iPods Still Exploding; Apple Just Doesn't Want You To Know
We thought that maybe exploding iPods were a 2008 phenomenon, but evidently not. An 11-year-old girl's iPod exploded in England, and Apple reportedly tried to get the entire family to sign a confidentiality agreement in order to get a refund.
Ken Stanborough, 47, from Liverpool, dropped his 11-year-old daughter Ellie's iPod Touch last month. "It made a hissing noise," he said. "I could feel it getting hotter in my hand, and I thought I could see vapour". Mr Stanborough said he threw the device out of his back door, where "within 30 seconds there was a pop, a big puff of smoke and it went 10ft in the air".
Mr Stanborough contacted Apple and Argos, where he had bought the device for £162. After being passed around several departments, he spoke to an Apple executive on the telephone. As a result of the conversation, Apple sent a letter to Mr Stanborough denying liability but offering a refund.
The letter also stated that, in accepting the money, Mr Stanborough was to "agree that you will keep the terms and existence of this settlement agreement completely confidential", and that any breach of confidentiality "may result in Apple seeking injunctive relief, damages and legal costs against the defaulting persons or parties".
She's only the latest customer to report an iPod catching fire or exploding, and Apple was happy to keep the story quiet until the past few weeks. A Seattle TV station filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the CPSC, and received 800 pages of information on iPod incidents involving explosions, burns, or fire in the U.S.
This could just be because the devices are so ubiquitous. Or maybe the iPods are plotting to take us all out in a series of tiny, tiny fiery blasts.
Apple tried to silence owner of exploding iPod with gagging order [Times of London]
Apple Downplays Fiery iPod Incidents [KIRO]
RELATED:
iPod Nano Explodes While Charging
Apple Agrees To Replace Exploding First-Gen iPods After Japan Demands Action
(Photo: Joe Hastings)
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Comments:
TUAW has a nice article on why this isn't a big deal and is actually fairly normal:
[www.tuaw.com]
Considering that they've sold 170,000,000 iPods that fact that a few have gone south is extremely non-surprising considering the vagaries of manufacturing. It's normal to have a defect here and there, that's what warranties are for.
Oh, and the 800 pages of CPSC info...what does it say? The Times article makes a big deal out of the 800 pages (and apparently so does Consumerist), but so what? This is a government agency we're talking about and it wouldn't be terribly unusual to have a multi-hundred page report on anything. Who knows how many cases of exploding iPods that 800 pages actually represents?
@Donathius: Soooo...I just looked at the article from the Seattle news station and it turns out that there are 15 incidents of iPods burning people contained in that 800 pages. Gee, I'm worried now.
The problem with Apple admitting liability for something like this is that suddenly it sounds like a design flaw present in all iPods. When you've got 15 out of ~150,000,000 (the number probably sold in the US) of something that goes bad that is not an indication that they are ALL bad. Plus, who knows how those devices were treated to begin with? Were they well taken care of and free of any physical damage? Or did they start heating up and smoking sometime after they were dropped, sat on, chewed on (dog, baby, etc.) or otherwise abused?
Not enough information, really not a big deal here.
There is nothing to see here, move along to the next article.
@dmolavi: admit liability? What? They're using the same batteries as every other device with advanced lithium polymer batteries (laptops, zunes, sansa players, bluetooth headsets, cellphones, etc.). Why should they incur the ire of the world for a situation in which Apple is also the victim?
jesus christ, are you really that unfamiliar with standard corporate boilerplate?
My god, this is taking the sensationalist baiting by the British newspaper and just puking it back up without a moment's contemplation or evaluation.
This is not a conspiracy or a cover up, it's standard operating procedure for a corporation.
@SlappyFrog: And this episode of 'insane over-reaction' brought to you by being tired of listening to people who don't know care aimlessly speculating. /reaches to unplug connection to Internet
I wear my nano when I'm walking. If it's going to explode, I hope it happens when I'm walking past the fire station.
My CD player never exploded. Ten years later and the baby is still kickin'.
Guy drops iPod. Battery ruptures and iPod explodes. Apple does not take responsibility for iPod exploding due to carelessness. EVERYONE FREAKS THE FUCK OUT!
Did you know that dropping a florescent light bulb releases toxic vapors that can kill you? Did you know that MS/Nintendo/Sony all void warranties if you open your video game console because tampering with the device could... START A FIRE?????
Don't abuse your products if you expect them to work properly, or at all. Stop blaming Apple for you being clumsy.
@psm321:
They're not, it's a standard agreement for these types of things. Apple could simply say fuck you moron, you dropped the iPod, but Apple doesn't do that.
@Donathius: I agree that the number is too statistically small to draw any clear indications yet but I disagree with your caveat regarding use.
Being dropped or sat on is the kind of accidental misuse that should be expected for a mobile device.
It would be disappointing but understandable if the device were to simply stop working after you drop it. However, if the design were so flawed that dropping the device causes it to burst into flames and explode, the blame would lie with the design, not the user.
@DovS:
I don't know, somehow I have a feeling that being blown "10 ft. in the air" is probably an exaggeration. Regardless, Apple doesn't manufacture the batteries. They need to start pressuring their supplier that does, though.
@DovS: But "if the design were so flawed that dropping the device causes it to burst into flames and explode" then I think Al Qaeda would be buying iPods by the truckload - it would be way cheaper and faster than assembling your own bombs! 15 out of 150,000,000 is not a design flaw, it's a freak of nature.
If every iPod were having this problem I'd agree that this is seriously bad, but it's happened to a ridiculously small number of devices. Like SlappyFrog said - it's just standard boilerplate garbage to try and avoid bad publicity. Apple has a good (not great, they've screwed up) track record of taking care of major design flaws like the scratching problem on the original iPod Nano. You can bet that if this were systemic it would be all over the news.
@Donathius: I agree. With only 1 out of every 10,000,000 having a problem, it is far too small a sample to draw any conclusion. I was just pointing out that blaming misuse of the devices is a poor defense.
To recap: "1 out of 10,000,000" is a good defense. "Maybe they dropped it" is a bad defense.
I don't know if blaming the battery manufacturers is a good defense. Similar types of batteries have been known to explode into flame in laptops in the past, a fact of which Apple was no doubt aware. In selecting to use these batteries and selecting to work with whoever manufactured the bateries, they accepted responsibility for whatever happens as a result of those actions. If a company chooses to save money by using substandard parts, they must accept responsibility for any failure that occurs as result of using those substandard parts. I have seen to proof that such is true in this case but it would be important to keep in mind if evidence of such does come to light.
it'd probably be cheaper for apple to replace the thing and admit liability ("yeah, we f'ed up the design, here's a new one") or maybe even recall them than it would be for them to try to cover it up and possibly file suit against people.