Perhaps you remember the 1976 sci-fi movie Logan’s Run, which takes place in a world where death at 30 is strictly enforced. Seems iPods may not be much different. An offhand comment by Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris (who may be looking for a new job soon) in a Chicago Tribune article says that “an iPod is designed to last four years.”
Now, before we get all excited here, that comment is not a direct quote, and it could very well mean something such as “iPods are designed to last at least four years” rather than suggesting that some sort of time bomb goes off in them 4 years to the day after you turn it on. Who knows, perhaps she even meant “an iPod is designed to last for years.” Easy mistake.
Still, the truth of the matter is that devices as complicated as cell phones and MP3 players will die eventually. That’s all there is to it. Certainly we’re accustomed to things like automobiles and appliances lasting longer, but there comes a point when even your car isn’t worth fixing. Entropy, baby.
As far as the rest of the article, “A Pain in the Pod,” goes, I particularly enjoyed this fellow who complained about his iPod dying:
“When I sent the first one back, they sent me a refurbished one within a week,” Lucero said. “But I still have the same problems. It’ll just freeze up, pretending it doesn’t want to work sometimes. I’ve gotten so [angry] that I’ve thrown it across the room. And then it worked. Banging it up a little bit helps sometimes.”Right. Whatever could have happened to your first one?
[via Infinite Loop]
I'd say has to be a typo on the part of the newspaper, just from the context alone. If journalist had meant the number four, surely he/she would have elaborated on this somewhere in the article. But he/she just makes the indirect quote and moves on.
Hey, you made the remark that even cars are not worth fixing after a time.
While true, equating cars to iPods may be problematic. My neighbor drives a 1968 Chevy van. That's a 38 year old vehicle. Are you saying that an iPod could be usable daily 38 years from now?
I took my iPod in to the geniuses because of freezing and he proceeded to bang it on the table... It frees up the disk heads or something! So I have been able to fix my iPod (number 4, gotta love applecare) a number of times by banging it around a bit. I think four years is overestimating it a little, four months maybe.