Sorry your iPod nano got so scratched five years ago, here's your $37.50
Hey, remember five years ago when the first-gen iPod nano came out and everyone in the world (literally) was sad because it scratched so easily? And then Walt Mossberg was sad, too? And then, inevitably, there was a class-action lawsuit filed, even though the lead plaintiff was like, "no, really guys, I'm cool?" No? Well shake off those cobwebs and get ready to party in a moderate way, because your check for $37.50 is in the mail. Yep, that's all individual consumers get in the settlement, which first started processing claims in December -- we're guessing the plaintiff's attorneys managed to score themselves a little more than that, because they worked so hard defending our interests. But hey -- one thirteenth of an iPad ain't so bad, right? And you wonder why we rarely cover class-action lawsuits.
[Thanks, Phil]
[Thanks, Phil]























I hate the world sometimes..
You want me to take care of it? if you know what i mean
@Lord Vader
you're gonna cut off his wanking hand with a lightsaber?
@Lord Vader http://xkcd.com/682/
No, I meant blow up the world with my deathstar! Stupid ianpig commenting first
@marsmissions Why? You can buy a new york strip and a glass of wine with that.
@marsmissions I bought mine in Europe, so probably nothing for me. You hate the world? The world hates me
@marsmissions
WTH are you complaining about? That's free money.
@marsmissions
Wheres my check?
=[
@staticjethro I am complaining about the fact people sue for this kind of frivolous shit.
@abedinthehouse
hah I still have mien all scratched up and with a faulty battery lol
Lord Vader, who is the owner of the Death Star? I planned and built it, don't you try to take credit.
@marsmissions I mostly just hate the fact that I didn't know about the claim filing periods since nobody ever notified me. Pretty lame since I wasted a ton of time going out and buying Brasso then breathing toxic plastic fumes while I buffed the stupid screen for hours to get the scratches out. The newer ipods definitely use much tougher plastics since I tried to buff out scratches the same way from a used iPod and it was no go.
I hate it when companies cut corners and think they can get away with it.
@marsmissions is this is ajoke? this is incrediblee funny
@marsmissions Well, mine is still as beautiful as 5 years ago, though my battery is dying at last. I guess people want it all nowadays; 'magic' mouses, tablets, 3D movies,...and rugged iPods *sigh*
@marsmissions
I almost bought a first gen nano ... then went for the video because I couldn't watch star wars on it.
That being said, the "video" (ipod generations 5 and 5.5) was made from the same acrylic, and despite 2 layers of protection, mine is is still scratched. Now, seeing as I bought 2 - one from an apple retailer and the other from apple online - shouldn't I get 2 checks of greater value (seeing as the video is worth more, and its screen serves a greater purpose).
Or do those of us who were forced to watch start wars on a scratched screen not count?
@M C
wow - I still wish they enabled comment editing. that should say star wars.
@sshole
LOL!
lol
$37.50 is still $37.50
@rcarm Yes, you had $0, open mailbox, profit!
@rcarm
I'm only slightly embarrassed by the fact that I should be receiving said check in the mail this week... only slightly.
@rcarm
Indeed, actual cash money is better than the typical suit that results in a coupon for something like 5 iTunes songs.
@rcarm My check was only for $27.50... WTF?!
@rcarm It didn't make the device unusable. For most people it was a merely cosmetic problem on an otherwise functional device. $37.50 seems like plenty of compensation to me, proportionate and sufficient. Go buy a case and some iPod Polish and you're good. Or, just rock out to whatever your new device is, since it's been 5 years coming.
@rcarm
Yeah. Honestly it's better than you'll see on most class action suits. The Comcast P2P is something like "no more than $15 per person". Verizon ETF is going to be next to nothing. Ditto for the Foreign Transaction fee credit card suit, which has been going on for, what, 5 years with no end in sight?
@ludwigk I agree this settlement amount seems more fair than most. However, I don't think you can minimize the cosmetic nature of the problem. When there are many equally functional and cheaper alternatives to an Apple product, part of what you are paying for is the cosmetics. For some people, that is ALL they are paying for.
@rcarm $37.50??? I only got $22.50!
@karnevil ditto, what gives?
you know my car occasionally develops these hairline scratches from normal use, and random cases of bird shit on my wind shield.
Toyota will be hearing from my attorney.
@mmauve Why don't you add it to your breaks lawsuit.
@marsmissions "Brakes" even.
@marsmissions
I never really looked at that as bad, it gives my drive to the grocery store a sense of adventure.
And by a sense of adventure, I mean maimed pedestrians.
@mmauve Yeah, mine does too, but its the kids round my way's fault for using it as a goal post..
@mmauve
It wasn't even under normal wear and tear. If you did not buy a case or skin, it would be scratched within hours. The first set of iPod 5g's used the same crappy plastic as the Nano's and if you slide your iPod in the little leather case THAT Apple included, it would scratch it. So when the included pouch scratches it, you know there is something wrong. I had ordered the Invisible Shield the day I ordered my iPod 5g and had it waiting when and ready when the iPod finally showed up.
I saw Nano's and 5g's that were not skinned or cased and they looked awful. Simply sliding a Nano into your jeans pocket would make the screen look like it just escaped from a warzone.
To go with your analogy, when you buy a new car, you don't have to immediately go by a protective coat for it. If you hit a bug or heaven forbid you washed it with a rag or sponge, it would be scratched like someone shot it with a bunch of rabid cats... I imagine you would be upset because whatever car company made your vehicle, you would be pissed because of the cheap paint used that scratches even when looking at it.
Apple used cheap plastic and then tried to place the blame on the customer for not immediately putting a protective skin on it.
@marsmissions
Brakes breaks, even.
Ha! I just sold more first Gen Nano for more than that.
@verruckt8
Ha! I just made more sentence make sense more than that.
@graey Nice. Haha.
Class action lawsuits are a joke - the only people that benefit are the lawyers.
AT&T is either settling or possibly lost a recent class action lawsuit due to their slower than advertised DSL service... what do it's customers get??
$2.
@Hazdaz
It's not always about damages. Court imposed injunctions that come from class actions more often serve the public at large than the actual $$ amount. And it's not easy litigating successful class action suits. Many of them take years and years of research and filing and multiple appeals, so lawyers making tons of money on them should come as no surprise.
@Hazdaz
sure, but how much did at&t pay in total? and will that discourage them from being bad again?
if yes, then succes, if no, then 2 dollars is still 2 dollars.
@Hazdaz I coulda gotten like $20 from Comcasts throttling lawsuit, but I was too paranoid they (whoever "they" are) would come after me for a lot more than that.
@BrianH
It will only discourage them if they actually LOST the suit. If they settled out of court, then future cases can not use that settlement against them. They offer up some cash and stipulate that they were "not at fault" - makes it that much more difficult to build a case against them the next time since technically this occurrence supposedly didn't happen.
It really is a sleazy way of gaming the system.
@Hazdaz
I want my two dollars!
@Hazdaz
That's usually the case, but I can vouch for this, I got my 37.50 today :D
Come on people, get scratching on those iPads, 2015 here we come
@JeremyBenthem: I'm pretty sure we'll have the "Will it Blend?" guy heading the lawsuit!
I got my check yesterday!! I couldn't even remember what it was for, and then I realized i entered my serial # for my nano a few years ago - 37.50...that's like a tank of gas right there - or 13.3% of an iPad