Story Alert/Steal this Idea: One is a chance, two is a coincidence but three is a trend. It is official - the new IPod updater is killing IPods. First Fred, then me and now Jeff, all of us have had the same problem with IPod software updater. 
Went to IPodLounge.com for help. Apparently more people are having the same problem. More problems reported on the Apple discussion board. There are other problems as well. Jeff says: Blush off the Apple: The problem with Apple for years now has been that it pays more attention to design, aesthetics, UI, and advertising than it does to nitty-gritty technical matters. I was thinking about buying a Mac again. Now I’m doubting it.
UPDATE: Mo_Fo… the second IPod (the 15 gigabyte 3G version) just did the double dutch on me … that’s two f…ing IPods in two days! Just called Apple, and their very nice PR person said that I was the first one to get in touch. Maybe time to stop the plague from spreading!
Update 2: Went to the Apple Store in San Francisco. The 3G IPod revived after running the IPOD software updater again. 2 minute job at the Genius Bar. MiniPOD dead. Apple replaced it. No questions asked. So what was lost in bad product was totally made-up in great customer service. It was a drive problem apparently and it was triggered by the damn software update. So if you are under warranty and need to get this fixed, my two cents… hit the apple store
8 comments so far
1:49 AM PT
Just a curious question–
If Apple’s got a rarely-defective product, as I am sure they would claim, how much would it really cost them to just replace everyone’s crashed & burned Pods (especially if they’re less than a year old)?
And if THAT many are failing, why are more people not bitching about it publicly?
3:42 AM PT
Hrm.
If “Apple for years now has been that it pays more attention to design, aesthetics, UI, and advertising than it does to nitty-gritty technical matters” is true, please explain to me why OS X rocks the world of this former Linux sysadmin?
3:55 AM PT
hey mike - that’s a quote from jeff. i am just re-publishing. perhaps there is a reason it rocks your worrld! its great. but when things go wrong in the pc world, we jump over them. i guess soemtimes it is okay to be self critical and make sure that we don’t just take everything apple does as god’s gospel. just a little pause in all the love!
6:01 AM PT
It seems to me that Apple’s plan has always been to obsolete their installed base and to force you to buy a newer model of the one that you own and can’t get to work right.
Had they paid attention to taking care of details like the ones you wrote about their market share wouldn’t have shrunk on an hourly basis.
11:26 AM PT
To Buzz B:
If Apple’s plan “has always been to obsolete their installed base,” then my 5, 6 and even 7 year old computers shouldn’t be working with Panther as well as they have been, should they?
As for the whole market share fluff, I guess I contribute to that shrinking “market share” because my 5, 6, and 7 year old computers (and some 10 and 15 year old ones still running OS 8.6) ARE still working great and I haven’t found a really good reason to buy the new ones just yet! Maybe if Apple follows Dell’s (and yes, Sony’s and HP’s too) example and only builds machines that only last 2 or 3 years, maybe their market share wouldn’t be so bad.
Seems like Apple can’t win this one.
5:44 AM PT
You need to read the instructions before updating. The new updater says it does not work with older iPod’s and list those that do not work. If you are updating to this latest version no wonder your iPods are dying.
6:05 AM PT
i guess everyone has an opinion. hey the instructions don’t come with the automatic software update that happens when apple releases something. i did not download the software and did a fresh install. so in that sense the software should be smart enough to know that this is not for old IPODs. so don’t get self righteous on us. anyway who says that if a device is only four months old, it is obselete.
6:15 AM PT
Om, I’m in Tokyo with a 4th gen. 40GB and have had the SAME PROBLEM!
Thanks for bringing this up. I’m printing this thread and bringing it to the Genius Bar at the Ginza Apple Store.
First the white spots on my 15″ Powerbook, now this. I love the OS, but I am really learning to mistrust the hardware.
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