The Day the iPod Died
| posted by Chuck SalterWhen the battery in Casey Neistat's beloved iPod gave out after 18 months of almost daily use, he set about trying to replace it only to discover that Apple didn't offer a new battery. You're better off buying a new iPod, the techies on the support line told him. That's not what Neistat, a multimedia artist in New York, wanted to hear. So he did what any self-respecting, pissed-off multimedia artist does these days: He fought back on the Web.
Neistat's short film, iPod's Dirty Secret, features him spray-painting a "public service announcement" on iPod ads around the city: "iPod's Unreplaceable Battery Lasts Only 18 Months."
The film generated buzz among iPodites. And a funny thing happened. Within days, Apple started selling iPod batteries. It was merely a coincidence, the company said. Either way, this fascinating story, which appeared in the Washington Post over the weekend, raises some interesting questions. If you create a product that customers develop an intense emotional attachment to, how long should that product last before it needs to be replaced? And when the product does die, how should you respond to avoid turning your most ardent supporters into your most vociferous critics?
Of course those aren't the only questions surrounding Apple these days. In the January issue of Fast Company, Carleen Hawn explores a larger and more fundamental issue: If Apple is so brilliant and innovative, why isn't it more successful?
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Recent Comments | 3 Total
December 22, 2003 at 3:27pm
huey priestDaring Fireball: More Accurate (but, Admittedly, Less Sensational) Alternative Stencil Slogans for the 'Neistat Brothers'
This post from John Gruber explains some of the details omitted from the "dirty secret" site. It also shows that brand loyalists will defend what they love.
I thought the video and website were fun, but i have a 2 year old iPod, and while i've replaced the earphones twice, no problems with the battery.
February 2, 2004 at 3:55pm
Joel CrookstonCasey,
I got a new problem I'm seeing with apple I'd like to go after. Here's my problem, Apple Care as a whole, see I'm on my second mac laptop in a year and a couple months...iBook logic board fried, so now I've got a powerbook G4, the harddrive on this one just went out (thanks to an external I can still use it for the time being, although that defeats the purpose of a portable...). Anyways, I call apple, they say I need to send it in for work...the 1 year warranty may cover it, however, because I chose not to spend the extra cash for apple care this time around, they tell me 6 to 12 weeks to have it fixed...with apple care this time is cut down to 3 to 5 days, in fact if it's not back in my hands in 5 days I get a new laptop they tell me.... This all sounds spectacular...but it comes at a price, in fact almost a quarter of the price of my laptop at student discount...I'm a college kid we're not talking mounds of cash here, and I'm on my second laptop in a year.... This seems a bit rediculous to me, I should be a valued customer after plunking down the change for the two laptops and an iPod... I mean afterall anyone who buys anything from them should be valued enough for top notch service...but apparentlly that's not the case, how else could they explain a 5 and a half week descrepancy at best, between apple care member service and the fastest response time garunteed otherwise.... I'm surprised no one has voiced concern over this yet...I think this is outrageous, that a company expects you to pay a fee for service that should be a part of how they address their customers, apparently I'm wrong in making this assumption. Anyways, I just wanted to hear other peoples feelings on this issue, it's been nagging the hell out of me, as I've been treated like crap by Apple when I had trouble with both laptops. Comments/Suggestions by anyone would be greatly appreciated, just like Casey did with the iPod battery problem, I think it's time to solve this problem once and for all.
Joel Crookston
Joelcrookston@aol.com
March 1, 2006 at 9:06am
Don KelloggIf your the joel crookston I think you are that lives in Delton I've seen how you treat hardware. It's hardly the fault of any company, I recommend the purchase of a miltary grade laptop :)