Prepare to be amazed at what passes for investigative journalism on television these days. Atlanta's WSB-TV Action News team ran a sensational iPod "nana" piece last night under the title "Man's Pants Catch Fire At Airport." To set the stage, WSB-TV says that the nano "uses the same technology as those troubled laptop batteries under recall due to the risk of fire." In steps Danny Williams -- mild mannered consumer, airport employee -- who claims that his iPod nano "burst into" chest-high flames while he was at work. So why isn't he covered in burns after exposure to such a serious chemical fire? We've all watched the horrifying video of a lithium ion battery explosion, right? Well, Danny claims that he was protected by a "glossy piece of paper" in his pocket at the time. Taking it up a notch, WSB-TV worries that Danny could have been mistaken for a terrorist due to his smoking airport trousers. Look, we're not saying that nothing happened, after all, we've written about an exploding iPod nano before. We're only saying that it didn't happen in the way described. Check the video of the hot-coffee-in-lap style legal preparation after the break.
Seems kind of fishy to me that his USB connector was also burned. I'm sure it can't be good for it, being plugged in all day while being smashed around in a 300lb guy's sweaty pocket.
I love how the mom so astutely claims that it isn't about facts, it is about a bunch of what-ifs and the possibility of making money based on those what-ifs. Give the guy a new ipod and send him back to work. Maybe someday he'll be smart enough to tell the difference between flames and bit of smoke and his crazy mom won't dream up possible disasters when their wasn't one.
Wow - how big must his pockets be that the miraculous glossy paper didn't even have to be folded? (Or maybe it was, but the picture quality is crap and I can't tell.)
Otherwise, am I the only one who thinks that "chest high flames" may have caused a bit more damage to said miraculous savior than a small little burn mark? His pants seem to be in excellent condition, as well, after surviving such a dangerous environment.
i wouldn't scoff at it completely-- those batteries store a lot of power, and they can explode, especially while charging. maybe he had dropped it a lot, or something like that. i've read elsewhere that it's not really safe to let any device (cellphone, whatever) charge unattended, and especially not overnight while you're asleep (and prone to be burned alive). of course that doesn't mean all 1st gen nanos will set your pants on fire.
Umm... This doesn't surprise me at all. I noticed my battery life had lowered dramatically over the course of a couple of weeks and recently replace the battery on my 5G. The battery was puffed up and leakage was starting to show. I was very glad that I had replaced the battery when I did or I could have ended up like many before me.
Watch the video again, in the final 17 seconds there is a profile shot of the Nano. I find it odd how the case is bent up as if something crushed the Nano. I bet what ever it was caused the battery to short out. Thank God he had a glossy piece of paper in his pocket to protect him.
I worked at a local news channel for 4 years. They are a complete joke & the last place I'd go for news, weather, etc. Local media in general usually sucks balls.
Being a resident of Atlanta, its wiser to think "scam" first. More then likely this person is looking for a financial angle. Also I find it hard to believe that the little ipod battery would have enough energy to create ignition much less the flames this person describes. Its possible but doubtful.
As for the news, well WSB is known for aiming for the sensational over the factual. They might give facts, but cherry pick them so don't get the full context of the situation to come to your own conclusions.
Actually I think that describes all of news nowadays. It may be why people use blogs to get information. At least easy to tell the facts from the opinion.
I have a friend that this happened to... well kinda... He had been using a generic wall charger (that he won as a prize) the IP stopped working. While his dad was doing the reset procedure on it black acrid smoke shot from the headphone jack and the touch wheel melted a lot like this one. There were no flames to be seen... just the smoke. It was on a table at the time and didn't have a protective glossy piece of paper to shield... they chalked it up to the charger...
Probably this happened. Guy played around with cigarettelighter in pocket where he has the ipod. Scared to shit for his mum, makes up exploding nano story. Mother contacts Apple for milliondollar settlement. Apple refuses to pay but wants to exchange for a new one, mother goes to media. Apple is wise to refrain from any comments.
Liar, liar, pants on fire. Going to sue Apple and raise their ire. The iPod nano is the world's newest and smallest IED (Improvised Explosive Device). All the iRaqi terrorists are carrying them for their dual purpose.
I think the same thing can happen if you sit on Pop Rocks really hard.
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 2)
Thomas Ricker @ Oct 5th 2007 11:19AM
True, but I still don't feel safe around O.J.
Thomas
Philly Lawyer @ Oct 5th 2007 11:31AM
OK- that's just flat out funny.
SteveMB @ Oct 5th 2007 7:55PM
It's her fault for spilling the coffee.
jimmyfinch @ Oct 5th 2007 8:22PM
Did O.J. set your pants ablaze?
LiQuiD_FuSioN @ Oct 5th 2007 9:58AM
Really now, who even reads the actual article anyway? It's all about the comments, right?
Whiplash @ Oct 5th 2007 10:10AM
Why is this guys mom in on the story? He's an adult right? The last time something bad happened to me and my mom got involved I think I was 10.
g2 @ Oct 5th 2007 10:25AM
My 2G Nano stopped working and just says charged when plugged-in. I still have files on it and can sync/restore, but it just goes off when un-plugged.
Is there a problem with the batteries ?
andym @ Oct 5th 2007 11:34AM
Seems kind of fishy to me that his USB connector was also burned. I'm sure it can't be good for it, being plugged in all day while being smashed around in a 300lb guy's sweaty pocket.
Joe @ Oct 5th 2007 11:52AM
I love how the mom so astutely claims that it isn't about facts, it is about a bunch of what-ifs and the possibility of making money based on those what-ifs. Give the guy a new ipod and send him back to work. Maybe someday he'll be smart enough to tell the difference between flames and bit of smoke and his crazy mom won't dream up possible disasters when their wasn't one.
Dauthi @ Oct 5th 2007 12:01PM
Wow - how big must his pockets be that the miraculous glossy paper didn't even have to be folded? (Or maybe it was, but the picture quality is crap and I can't tell.)
Otherwise, am I the only one who thinks that "chest high flames" may have caused a bit more damage to said miraculous savior than a small little burn mark? His pants seem to be in excellent condition, as well, after surviving such a dangerous environment.
I thought fire burned things. =(
m @ Oct 5th 2007 12:06PM
i wouldn't scoff at it completely-- those batteries store a lot of power, and they can explode, especially while charging. maybe he had dropped it a lot, or something like that. i've read elsewhere that it's not really safe to let any device (cellphone, whatever) charge unattended, and especially not overnight while you're asleep (and prone to be burned alive). of course that doesn't mean all 1st gen nanos will set your pants on fire.
Kevin @ Oct 5th 2007 12:18PM
What's so hard to believe about fire-resistant paper? They make children's pajamas out of paper, right?
stacy @ Oct 5th 2007 1:13PM
Umm...
This doesn't surprise me at all. I noticed my battery life had lowered dramatically over the course of a couple of weeks and recently replace the battery on my 5G. The battery was puffed up and leakage was starting to show. I was very glad that I had replaced the battery when I did or I could have ended up like many before me.
Razor @ Oct 5th 2007 2:39PM
Watch the video again, in the final 17 seconds there is a profile shot of the Nano. I find it odd how the case is bent up as if something crushed the Nano. I bet what ever it was caused the battery to short out. Thank God he had a glossy piece of paper in his pocket to protect him.
NG @ Oct 5th 2007 3:03PM
why apple refuse to comment on that?
They only need to come out and simply say.. "because that brother was using a fake.. not our fault"
Macinjosh @ Oct 5th 2007 5:02PM
I worked at a local news channel for 4 years. They are a complete joke & the last place I'd go for news, weather, etc. Local media in general usually sucks balls.
404error @ Oct 5th 2007 5:58PM
I just saw a commercial for my local news (in Las Vegas) and they're going to mention this today apparently. So stupid.
kingdom2000 @ Oct 5th 2007 7:06PM
Being a resident of Atlanta, its wiser to think "scam" first. More then likely this person is looking for a financial angle. Also I find it hard to believe that the little ipod battery would have enough energy to create ignition much less the flames this person describes. Its possible but doubtful.
As for the news, well WSB is known for aiming for the sensational over the factual. They might give facts, but cherry pick them so don't get the full context of the situation to come to your own conclusions.
Actually I think that describes all of news nowadays. It may be why people use blogs to get information. At least easy to tell the facts from the opinion.
Anto @ Oct 5th 2007 8:58PM
Lawyer lawyer!!! pants on fire
Mike Lembo @ Oct 6th 2007 1:21AM
(insert liberal comment here)
Shawn @ Oct 6th 2007 3:54PM
I have a friend that this happened to... well kinda... He had been using a generic wall charger (that he won as a prize) the IP stopped working. While his dad was doing the reset procedure on it black acrid smoke shot from the headphone jack and the touch wheel melted a lot like this one. There were no flames to be seen... just the smoke. It was on a table at the time and didn't have a protective glossy piece of paper to shield... they chalked it up to the charger...
Ernest @ Oct 7th 2007 2:07PM
Probably this happened. Guy played around with cigarettelighter in pocket where he has the ipod. Scared to shit for his mum, makes up exploding nano story. Mother contacts Apple for milliondollar settlement. Apple refuses to pay but wants to exchange for a new one, mother goes to media. Apple is wise to refrain from any comments.
Constable Odo @ Oct 7th 2007 5:58PM
Liar, liar, pants on fire. Going to sue Apple and raise their ire. The iPod nano is the world's newest and smallest IED (Improvised Explosive Device). All the iRaqi terrorists are carrying them for their dual purpose.
I think the same thing can happen if you sit on Pop Rocks really hard.
Mike @ Oct 8th 2007 3:28PM
Weren't the recalls on the batteries lithium-ion and the ones inside the ipods lithium-polymer???
kip @ Oct 9th 2007 1:54AM
"nana" is the bigger story here