﻿ Apple hit parade may have a clunker | ZDNet

Apple hit parade may have a clunker

Apple hit parade may have a clunker

Summary: Apple has had an unprecedented string of hits over the last few years. In fact, like the record companies that Steve Jobs is arguing with, Apple has relied on major hits, not the long tail, to fill its coffers.


ipodnano.jpgApple has had an unprecedented string of hits over the last few years. In fact, like the record companies that Steve Jobs is arguing with, Apple has relied on major hits, not the long tail, to fill its coffers. Recent complaints about  the iPod nano screen getting scratched easily could put a damper on sales of what most people have labeled a really cool device. As John Paczkowski of Good Morning Silicon Valley puts it, "iPod nano is fast becoming Apple's next Cube." Jobs, the perfectionist of product design and quality, must be apoplectic. Replacing the screens or adding a protective shield would be more difficult than dealing with iPod battery issues...

Topic: Apple



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  • The cup is always half emtpy in Ur Eyes ZDnet

    Without the Cube, which was a very cool looking computer. I
    wouldn't have a Mini Mac sitting on my desk.

    Microsoft may not sell any copies of Vista, because it will have
    50 thousand viruses like XP. But given the facts, you will
    SWALLOW anything and everything Microsoft puts out, full of
    security holes and as defective on the internet as it is.

    The iPod is quality and I know 3 people who are buying one.
    Common sense says to take care of your toys, etc
    • It looks cool

      "Without the Cube, which was a very cool looking computer. I wouldn't have a Mini Mac sitting on my desk."

      A computer's looks are definitely what makes it a good computer.

      Bias is a funny thing. In the same post that you lambaste a product that isn't even out yet; you also manage to support another that is out that has reported quality problems.
      • sure

        I am bias, because both the Dell and Compaq I own have had it's
        share of viruses running XP. For the scratches, be more careful
        with you're toys! That's common sense.

        I do hope you are right though and I'm wrong on Vista. It will be
        on my laptop next year.
  • nonsense

    My second generation iPod did exactly the same thing. Merely looking at it caused a scratch or scuff. I cut out a piece from a Palm screen cover and pasted it over the screen area - problem solved. Those things actually even kinda fill in the scratches or make them disappear -- the glue gunk works like windshield chip repair. Now sure, I'd prefer it if this didn't happen at all, but let's be realistic, it's nothing new to iPods or Palms or whatever - however what with the way it's currently getting rather... ummm... "colourfully" covered by pubs like this, suddenly everyone will suddenly notice scratches on their iPods kinda like after that Uri Geller show was broadcast in the UK, in which Uri bent some forks with his psychic powers, and "suddenly" viewers noticed some of their dinnerware was a little bent and assumed it was Uri's doing, as if it hadn't been a little bent for ages.
    • Yep

      I've been using clear packaging tape to protect my palm and cell phone screens for many years. The palm is now 7 years old and I've replaced the tape once. There are other, more durable, products available if you are a major abuser, but I've never needed them.

      Water is wet, the sky is blue, plastic scratches. Plan accordingly.
    • Thanks!

      Thanks for the advice. I'll try it.

      At least someone has something worth saying on this board...
  • clunker?

    What percentage of these nano's are having problems does anyone know, or are these websites simply trying to get hits to their websites.
    • oh please

      definitely the latter. Its sad that American journalism has gone from fact checking to rapid publication despite accuracy. Its funny how all these publications reporting on "bad" nanos are qouting the same website. If this person wasnt being an attention whore wouldnt they have just gone back to apple, a company highly regarded for their customer service and work something out rather than starting flawedipod.com? Instead of investigating and reporting, zdnet decides, hey just run the story, its pathetic to me frankly zdnet loses it credibility more and more each day.
  • It's called Microsoft Payola

    It's clear Microsoft is spending the big bucks trying to start bad
    buzz on the Nano, the most feared product ever in Redmond,
    including paying "friendly" tech writers to spout FUD like this
    piece. Good luck, Bill.

    You saw what Jim Allchin said at that Microsoft employee
    roundtable recently? He said, unprovoked, that he bought a
    Nano the day it came out and it died.

    Yeah, I'm sure the VP of software at Microsoft spent 3 hours in
    line the day the Nano came out at an Apple store in the middle
    of the afternoon just to get his hand on a product that has
    nothing to do with shipping Vista, which is supposed to be his

    It's an orchestrated attempt to spin the unspinnable. I know 10
    people with Nanos here in NYC and believe me, the line is
    getting bigger at the Apple store every day.
  • so what's new

    I have an ipod mini and a Ericson T610 phone - they both have
    plactic screens that scratch. Why is this news? My phone gets so
    bad that I put it on a polishing wheel every few months (soft wheel,
    jewlers rouge, watch the heat) I didn't think it reasonable to
    complain to Sony-Ericson because I put the phone in my POCKET
    every day. My wife's phone, with it's leather case, in her purse,
    looks like new. Surprise!
    • scuff pixies

      Um hm. Even supposedly scratch resistant "space age" coated plastics used with eye glasses get scratches and scuffs, I've tried them all and as with my iPods, Palms, etc. it's as if magical scuff pixies dance on them when I'm not looking -- this in spite of the fact that I go out of my way to be delicate with my eyewear and ever so carefully wetwash rather than drywipe the lenses. To expect Apple to do better than that with the iPod's surface without a significant price hike is ... well, not really fair.
  • Doesn't surprise me...

    As recently as 1998, I was a Mac "bigot" (that's "evangelist" for the rest of you). I thought Apple really had the hardware, OS, and application act down pat. Since then, my faith in Apple and its products has declined constantly (at times dramatically). Today, Apple issues more OS patches than I ever recall in the past. I see more hardware failures now than I ever did (3 of the last 4 Macs we bought were dead out of the box). Their music sales through iTunes use proprietary music formats they won't share with others. They build restrictive DRM into their hardware (e.g., the ROCKR phone only lets you have 100 songs even if you have memory for 110). I'm growing increasingly disappointed with them, and have gone from "evangelist" to "critic" without any outside influence. I've accumulated rather a lot of self-written articles and links on Mac quality issues at my blog: http://mikesalsbury.com/mambo/content/category/1/47/2/