This Hurt to Watch

September 16, 2005 12:07 PM

How Much Abuse Can the new iPod Nano Take?
Ars Technica digs deep and finds out just how much abuse the Nano can take (Hint: alot) before the music stops. And then performs an autopsy on it.
Warning, do not click link if the abuse of electronic items makes you queasy or sad.
posted by fenriq (26 comments total)

.
posted by russilwvong at 12:12 PM on September 16, 2005

I am not suprised. My previous iPod took a spill from my car's hood onto an interstate where it was susequently run over. After retrieving it from the side of the road I was still able keep rocking my tunes from it. Though it was pretty banged up.
posted by TheSpook at 12:14 PM on September 16, 2005

who gives a shit?
posted by H. Roark at 12:17 PM on September 16, 2005

Geeks like this sort of thing, dear.
posted by cavalier at 12:21 PM on September 16, 2005

Roark, this is important information for people who hate iPods and want to destroy them. I would think you could sympathize with that.
posted by alms at 12:21 PM on September 16, 2005

I hope this was some kind of freebee they got from Apple, otherwise I can think of about a thousand better ways to spend that $200 bucks.
posted by anastasiav at 12:23 PM on September 16, 2005

My iPod nano is so resilient to abuse that it travelled back in time to prevent me from purchasing and subsequently losing it in a hooker.

The effects of its actions in the past are still propagating forwards; this self and relevant comments by it will probably disappear soon.
posted by sonofsamiam at 12:24 PM on September 16, 2005

I figured the Apple haters would enjoy watching a pretty piece of tech get trashed and I figured the Apple fans would be impressed by how tough the Nano is (they ran it over several times and it kept playing).

Something for everyone. Except H. Roark. To whom I would respond, I don't think they pooped on it but you could suggest it to them.
posted by fenriq at 12:28 PM on September 16, 2005

"Removing the circuit board from the front part of the case is a bit more difficult due to the copious amounts of sticky glue-like substance (glue?) used to secure it in place."

This sentence made me laugh, and perfectly summed up the reliablity of the article.
posted by OmieWise at 12:29 PM on September 16, 2005

I was so going to post this the other day, but didn't want to face the applefliter wrath.
posted by shoepal at 12:29 PM on September 16, 2005

My iPod nano is so resilient to abuse that it travelled back in time to prevent me from purchasing and subsequently losing it in a hooker.

Dear God, Sam, what sort of Fatty Arbuckle shit were you up to?
posted by suckerpunch at 12:40 PM on September 16, 2005

shoepal: do what i do: either troll the apple haytas or ignore 'em.

they're all a bunch of poor smelly commies that can't afford apple stuff, anyway. and he lets the line out
posted by keswick at 12:40 PM on September 16, 2005

I liked the review.
I really want to see a review where someone charges the nano, plays it continually to battery critical low level, then recharges, and times how long each charge lasts.
If the flash memory really lowers the energy consumption rate that drastically, I gotta say kudos to Apple. But I don't, yet, and reserve the right to retract such kudos in the [near] future.
posted by Busithoth at 12:49 PM on September 16, 2005

I hope this was some kind of freebee they got from Apple, otherwise I can think of about a thousand better ways to spend that $200 bucks.

OTOH, it's a really good way to drive traffic to your ad-supported website.
posted by smackfu at 12:52 PM on September 16, 2005

Why is the first instinct of certain geeks to break new apple products? conspicuous waste o' money.
posted by elwoodwiles at 12:58 PM on September 16, 2005

I'm not that surprised either. My ipod has survived falling out of my jeans pocket onto concrete more than a couple of times (usually because I haven't bothered to put it in its iskin, since that makes it too bulky to fit into my pocket easily) and only has a tiny little dent on its side.

But what a waste of 200 bucks (they should have just given it to me)
posted by kosher_jenny at 1:04 PM on September 16, 2005

At least it seems the Japanese sites that dissect fresh gizmos seem to want to put it back together again. Purposely breaking it does seem wasteful.

But at least now I know should not throw my nano 40ft up in the air and expect it to work. Thanks Ars!

I'll manage to conduct my own torture tests over time. I manage to break every shiny toy I ever get.
posted by birdherder at 1:11 PM on September 16, 2005

very cool---disappointing that you can't replace the battery tho (soldered on???). I drop my ipod (old-3g, in a rubber case) an average of once a week i think.

it really is a beautiful little thing, esp. in black.
posted by amberglow at 1:13 PM on September 16, 2005

fenriq: I figured the Apple haters would enjoy watching a pretty piece of tech get trashed and I figured the Apple fans would be impressed by how tough the Nano is (they ran it over several times and it kept playing).

The longer this goes on, the more I observe that it has nothing to do with the hardware, and everything to do with culture. Fanboys of any species are annoying in their irrational need to serve as auxillary cheeleaders for professional advertising hype. The yang to the fanboy yin is a species of blowhard who makes equally irrational and hyped claims in an attempt cut the fanboys down a peg.

In defense of the Cult of Apple though, they are less annoying than gnu/linux evangilists, less smelly than deadheads (to say nothing of phishheads) and less completely pointless than Trekkies, Trekkers and Star Wars fans.

sonofsamiam: Dang!
posted by KirkJobSluder at 1:49 PM on September 16, 2005

I was simultaneously horrified and highly amused with this article. But I want one now, more than ever. Hmmm.... do I HAVE to pay the electric bill this month?
posted by TheStorm at 1:54 PM on September 16, 2005

disappointing that you can't replace the battery tho (soldered on???)

Connectors take space, and the more current they need to carry, the more space they take. So, I'm not surprised that the low current scrollwheel and display ribbons use connectors, but the (relatively) high current battery doesn't.

As to replacing the battery? Trivial. If you've got a good iron, desolder old battery, solder on new one. If you don't, cut wires and splice, though you'd need to make a nice clean splice to make sure it all fit back it (I'd sand the insulation down a bit, use a Western Electric splice, solder, then heat shrink tubing over the splice.

Heat shrink tubing is proof that God loves us and wants us to hack.
posted by eriko at 1:59 PM on September 16, 2005

"... otherwise I can think of about a thousand better ways to spend that $200 bucks" Than smashing up a gadget and then taking it apart to see how it works? What could be more fun?
posted by QuietDesperation at 2:25 PM on September 16, 2005

Who gives a shit about who gives a shit? :)
posted by kaemaril at 4:18 PM on September 16, 2005

I've been using my iriver to plug a leak in the olde deep sea lab. And to kick out the jams.
posted by drezdn at 10:32 PM on September 16, 2005

[a] [lot].
posted by thejoshu at 1:42 AM on September 17, 2005

Why isn't there just a fucking apple banner ad on this site? If this doesn't stop I am going to start posting every single Dell product and any subsequent review here just for the sake of balance.

I saw the nano yesterday. It was pretty nice. So nice in fact I started touching myself in the apple store. They asked to me leave! Then I shouted "If you don't want me to masturbate in your store then don't make your products so HOT!"
posted by srboisvert at 4:38 AM on September 17, 2005