Comments on: iPod Battery Class Action Suit Settled

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 06:03:27 +0000

The iPod mini is said to last 18 hours so that’s certainly a step in the right direction. There’s a big difference between an iPod with a hard drive and a cell phone. A cell phone isn’t being used three or four hours contiuously. The last several cell phones I’ve owned (with the exception of that shitty Virgin phone) are made so the user doesn’t have to resort to case cracking or warranty void to change the battery. In fact the manufacturers willing sell replacement or spare batteries which is something you can’t get from Apple directly unless you are a service center. Apple should be designing iPods so that the users are more able to change batteries without voiding the warranty.

By: Mikey P

Mikey P — Sun, 05 Jun 2005 04:26:06 +0000

So is it that the battery needs to last longer, or it needs to be user replaceable? If its the former, I wonder what form of battery or new storage technology would make that possible. I’ve yet to see an example of consumer electronics that has similar power requirements that doesn’t wear out a battery. I’ve never gotten more than 2 years out of a cell phone battery, which I would consider a similar device in terms of use needs and charge cycles.

-Mikey P

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 03 Jun 2005 03:04:02 +0000

I don’t think complaining about a US$400 dollar music player with an 18 month battery is “crying”. You can do the third party kit, but a) it voids the warranty b) not every installation works out to be a success (troll Usenet and various forums for examples). The iPod is not made for the user to replace the battery, it was never Apple’s intention.

For those at home, here’s how you crack a 3G… http://www.ipodbattery.com/slimipodinstall.htm .

But you miss the point Mike. If Apple were to continue to make iPods with limited battery life, they run the risk of alienating much of the user base. Most of iPod users, or users of consumer electronics aren’t 31337 h4x0R dudes like you. They aren’t going to be able to crack the iPod to fix the battery. I could order the kit and crack the player, no problem. But the point is I SHOULDN”T HAVE TO…

By: Mikey P

Mikey P — Fri, 03 Jun 2005 01:26:02 +0000

Not user replaceable? I guess not in the strictest and lowest common denominator sense of the term ‘user.’ However I purchased a new, higher capacity battery for my 2nd gen iPod about a year ago and it came with all the instructions and tools to dissassmble and install the new battery. I thought it was pretty much cake to do. I guess if someone would have told me it was impossible I would be crying too.