I’m not complaining
That’s why it took me a couple of weeks to get round to this – I’d rather write about something else, but think it’s better that people know this can happen.
>> I’ve had my iPod for 3 three years and have had no problems. What aobut other makes, come on, we want a balanced arguement with examples.
That’s fine, you have another example, you posted it here (because it’s open to comments) and so people get a balanced argument. I repeat, I’ve only bought three iPods – all minism in fairness – and all have broken. I think that’s easily as representative as your example.
>> iTunes tracks are mp4! free converters on the web just rename them to mp4 and then convert to mp3 takes less than a minute. A few minutes on google and you’ll find one.
Thanks for that and I’ll take a look. However, (at least in the UK) the iPod is a consumer product and not everyone will know that. Trust me, there were many people who didn’t realise you needed a computer to use one!!
I’ve had a Creative Jukebox Zen Xtra for a few years now — four, maybe? A 60Gb model.
http://www.creative.com/products/product.asp?category=213&subcategory=214&product=9288
The interface is nothing to write home about, but it runs and runs, and if the Li-ion battery ever wears out I’ll take off the back and pop in a new one — $20. It’s compatible with Audible so I can download and listen to books and “This American Life”, and I’ve never got close to running out of space.
I expect the iPod is an ergonomic masterpiece and all that, but no-one seems to like the way they break.
Your right, it is better people know, but it’s not just Ipods, it’s all devices even mobile phones can suffer from battery life, what you have to remember these products are only designed to last until there guarantee. Do apple offer extended warranty, if not that speaks for itself.
All mp3 players need a computer. It is important to keep your music backed up for when it does break or you lose all the files off it. (be careful not to unplug it before it tells you too, you can lose all the headers so your ipod looks like it has lost everything, there are utilities to fix this).
I agree with your points but think they are biased against Apple, and don’t buy the first generation of a new device!
Grash,
Good advice, so thanks for that.
I don’t mean to be biased against Apple, but three out of three is a pretty poor performance, I’m sure you’ll agree, and I can only comment authoritatevly on my own experience. Others are more than welcome to comment on theirs.
As for modern battery problems, you are absolutely right to point that out. I bought a new HP Laptop last year and the battery failed in a mere 4 months! Fortunately, that was under guarantee and (as I said before) I don’t normally like moaning. I think the iPod situation has given me quite enough reason to moan
another tip
Fairuse4wm to get around DRM
>> don’t buy the first generation of a new device!
Actually I don’t agree with that statement.
Well, I know you’re right. That’s the sensible approach.
But what you’re effectively saying is that we can’t trust modern electronics companies to test their products properly. You and I may know that to be true, but is that really a satisfactory state of affairs?
Have you ever heard a motoring journalist say ‘don’t buy a new model of a car because it could well be unreliable’?
Your right, it is better people know, but it’s not just Ipods, it’s all devices even mobile phones can suffer from battery life, what you have to remember these products are only designed to last until there guarantee.
In mobile phones, and nearly all other devices though, the battery is a user replaceable consumable. Apple’s decision not to do this sucks, IMO.
Precisely — who doesn’t know that a battery eventually runs down? there’s nothing biased about this, it’s straight reporting of the facts.
I expect that all the “journalists” who got to keep the review models they were sent aren’t too bothered — they get a free upgrade the next time Apple release a product that needs the media-frenzy treatment.
I’m just saying that all companies are the same. Apple’s decision not to let you replace the battery yourself, think about it, you have to send it back or go to apple, MARKETING, we know they don’t make the batteries so the cost gets passed back to the manufacturer, it cost apple nothing and they have you. Car companies do it with recalls, tell the world how concerned you are about your customers and about those bad guys that made it wrong.
And it’s not just journalists who don’t care about build quality, we all are we’re hooked on gadgets, big companies know this, they rely on us to upgrade to the latest model or break them ourselves. How many times do we look at the latest mobile phone and think I want that, it’s better that my old one.
Another issue is that when I buy an apple I want an apple, I don’t want Sony, I want apple. Same goes for a dell etc, If I want a Sony product I’ll buy one. I figured this one a few years ago when apple where the only mp3 players, why didn’t Sony have their own, there are an electronics company and a music company, it should have been perfect. The answer was they did we just didn’t know it, all these companies share products and relabel them as there own, until they break.IMO.
I wouldn’t buy a new model of a car either, audi TT is a good example they all had to be be recalled a few years ago.
If it’s new technology be careful, if it’s just the old model renamed with extra add ons thats should be alright.
My colleague had problems with ipod – it must be exchanged totally.
on the other site i work with windows 2003 Server wihtout any problems day by day for one year.
But – and that is right fa WinX machine gets unstable – you often have to reinstall it.
The thing which i am fascinated most on apple machines is the integration of a real stable unix OS X;
Karl
>>> “What did this idiot do? Buy two new iPod Nanos? What?!?!? Why on earth …. etc. Because I have a 14 year old daughter who thinks that iPods are the second coming and has £50 worth of tunes downloaded from iTunes Music Store!!!!”
Thanks, Doug!
This blog made me laugh (not easy on a wet August afternoon in Bracknell..!?) – especially the above point – oh how sad but true..!? Whatever happended to rebellious 14 year olds..?? Oh for teenagers running pirate radio stations rather than slavisly consuming Apple hype. IMHO iTunes is far more dangerous to the future creativity of ‘pop’ (etc) music than copying CDs or dowloading via LimeWire.
Jeremy
>> IMHO iTunes is far more dangerous to the future creativity of ‘pop’ (etc) music than copying CDs or dowloading via LimeWire.
Hear, hear!
Maybe myspace.com will save them all (even if it is owned by a media mogul …)
and who are you working for today?
A media mogul. Why?
The DRM/file restrictions alone are a deal-breaker for me. I do not want an iPod.
Apple so loves to portray themselves as the good guys, the enlightened corporation, cool, hip, and right. Lately, we’ve been finding out more and more that it ain’t necessarily so.
Dave.
Endlessly debated on slashdot, but the DRM is a requirment by the LABELS, not apple (though apple by proxy). If there was no DRM, there would not an iTunes music store.
That said, it is a pain, but the supported solution is burn the songs as audio cds and rerip as mp3 or unprotected aac, then do as you wish with them. In Canada anyone can borrow any of your music and make a copy for themselves, though you cannot [legally] make them a copy. A tiny difference, but one is legal and one is not.
Anecdotally, to my ears, I cannot discern a difference with a reripped cd. So, there is no lock-in, the songs don’t expire, you can burn as many copies as you want (a playlist must be changed every 5 or something times though). Plus you’d likely want to use a CD-RW, or maybe not if you want a backup.
PS. I have 2 minis (1 for my wife) that have just passed 1 year with no problems … fingers crossed
In Canada, we are legally allowed to make backup copies of our own music CDs. And we pay a duty on blank media for that priviledge.
Have you ever heard a motoring journalist say ‘don’t buy a new model of a car because it could well be unreliable’?
They used to say things like this all the time. The 1968 Corvette, bought to market a year late (it was supposed to be a 1967), was one example of a realization of the common expectation at the time. Ironically, some that have lasted this long are in better shape than when they left the factory.
Nowadays, people think Toyota is high quality, and ignore the current scandal of how executives there hid quality problems.
My wife and I have identical cellphones, and she had battery problems. I swapped batteries, and neither of us have had battery problems since. The network deteriorating as the provider switches to a different technology that doesn’t work as well is a different problem…
What’s an ipod.Can it play my 7″ singles and Lps. I’ve had my gramaphon for 80 years now without a hitch.
You youngsters should go retro.
You bought I-Pods?
Sensible chap. Just be relieved and very pleased that you have not gone down the Sony road… I did. Hmmph.
I’m one of those who didn’t realise you needed a computer to use an iPod. Actually, I knew you’d need a computer to load the songs on the device initially. What I didn’t realise was that you can’t do anything with the player (i.e. creating playlists) on it’s own.
I hear mixed reports about the service that Apple offers. Apparently, if you’ve got Apple Care the service is top notch. The crazy thing is that it’s £39 (UK) regardless of how much you paid for your iPod.
With regards to the iPods that use hard disks in them, I wonder whether the physical forces that these have to undergo is the real problem. Actually, if you look at the components of an iPod, I reckon Apple probably produce the case and all the other stuff is from third parties. I know the disks come from Seagate.
There is another interesting issue with iPod/iTunes. I used to use a PC to connect my iPod with iTunes. It was always unreliable, the main problem being that I sometimes wasn’t able to eject it after updates. I bought a Macbook recently and I can tell you it’s a whole new experience. The connectivity is flawless. Whether the differences with Windows is deliberate on Apple’s part I’m not sure!
The DRM issue really winds me up too. I want to copy my DVD’s because I’ve got young kids who want to eat them. I’ve sometimes had to buy another copy because they’ve been scratched to the point that they won’t play. So, I’ve started ripping them and making copies. So, I’m a criminal and I don’t care. This situation is pathetic. If you stop people using their content in ways that is convenient to them, they’re going to circumvent whatever obstacles are put in the way.
Good rant Duggie
A little off-topic: I’ve always loved the way that a lot of people like Apple for two reasons:
#1: Stick it to the big, giant, capitalist mega-corporation Microsoft!
My response: And what do you think Apple is?
#2: Be non-comformist and do something different!
My response: Do you have any idea how many people own Apples?
Of course, many people choose Apples because of superior technology, reliability, performance, security: whatever. That’s fine. But they seem to represent the minority of Apple owners.
Yep, it’s a pretty impressive stunt for Apple to have pulled off though, isn’t it
You’re absolutely right about the “Cult of Apple”. Some people are not objective at all and just think they’re cool.
Having said that, there’s one thing I’ve realised. We all make comments about things without really experiencing them. I’d never used Mac OS X before and had lots of preconceptions about it. I’m a Unix admin by trade but the family computer was always Windows. I had grown totally exasperated by performance problems and the usual Windows unreliability. I took the plunge and bought at Mac. What a breath of fresh air it is. It just works flawlessly. Don’t worry, I’m not going to turn into a raving Apple bigot
What I’m saying is that we all have prejudices and preconceptions when we haven’t actually experienced something. I totally agree with you about there being little difference in the corporate behaviour of both Windows and Apple.
Hopefully your new ipods don’t have sony batteries!
God bless you Jobs!