Reader mail, that'd be a gold mine of material. But no, you chumps just wait till the next time you see me to ask questions. (For you guys in Colorado, just keep waiting, I swear I'll swing by soon.) Well Dave Zatz is flush with mail, so he's doling out advice left and right. Take this iPod question for example.
It costs more for Apple to repair an old iPod than to buy a new one. What do I do?
Well for me the answer is pretty clear. I was thinking about buying a new one two months after I bought mine and Apple came out with double the battery life. It never had stellar endurance but now it won't last 3 metro rides (70 mins) using my bluetooth (read: external power source) headphones. That's some weak shite. The only reason I can stand it is that I use it at my desk(firewire), in my car (firewire FM transmitter), and at my work desk(USB 2) and pretty much nowhere else.
Anyway, Dave gives some well advised answers. I really like the "slap the ipod against something" suggestion, although I'm not too sure about his entirely reasonable rationalization. I'm pretty sure nothing like that is running though my head when I smack a dysfunctional piece of equipment. Although I do check to see if it fixed the problem. But after that, the best advice is to move on. The iPod is so popular because it just works. There isn't a whole bunch of configuring and tweaking. And if it doesn't 'just work' its time to get rid of it. I mean you could buy a Zune if you'd wanted a doorstop.
Despite my ownership of their product and plans to redouble that involvement, you may know that I've got beef with Apple's accelerated obsolescence scheme. But this is just being sneaky about it. Charging more to fix an old one than it costs to buy a better model. I mean, come on! I'd rather you tell me, 'sorry we no longer repair that kind of iPod.'
We all know how Apple has managed to squeeze so much extra play time into the newer models. Marginally better batteries, more efficent screens, storage technology and power schemes. Oh and by avoiding an obvious features. I may be wrong but it sounds like Dave is a little pissed about the lack of an FM transmitter too. They're getting to the point where there are so many models they might as well have another one with FM. You buy that model, you sacrifice a little battery life, raise your hand if you're ok with that. But of course I've been holding out on buying a new one in the naive belief that there's a bluetooth model coming. Its not coming; it wouldn't 'just work.' There are so many minor improvements that are so much easier than creating robust bluetooth compatibility; and they won't detract from the raw play time stats. Is it too much to ask for a device that talks to my wireless headphones, car and cell phone? Yes, yes it is.
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