Nano: helo Beta testers

Seems the screen cracks

Problems surfacing with iPod Nano screen
Published: September 24, 2005, 12:38 PM PDT
By Michelle Meyers
CNET News.com Staff

Some owners of Apple Computer's new "impossibly small" iPod Nano are starting to wonder if the device is also impossibly delicate.

The most widespread complaint about the otherwise highly praised device seems to be that the color display screen gets scratched extremely easily.

Nano owner Brian Cason posted one of 250-some threads in response to a recent post on Apple's discussion board about screen scratching.

"I don't really care if the case on my Nano gets scratched but my screen has scratched up so badly that all the images are starting to become distorted," Cason wrote, echoing the sentiment of many others in the discussion. "I have only carried it in my small pocket in my shorts and nothing is in there to scratch it. I still can't figure how the screen looks like it has been rubbed with sandpaper when the entire time it has been safe in my pocket (with absolutely no items)."

But this week, several users also started complaining about screens cracking, or failing, inexplicably. Nano owner Matthew Peterson set up the site flawedmusicplayer.com (formerly ipodnanoflaw.com) to tell the story about how his Nano screen shattered after just four days, to see if others have had the same problem, and to suggest that Apple recall the Nano and use a stronger screen product.

"It is way too fragile. Apple markets it in a pocket. Hell, Steve Jobs himself pulls it out of his when he announces it," wrote Peterson, who himself was smitten with the Nano upon its release. "It was in my pocket as I was walking and I sat down. No, I didn't sit on it."

An Apple official was not immediately available for comment on the alleged problems with Nano screens

Of course, Peterson backed down and closed the site, but here's the deal: users are not Beta testers. I cannot believe, yet again, Apple sent out a product to the market place with an obvious flaw. I cannot believe no one caught this in testing.

Looking cool is not a substitute for working well. And if it was just one product, ok. But the Powerbook fires, the Ipod battery issues, come on. how many times do we have to have this discussion? All people want is their product to work without a hassle. Not another saga with a messed up product. Even if the numbers are small, they aren't that small at $250.

But of course, with their compliant cult fan base, any criticism is bashing. After all, Apple is immune to the laws of customer satisfaction and selling working products. Maybe if their fans acted like consumers, they could get cool products which worked out of the box for a few months.

posted by Steve @ 2:10:00 AM