I guess with the millions of Apple units out there, 15 is not all that big of a number. At what point during use does it feel "to hot" before it catches fire?

@OMG! SP00N: I was going to say the same thing.

I wonder how many of these are the over heating iPhone. I've had three iPods (an older black and white, a Touch and one of the first video ones)...one had the screen of death (the B&W one), but the other two have never had a problem...and even after playing for almost 20 hours straight, they've never really even felt warm...

@Smashville: I'm aware "overheating" is one word.

There have been over 200 reported cases of Spontaneous Human Combustion too..

Just Sayin...

:)

Really though.. I have 3 iPods, a Mini, Classic and Iphone 3GS, they do get a bit hot.. but I just couldnt seem them catching fire.. Those Li Batteries though.. guess they could go critical..

This is the exact reason I have a Zune now.

My boyfriend bought me a first generation ipod nano for Christmas a few years ago. It worked great for the first 5 months. I am pretty sure that I never dropped it or did anything too serious to damage it. At first it just didn't want to connect to my computer, which was annoying, but it would still hold a charge and function when not plugged into anything.

About a week later it stopped turning on so I wiped it and reinstalled all of the software. This seemed to work... for about 2 days. On the 3rd day I pugged it into the computer and you could hear the hard drive buzzing and whirring in the tiny thing, I felt it and it was extremly hot to the touch. I unplugged the thing and it made the "bad hardware frowny face." This apparently is the sign that your ipod is suffering from an incurable hardware malfunction. Makes no sense... and I'm sure if I hadn't unplugged it... or had left the room, it would have exploded.

@OMG! SP00N: I'd have to assume that in order to catch fire like that it would have to be related to a short circuit somewhere. And depending on how severe the short is, they could potentially heat up REAL fast.

I just read a story on MSN about iPod sales being stagnant. If Apple didn't have the iPhone and iTunes what would become of them? If my RC copy is any sign, Windows 7 is the best Microsoft OS ever. Does this mean Apple is in trouble?

@starzshine: Nanos don't have hard drives. I'm not saying it wasn't making some kind of noise, but it wasn't from a hard drive.

@Psychosocial: I highly doubt it. There is a large contingent of folks who prefer the Mac OS and always will. Apple might not continue to take market share, but they certainly won't lose any because Windows 7 is great (which it is). What might seriously injure Apple (and for that matter Microsoft) would be if Google's OS catches on, and if Android phones really catch on. Strangely the real "Apple Killer" may turn out to be Google and their innovative and usually free software, not Microsoft's more highly priced offerings.

Your headline says "iPods" yet you then state that 15 "iPhones" have caught fire. Which is it?

We need more stories with the tag "WE DON'T NEED NO WATER, LET THE MOTHER #$@ BURN".

A Seattle TV station?
I call shenanigans.

@Psychosocial: The iPod is stagnant right now because it's not the holiday season, and while iTunes continues to be updated, the hardware for the iPod line doesn't need to be updated much from year to year. I still have the same iPod I bought four years ago. I don't use it anymore (I have my iPhone for that) but I haven't purchased a new iPod in four years, nor do I need to.

@Psychosocial: Think on what you just said, Psycho--"I just read a story on MSN about iPod sales being stagnant."

Now, how does a drop in iPod sales imply that Apple is in trouble, when Mac sales are actually up 4% year over year for the latest quarter? I will acknowledge that the so-called 'netbook' is making enormous strides, but yet the 'netbook' is nothing but a low-powered notebook computer that's hardly better than your telephone for anything beyond simple web browsing and word processing. Yet when compared to the major companies producing standard laptop and desktop computers, Apple's sales went UP 4% while their competitors went down 15% or more!

How is this "Apple is in trouble?"

Fifteen(15) out of One Hundred and Seventy Five Million(175,000,000). That makes it One in Eleven point Six Million(1:11,600,000) That is lower odds than winning a lottery on the average.

This wouldn't have even come up if it hadn't been for some anti-Apple zealot trying to scare customers away from a superior product.

@GearheadGeek: well I'm sorry I didn't research the innards before I posted, my fault for displaying egregious ingnorance.

@starzshine:
Since it was only 5 months old, why didn't you take it back for warranty repair/replacement? That's why they have a warranty, you know.

@ageekymom: I sent an email about that. It's supposed to be iPods, not iPhones.

I've had four iPods over about five years, none have gotten anywhere near hot. My iPhone does get a bit warm when using apps with video, but not hot enough to cause a fire.

@Psychosocial:

I don't know about iPod sales but the new iPhone 3GS has outstripped supplies in virtually every country the smartphone's sold in, Apple says.

The Cupertino, Calif. company is also battling a shortage of another key product: its MacBook Pro line-up of notebook computers, it says.

Taken together, the shortages are notable because of how important iPhone revenue has become to Apple. IPhone sales made up 19% of the $8.3 billion in revenue in the Cupertino, Calif. company's third fiscal quarter. Meanwhile, sales of MacBooks are 26% of revenue.

@Blueskylaw:

Sorry, I should have added this.

They added Apple's iTunes has now sold more than 8 billion songs.

@Psychosocial: iPods are just near the saturation point of the market. They aren't really losing ground to anyone. Also, iPhone sales are cannabalizing iPod sales. Apple just had their best non-holiday quarter ever - they're in pretty good shape.

@starzshine: Yeah, a clicking noise inside, plus a sad face icon probably indicates that it was going to blow up. Or the iPod just had a hardware problem, and you should've taken it to the Apple Store.

I guess buying a Zune was a good decision, based on your logic thus far. I hope your boyfriend didn't leave you over the Zune. ;)

@I Love New Jersey:
???

One thing to think about, if people had to get a battery replacement, and used one of the cheap ebay knockoffs, might be like the phone battery debacle.

My 2nd gen Nano seems ok. I'll keep an eye on it.

@Psychosocial: No, it doesn't.

Apple reports best non-holiday quarter revenue in company's history
[www.apple.com]

@starzshine: Doubly so when you did not buy a Zune for exactly the reason that your iPod caught on fire.

@Psychosocial: I'm sure iPod sales will heat up later this year. No pun intended.

For the last year or so the trade has acknowledged that iPod sales will always be subject to a kind of demand ceiling. They're not the kind of device that needs frequent updating, so people tend to use them until they fail, or are damaged, lost, stolen, etc. They aren't like computers or cell phones that get upgraded regularly (i.e 2 or 3 times a year) with added power or major features. With many millions of iPods already in the wild now, most who've wanted one, have already got one, and the odds are they'll be happy with them for awhile.

Thus, you'll see iPod sales surge seasonally (i.e. around Christmas) or if Apple releases a new model with significantly better features. Otherwise, they should tend to stay flatter than they had been in previous years.

@dangerp: I think this is my favorite Consumerist tag ever.

Here is my story. My iphone caught fire, but because of a short in the charging cables i think.
Here is a link to the pics on my blog [jiggie914.blogspot.com]
I still have the cable and managed to fix the iphone after that fiasco.

@thebluepill: Those were the 200 participants in Apple's new cyborg program, now in beta, called iMe.

@starzshine: All iPods carry a 1 year warranty; assuming no abuse you could have swapped it out online or at an Apple store with little to no hassle.

@tbax929: Seattle = MS Headquarters.

@Blueskylaw: Nah, it's okay, you don't need to add more rah rah apple-is-doing-better-than-ever bs.

I don't trust Fox News stories, particularly ones based on articles that were pulled from the original sources' site.
Any real journalist wouldn't have run the story, but I guess with Fox, it's asked then answered.

@snowmoon: Yeah, and they'll even pay for shipping if you're too far from an Apple Store. Any owner of an iPod would know this.
I call shenanigans.

Hm, I found 2 video news stories on KIRO's site, no articles though. I want to see more documentation, more evidence rather than just a local news story.

Hey Phil: " a 15 have been"?

@dangerp: Agreed. That's a thing of beauty right there, that is.

@Trai_Dep: "My boyfriend bought me a first generation ipod nano for Christmas a few years ago. "

even assuming that was the case for the first gens, her not knowing that wouldn't indicate much of anything - she wasn't the purchaser.

here is the article:

[www.kirotv.com]

Sadly, this is no surprise for those of us with MacBooks. Steve Jobs has a vendetta against fan noise, causing Apple to produce devices that heat up to uncomfortable levels before they actually start cooling themselves off. Unfortunately, the iPhone has no such reprieve, so these things are left to bake under the heat of their own processors.

I think we're going to be seeing a lot more of this until Apple finally smartens up and develops a better heat management strategy.

But Republicans say frivolous lawsuits are bad, so I guess those people who trusted the corporation need to just buck up, shut up and deal, because Apple vendors had the RIGHT to hurt consumers and not be bothered by personal responsibility.

@Psychosocial: No, it means you are really uninformed.

The IPhone is the best thing, and the most revolution driving innovation in multiple industries in years. Between that driving pc's into handheld / netbook devices in droves and Google Chrome O/S, Microsoft will start melting not unlike the wicked witch after water applied by Dorothy...

@Smashville: Probably none. Marketing and accounting-wise, the iPhone is considered to be a completely separate line from the iPods. Either way, I'm betting it's the li-ion batteries.

@starzshine: "On the 3rd day I pugged it into the computer and you could hear the hard drive buzzing and whirring in the tiny thing..."

Nanos don't have hard drives, so how did you hear one whirring?

Also, why didn't you make an appointment with a nearby Apple store, or mail it in for service? iPods come with a one-year warranty (as well as 90 days of free phone support.) If you're certain you didn't drop it, they'll replace it for you at no cost.

@Trai_Dep: I second the calling of the shenanigans.