Apple reportedly suppressing iPod investigations

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Justin

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Over the past several years, there have been scattered reports from various sources about iPhones and iPods having heat-related issues. Some of them were minor, others were more serious, with claims that certain devices could catch fire or even explode. Given that most people remember horror stories of laptop batteries bursting, it was plausible enough for people to be concerned.

Warnings of overheating iPods were often taken with a grain of salt, though, with Apple claiming that environmental factors were to blame. But is that truly the case? One must begin to wonder, especially after a recent report that Apple has been suppressing investigations or reports of iPods going up in smoke.

The accusations weren't prompted by a single case. Over a dozen incidents reported to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission ended up generating several hundred pages of documentation, which had more to do with Apple's actions than the iPods themselves. It seems that when trying to request information from Apple about the composition and manufacture of their devices, the company repeatedly denied sharing any information, filing exemption after exemption to prevent details from going public.

Apple's image is paramount to their success, and a product recall would hurt them in the short run. Looking at things from their perspective, even if a few dozen iPods came out with defective batteries, it would still represent only a very small percentage of devices – making it highly unlikely for anyone to actually get hurt. Sensationalizing one exploding iPod without first verifying the root of the problem could seriously hurt their sales. They must also consider, however, the potentially worse scenario of public backlash if they simply ignore such problems. Rather than stonewall, shouldn't Apple seek to be more forthcoming?

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I read an article not to long ago about someone trying to find out if his new Macbook had a 6-bit or 8-bit display. After going from instore support through all the levels to top tier support he was continually stonewalled by Apple who said they could not divulge the information. Apple's flat out refusal to release some basic information about their products makes me seriously question the validity of any claims they make reguarding the ablitlies of their equipment suspect. There seems to be a growing trend of Apple making claims that their hardware can't back up. It is making me seriously reconsider my next Apple purchase.
 
A friend of mine put the whole thing into perspective for me recently... Apple caters to an elitist mentality, not necessarily that they are all superior snobs (but many are)... It's that they just like to put out these slick, killer products that are rock solid and innovative, and can be completely and utterly controlled by Apple, in all aspects. What the customer gets is that feeling that they bought a superior product, will have superior support, and get to feel like they are part of the elite crowd. Many will pay up to twice what they might pay for a "common" piece of hardware just to fit into that niche. Apple thrives on that cultish reputation for being superior, so this article isn't that surprising - they are trying to protect their reputation, which is their bread and butter. Of course, being misleading and/or ignoring a problem usually ends up biting you in the butt later, but nobody ever seems to think about that while they are covering things up.
 
@Justin: "Rather than stonewall, shouldn't Apple seek to be more forthcoming?"

That's just not in their corporate culture, and it doesn't NEED to be. Whatever happens with this "heated" issue, Apple products will continue to sell to zealots. They've made plenty of bone-headed mistakes in the past and the zealots have always defended, then forgiven, them.

I don't know what their sales rates are for people switching from another platform (unsurprisingly, that data is "secret"), THAT may take a hit if they screw this up, but I doubt it will be a disaster.
 
I had a 60 gigabyte iPod last summer on my deployment to Afghanistan, it lasted 156 days of almost nonstop use in 150 degree tempretures. It was the only iPod that my platoon had to use during that time and thus saw lots and lots of playtime, and it still works to this day. I may agree that some of their information sharing as of late may be a bit sketchy, but the product itself in my use has been nothing but outstanding.
 
Dont look at Apple; it seems as tho Microsoft is covering up lots more issues with Vista than we actually know about. Did anyone try applying update KB951847? It just simply corrupted 1/3 the computers at my business. Had to reload Vista on them. Anyone try SP2? Both of my computers at home failed at it, one permanently. Sometimes passing the bull is not only an Apple problem.
 
Generally, Apple makes great stuff that's more than worth the price paid.

All you cheapskate buggers out there are the ones responsible for the people working on the manufacturing lines being underpaid etc etc.

Grow up and stop nickel and diming the world to death with your lousy Walmart toxic plastic trinket taste.
 
Guest said:
Generally, Apple makes great stuff that's more than worth the price paid.

All you cheapskate buggers out there are the ones responsible for the people working on the manufacturing lines being underpaid etc etc.

Grow up and stop nickel and diming the world to death with your lousy Walmart toxic plastic trinket taste.

Riiiight, cause Apple only builds their equipment in the US, paying the maximum wage possible... Wait, what's that? They use Chinese companies, and do their manufacturing overseas where they can pay a mere pittance in labor, yet charge double what a PC with the same hardware would sell for??? Oh, the humanity!

Seriously, I know you're a fanboi and all... But you might want to pick an argument where you don't show off ignorance, you'll better serve your cult masters.
 
Guest said:
Dont look at Apple; it seems as tho Microsoft is covering up lots more issues with Vista than we actually know about. Did anyone try applying update KB951847? It just simply corrupted 1/3 the computers at my business. Had to reload Vista on them. Anyone try SP2? Both of my computers at home failed at it, one permanently. Sometimes passing the bull is not only an Apple problem.

I've never had a problem with updates. Never. I know exactly ONE person who had a problem with ONE update, and that was on his personal computer (which isn't well maintained). That's it. So, according to MY experience, Windows is practically bullet-proof.

And yeah, I know better. ;)
 
There sure is a lot of Apple-envy out there. Just get one so we won't have to listen to all your bitter, insecure Windefensive baloney. It gets tiring listening to bozos defend the bland generic Microsoft monopoly. Go have a slice of Wonderbread, think about how to make a few extra bucks, get a Mac/iPhone whatever, and buy some wholesome bread with nutrients for crying out loud. It's not so hard to free yourself from Winslavery.

"Oooh, 90% of the world use the same crappy OS as me - I'm safe now"
- your typical chickenpoop windope
 
..."All you cheapskate buggers out there are the ones responsible for the people working on the manufacturing lines being underpaid etc etc."

Owwwww
Big union rears its ugly head.
The reason people go to *Wall Mart*, as you say, is because of inflated union demands that over price everything-higher wages, less work, more benefits-more more more.Job security for life...

No, not the so called cheapskates who are to be blamed............
 
Even if you are talking in terms of Fahrenheit 150 degree translates to 65 degrees Celsius, and I am assuming ambient. Regardless of the product it will generate certain amount of heat and internal hotspots where tit may exceed 75/80 degrees Celsius.

I can almost guarantee you that nothing will operate for such extended periods, especially an iPod that is so densely packaged.
 
It is responses such as these is why there is this view that Apple owners are "different". Never mind that "Guest" just insulted the majority of PC users with this blanket statement. The only reason why Mac's haven't been targetted yet by hackers is because of the Big Brother attitude MS had over the years. But MS is now looked at the underdog now especially with Bill Gates having donated a hugh chunk of his wealth to charity.

Now that Apple is sneering (and it seems it's followers) at PC'ers, it's just a matter of time when hackers aim their hatred for elitists at the venerable Mac crowd. Remember there's a lot of PC geeks out there willing to fix PC's but not a whole lot of Mac geeks willing to fix a Mac at 2am over a 2-liter bottle of diet Coke and Hot pockets. Easy to fix a PC difficult to fix a Mac and more expensive too. Apple has got to lay off because it's beginning to backfire on them. Even my Mac friends humbly ask me to fix their Macs. It's not that I can't, it's just hard to focus on fixing something from someone who just told me I was an ***** to buy a PC. Hmmm so the ***** has to fix his gleeming white Mac now? Ummmm let me think about it for a while...a long while.
 
Even if you are talking in terms of Fahrenheit 150 degree translates to 65 degrees Celsius, and I am assuming ambient. Regardless of the product it will generate certain amount of heat and internal hotspots where tit may exceed 75/80 degrees Celsius.

I can almost guarantee you that nothing will operate for such extended periods, especially an iPod that is so densely packaged.

It isn't that uncommon for electronics to still run at those temperatures for extended periods. Lots of 'mobile' processors and the old Athlons are rated to run up to 100C and it wasn't uncommon for the old Athlons to run in the 80s under load. I suspect the hard drive doesn't really like temps that high, but the iPods only spin that up occationally to load the stuff into cache, so the hard drive is idle most of the time.

@craigwatanabe - I don't know that Apple's are any harder to fix than a PC. Not having to deal with a registry for software problems actually makes most software issues much easier to fix (just delete the .plist). If something goes wrong on the hardware you may be right, depending on what it is. The RAM and hard drives are the same as in a PC, replacing the processor may or may not be more difficult depending on the model, and the motherboard is certainly going to be more expensive than most PC motherboards. About the only other thing that can go wrong hardware wise is the PSU, I don't know how it is today, but the PowerMacs did have proprietary PSUs and they were more expensive, but not any harder to replace than a PC.
 
To find out what hardware is in your mac, get info and you might find (for instance if you had a 3-yr old macbook pro) that you had:

ATI Radeon X1600:

Chipset Model: ATY,RadeonX1600
Type: Display
Bus: PCIe
PCIe Lane Width: x16
VRAM (Total): 256 MB
Vendor: ATI (0x1002)
Device ID: 0x71c5
Revision ID: 0x0000
EFI Driver Version: 01.00.068
Displays:
Color LCD:
Resolution: 1440 x 900
Depth: 32-Bit Color
Core Image: Hardware Accelerated
Main Display: Yes
Mirror: Off
Online: Yes
Quartz Extreme: Supported
Built-In: Yes
Display Connector:
Status: No Display Connected
 
I read an article not to long ago about someone trying to find out if his new Macbook had a 6-bit or 8-bit display. After going from instore support through all the levels to top tier support he was continually stonewalled by Apple who said they could not divulge the information. Apple's flat out refusal to release some basic information about their products makes me seriously question the validity of any claims they make reguarding the ablitlies of their equipment suspect. There seems to be a growing trend of Apple making claims that their hardware can't back up. It is making me seriously reconsider my next Apple purchase.

Get info...
 
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