Walt Mossberg recently sang the praises of Apple’s “end-to-end” model that “tightly links hardware, software and Web services.” Apple has certainly found a Midas touch with the iPod; the devices are everywhere.
To me, though, Apple’s weak link has always been hardware. Of course it designs things beautifully; but the quality control has long been…problematic. I’m not merely talking of the spectacular incidents of battery combustion and such; the problem is that lots of basic components — things like keyboards and sockets — often fail. And people who love Apple’s software and hardware designs don’t have the option of buying, say, the Extra-Rugged Edition of the MacBook or the iPod. There’s only one supplier; your choices are limited.
These thoughts are occasioned by the final death of my old first-generation iPod, purchased in 2002. I’ve only given it light usage over the years. But I’d already had to replace the battery twice (Apple’s design assumed such an occasion would never arise). Now, though, the Firewire socket has come slightly loose and the iPod won’t make a connection with the computer at all (it won’t recharge, either, unless you jiggle the cable just so).
Four years is all we can expect from a portable music player, I suppose. I hied me to Apple and invested in a slim new player. But shouldn’t these toys have a label on them that reads “Warning: planned obsolescence”?
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