After two years of
pushing and
shoving by the Japanese government, Apple has finally relented, agreeing to
replace those first generation iPod nano music players sold in Japan at risk of overheating. The player exchange goes beyond the battery replacement program already in effect for consumers concerned enough to complain directly to Apple. According to Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, of all the plastic black and white iPod nano players sold between September 2005 and December 2006, it confirmed 27 overheating incidents that occurred during recharging, including 6 fires that left four people with
minor burns. On Sunday, Apple added 34 other "non-serious" overheating incidents to the tally -- a delay in disclosure that Japanese officials called "truly regrettable." Of course, today's news begs the question of how Apple will handle this issue for all the affected iPod nanos sold outside of Japan.
posted August 11th 2010 4:07AM
What bout the states? We have 2 nanos here
@albinomexi I can't believe it. I mean, in my case at least, devices like that harpy last 2-3 years at max. How did it survive that long? Just an honest question.
It's been in a case in my car in a glove compartment in my truck and my civic
@Lucky Businessman Thanks for writing in a language everyone understands! :-)
@Lucky Businessman
Заткнись ты осел шляпу.
@albinomexi
Just don't charge it that way
@bogdan5844
According to nicetranslator.com's auto-detect feature it reads
"We ..?... saw this news a couple days ago! Championship for garbage"
@compubasic
correct translation would be
We've already seen this so-called news a couple of days ago! what's with this bullshit
@Professor Hubert J Farnsworth
Shut up you are ass hat YOUR MOM.
I have a white 1st gen. Nano that would get very hot when charging. It finally died a couple of months ago.
Got good use out of it, but if Apple does something for customers in the US that would be great too.
@IsLNdbOi Yah, but you should get a current gen, or even one previous gen
I have a 1st gen nano, but by the time I buy a plane ticket and disguise myself as a Japanese citizen, I think I'll be pushing my budget...
@wemustcontrolpeople
So true. I did think about it for a moment though.
WHY DO YOU GUYS KEEP USING THAT SCARY IMAGE?!?!?!?!?!?!
I see this in my nightmares now. :O
@APV
Where is it even from?
@Clyzm It's a photoshop of a poster for Fight Club
@norp
I thought it might've been fight club, but I guess there was no such scene in the movie if it was just a poster. Makes sense.
@Clyzm
Brad Pitt is supposed to be holding a bar of soap in the poster.
I still don't get the hidden message in Engadget calling the nano a bar of soap. Bars of soap don't overheat.
@webran61 But Tyler Darden made bombs from glycerine.
@webran61
Yeah, Tyler's bombs were linked to his whole soap making side job.
@APV
To me it looks more like Brad Pitt in Twelve Monkeys
Im going to bury my old one out in my garden now. I really dont need an explosive hazard on my desk. From the U.K
How in the world do they even have stock of left those old things to replace them?
@iKid
Tha's what I thought when I read it :s either they'll use refurbished ones or have to comission a soecial batch to be made jsut for replacements.
@iKid
That's what I thought when I read it :s either they'll use refurbished ones or have to comission a special batch to be made just for replacements.
@yeoldgreat1
had my first gen iphone replaced a few months back .. i was amazed that they had any around still..
@t2af I think what's more amazing is you can get them exchange easily. Imagine any other device and there would be a run around and probably in the end you would have to purchase a new one. That's the reason I buy Apple.
@yeoldgreat1 If they will commission a special batch, wouldn't it be cheaper to just get out new Nanos? Or am I missing something?
@Raytem Ummm, if you read the article, you'd know the Nano's in question were made from 2005 to 2006. In other words, it has taken Apple at least four years to finally address the problem. How does this make them look good? Even Japan has called it "Truly Regrettable."
@iKid Yes it would make much more sense, but what your missing is that humans are stuck up and try to look intense and Hollywood scene by being like "no, you gave us defective devices, now we want you to replace them with the exact same model!" even though they're old and crappy, although this way it would be free for all if them, vs each buying a new one for themselves
@That guy 2 Seriously? I'd take any gen Nano over those fat 1st-gen ones! Some people...
I wonder if they'll force all of the cheap Asian knockoff companies to do the same for all of their low-grade highly dangerous products or if they only focus their efforts on well established successful American companies?
@Clevernamehere
Doubt they'll hit the knock-offs since most, if not all, of them are being sold illegally. Can't really stop them. That's like going to the yakuza and demanding they provide compensation for business that pay protection money but get their joint trashed every week.
Besides, for knockoffs you get what you pay for. you can expect low grade knock offs to explode in your face since (1) they are knock offs and (2) they are low quality and (3) they are cheap as frak.
@Clevernamehere Several problems with that.
1. I''d say about 0.000001% of Japanese actually buy those knockoffs.
2. Those companies aren't exactly easy to contact or enforce rules on.
3. Their customers expect them to be crap so no one complains to the government.
Why do I even bother? I'm sure you were just trying to claim that they were discriminating against successful American companies.
My 2G nano doesn't really e work well anymore... When can I return that or exchange it?
@ounkeo
So, except for pricing, you mean Apple sold knockoffs?
@vidrazor2
Plus build quality, support, warranty, guarantee, and abiding by local regulations.
You were almost right.
I serial have my red 2nd gen nano and works like new
@HighestRanked1 Luckier than me.
My Nano 2nd gen's screen gave out after 11 months, then had massive difficulty getting Apple to do anything about it.
Can't wait for the 'shop of Brad playing an Ocarina when the next Zelda drops.
Of course, I love this bit; "Apple added 34 other "non-serious" overheating incidents to the tally -- a delay in disclosure that Japanese officials called "truly regrettable."
So Apple lies to it's customers and whole nation states not just about something trivial like loss of signal, or noisy hard drives, but about serious defects that have caused moderate to severe personal injury and could potentially do worse, and there are still people in this thread defending them.
What an amazingly ignorant, consumerist culture we've made for ourselves
@AuggieBenDoggie (Great handle, btw!)
I don't disagree that companies should be more up front in addressing and rectifying these situations, though I would argue that our increasingly litigation-oriented culture and response to such matters actually makes it much less likely that they will do so. When we have to put stickers on lawnmowers warning people not to stick their hands inside when the blades are moving, something's gone terribly wrong.
If we're not willing to take responsibility as individuals, how can we expect the same of corporations?
What's more troubling to me about this entire issue is that out of all of the iPod nanos sold in Japan during that time period, less than 100 had a problem, resulting in only 4 minor injuries. How much money, time, and effort was spent on this investigation and would that have been better utilized somewhere else? It seems that the reaction and followup has been somewhat disproportionate.
Again, I'm not arguing that Apple isn't responsible and shouldn't fix the situation. Those injured should be compensated, and anyone whose iPod didn't function as advertised should receive a replacement.
I'm just bothered by the waste expended on both sides. Five years of agencies, lawyers, delays, etc. etc. etc. that could have been used to better purpose somewhere else...
I love my Nano 1G, it's in perfect condition, and it still is perfect for when I go on a walk.
Since my Zune HD went through the wash, I can only use it when it's plugged in. So now my nano is the traveler, and the Zune is my home player.
I hope apple starts replacing them in the states, I'd love to get a shiny new Nano first gen. They are so smexy.
Those players are 5 years old now! Why can't they just buy new ones? I still have one of those Nanos from 2005, and i don't even remember where it is now, since i now use the iPhone. They only had like 2 Gb storage anyway.
Why bother replacing it if it does what you want?
"Oh, my perfectly functional and still personally useful iPod may overheat and explode"
"Stop complaining and upgrade for no reason other than the company made a potentially dangerous prouduct"
My 1G Nano still works, amazingly. It only has 2GB of storage, but it is plenty for a few songs. I still use it when I go on vacation and don't feel like bringing the larger iPod Touch (and risk theft or damage)
The quality has been amazing though - Everything works exactly as it did on day 1, including the original earbuds and dock cable. (My iPod Touch would like to say thank you to the Nano, since it's cable started breaking after only 5 months)
Cool
I'll just leave this here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Begging_the_question
Good, you see Apple can be forced to comply solve these sorts of mistakes... you only have to take it to a national level :S...
The first gen iPod Nano was a complete piece of shit. The cheap plastic cases scratched incredibly easily, much like 1G-5G iPod Classic, which is why Apple finally opted to switch to glass and aluminum on both models. And that's not even mentioning all the battery failure and overheating issues. Everyone who bought the damn thing deserves a refund.