Grassroots infomercials: Ipodsdirtysecret.com. Keep watching. It’s great media jamming. (possible solution if you do want an ipod: get an extended warranty, they’d just give you a new one, then)
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Jean
Maybe the consumer pressure has worked – Apple has now introduced a $99 battery replacement service
http://www.info.apple.com/support/applecare_products/service/ipod_service.html
Jill
Oh good – thanks for the link.
Mike
Does it really qualify as “media jamming”? Here’s how I was reading it: the Neistat brothers, with a contact address in what looks like a Tribeca zip code, took the time to make a self-celebratory movie on a $1000+ computer about a very fancy $300+ MP3 player of theirs that broke, when it was no longer covered by warranty. There’s nothing there about whether this is a common problem (perhaps the stencil should have read “my ipod’s unreplaceable battery only lasted 18 months”?), and indeed no link as pointed out above. They then paid to host 362,944 viewings (when I looked) of this 6.5MB movie: that’s some bandwidth.
I mean, I love what adbusters does to combat the corporate consumerist mindset. But it strikes me that the Neistat brothers are reinforcing that mindset, demanding their “rights” (ugh) as consumers. Or, to put it another way, acting like overprivileged kids with a broken toy. I mean, couldn’t they find something better to get all fight-the-power (check out the movie’s white-kid-appropriating-NWA soundtrack) worked up about?
There’s a long and interesting (and sometimes acrimonious and not so interesting) discussion of the movie at Metafilter.
Jill
This FAQ not only explains how you can now get a battery replacement for $99, it says this was implemented before the video was released. Etc.
Alecia
Man have times changed. the battery in my ipod went out recently so i did a whole bunch of research and found a new ipod battery kit from this company that sells the battery and tools and instructions to pull out the old one wwithou breakin the damn thing. Well i took the plunge and was surprised at how easy it was. Apple doesn’t charge 99 bux anymore – closer to 60 now but with ipod Juice i completed the project for a third of that cost (patting myself on the back now!).
I never understood that neistats bros video either – it just seemed like whining – go out and fix the problem yourself like i did and move on!
-A