NEWS: Apple Faces Class Action Over iPod Nano Scratches

Apple Computer Inc. is facing a possible class action which accuses them of knowing their iPod nano's screens scratch easily during normal use. iPod nano owners filed a proposed class action suit in San Jose, California on Wednesday but it still needs a judge's approval to be considered a class action. The complaint states that the plastic resin coating the iPod nanos screen is too thin to resist scratching when compared to other iPods, and that Apple knew this before launching the product. iPod's account for one third of Apples total sales.



Well I was initially annoyed that less than 6 months after I bought my iPod mini they released the nano. Now I look at my pristine screen and thank the maker my £170 investment is still in working order.

These things arent cheap and if they can scratch to the point of not being able to read the screen, thanks to normal use, there is a problem. If Apple knew this prior to releasing the product they should be sued. If Apple didn't know this beforehand but the nanos are scratching too easily they should conduct a product recall.

Also if Apple is deleting the complaints about the screen scratches from their website they also need a reprimand for trying to cover up a major design flaw. A flaw, that if read about, would prevent consumers from buying a defective product.

[edit on 24/10/05 by subz]

dam, i got a ipod nano... but it 's only a week old or so... but have lots of friends in school that have it and theirs is all broken and scratched.... they say it happens when they pull it out one day...

I purchased an Ipod Nano a few days back. As soon as i took it out of the box, i noticed a few tiny scratches on the back. But I’ve had no screen problems as of yet, and ill soon be getting a cover for it to give it that extra bit protection. I suppose if you take extra care of it you will have no problems.

At the store I work at, 70% [roughly] of all IPod products have been brought back within 12months and then again, once they get the new one.

Apple, makes cheap, nasty products which nobody should bother owning. Especially when there are a lot better items out their on the market.

Theres absolutely nothing wrong with my iPod mini and I use it a lot. I also take it every where in my pocket and the screen doesnt have a single scratch on it. Ive dropped it atleast 3 times on a hard surface from waist height with no damage to it. I wouldnt go far as to say that all Apples products are cheap and nasty qualitywise.

Subz, how long have you had the IPod Mini?

I bought it March 9th 2005, the day after my birthday.

Originally posted by subz
I bought it March 9th 2005, the day after my birthday.

It is still fairly young then.

The battery problems still exist in them, iPod has specifically made sure that lithium ion battery is awkward to change and in many cases changing it voids your warrenty and breaks the product.

The screen can't be easily changed.

They do not use Windows based music files.

Where as, for £50 less than an iPod, I have one where I can change the battery [easily], the screen [easily], order the parts and not have to pay stupid charges to get them fixed.

Best of luck if anythign happens to it as well, iPod/Apple Europe, won't deal with a majority of the problems and they have to send the product to the states. Once it comes back into the U.K. you have to pay an import fee on the iPod [Tax].

In fact, they won't even up hold the agreement they have made with HMV Europe on it as I found out yesterday. It's shocking, really is that they get away with such open abuse. Even their new policy on the battery is a joke. I spent 4hours Saturday, getting bounced from department to department, before Apple Europe told me I need to deal with Apple U.S. and Apple U.S. said the opposite.

Originally posted by Odium
It is still fairly young then.

The battery problems still exist in them, iPod has specifically made sure that lithium ion battery is awkward to change and in many cases changing it voids your warrenty and breaks the product.

The screen can't be easily changed.

Well heres hoping all goes well. Added hassle, im in Australia now. So getting bounced from country to country will be extra costly for me if something goes wrong.

Originally posted by Odium
They do not use Windows based music files.

Yes they do. They use mp3s which are the standard. The ipod employs a file system that you cant browse in Windows to prevent mass proliferation of pirated mp3s. But there are programs that allow you to access the mp3 files regardless.

An MP3 on average is twice the size of a WMA file. If Apple gave a damn about people, it would allow them to use WMA files so that they can get the maximum amount of music on their system but instead they do not.

Next time you have to buy one, go with something by Creative. They tend to cost less and cause less problems. Apple knows it can mess people around because the iPod is "cool" and that is all a vast majority [not saying you] care about.

I know I bought mine out of ignorance rather than it being cool. There really wasnt that many varieties in the shop where I purchased it. The iPod was a name I recognised so I bought it. If I were to buy another mp3 player I would go with an iRiver.

[edit on 24/10/05 by subz]

I wouldn't go as far as saying all of Apple's products are cheap and nasty but I do smell something fishy going on...

After buying my iPod shuffle and it working just fine for about 6 months it just suddenly stopped charging. I've read that many other people also had this problem, leaving me to think did Apply already know this was going to happen?

The battery problem has existed since the first generation iPod's.

They know...they do not care.

I actually got rid of my mac a few years ago as well, I got one since I do some deisgn work and they claim it won't crash.

Top end Mac in 2003 and it crashed more than my P.C. from 2001 did. :|

I've yet to find a Apple product, that I like.

But still, they are so uber sexy...

Originally posted by Odium
The battery problem has existed since the first generation iPod's.

They know...they do not care.

I actually got rid of my mac a few years ago as well, I got one since I do some deisgn work and they claim it won't crash.

Top end Mac in 2003 and it crashed more than my P.C. from 2001 did. :|

I've yet to find a Apple product, that I like.

I have a very old G3450 which I use for HD recording. It used to be a server and has 2 SCSI drives as well as an additional 80gb HD I put in for storage. I have NEVER had a problem with it, except when I needed to defrag the HD finally - but only after 5 years use! I have yet to see or use a PC (and I have one in my studio for GIGA samples and software synths) which comes anywhere near the Apple's reliability.

Odium, you've got an interesting perspective on Mac's that I've only heard come out of Redmond. Everything I've heard about Apple--computers at least--has been nothing but praise aside from the lack of support for Windows progs. As far as them supporting WMA, mp3's are far more popular, and there may be some licensing issues with the format for running it on a non-pc based platform. I personally don't know; haven't checked--all the WMA players I've seen have been Windows based and probably use a library builtin to the OS.

I'm wondering if this is something that's truly worthy of a suit. What happened to just telling everyone you know that the product is crap? If I would've known I could've sued someone everytime I wasted a ton of money on something that ended up breaking or being other-wise unuasable, there'd probably be a couple more happy lawyers out there. I could understand it if it blew up in your pocket because the screen was so scratched, but I don't see how this is something worth taking time away from the courts.

I agree overall that Apple are starting to take the piss. I am a proffessional writer/producer using Mac computers, and "Emagic" (Apple owned!) Logic Pro software.

Without getting in to the techy detail - since taking over Emagic, Apple have begun to behave badly around the products. In particular, the massively premature release of OS 10.4, or "Tiger". During the hype run-up to the release, they used the tagline, "Are you ready for Tiger?" Mmmm....quite funny really - as it turned out that Apple weren't even ready. Hundreds of Logic 6 Pro users reporting a complete 'no workie' with Tiger. They hadn't even fully beta tested their OWN software, let alone any third party stuff.

This stinks of an arrogant, money-hungry company who are riding a wave of 'cool' and cash (particularly from the whole iPod bizniss). Rushing out the products cheaply, and over charging the punters for kudos points.

I do believe Apple to be capable of producing quality products - the computers ARE good in my experience. They have some ctalented people working for them. I suspect it's the usual 'suits' at the top #ing it up for the rest of us.

I hope they reflect on their actions here, and get back to some real quality values. How quickly these companies forget their roots, eh? Fender have gone pretty much the same way........

Well speaking on a larger level my College has just stopped buying Macs for use and are now taking P.Cs due to increased problems with Apple over the last few years.

Might not think that is bad, one College but we have four different sites in 4areas of Oxfordshire and over 20,000students...