IBook, IPod Users Plot Lawsuits
 

http://www.wired.com/news/mac/0,2125...opstories_html

LOS ANGELES/NEW YORK -- Can a few bad apples -- like product-quality complaints and potential lawsuits -- spoil the bunch for loyal fans of Apple Computer ahead of their biggest party of the year?

As enthusiasts devoted to Apple prepare to descend on San Francisco next week for the annual Macworld conference, at least two online petitions have collected hundreds of signatures from potential plaintiffs seeking to file lawsuits over claims of defects in the iBook laptop.

Another growing source of complaints surrounds Apple's wildly popular iPod line of digital music players, which many enthusiasts believe will get an upgrade at Macworld with the introduction of smaller, less-expensive models and a range of case colors.

In California, a lawsuit seeking class-action status is expected to be filed in January against the company over the claim that Apple's warranty does not run long enough to cover problems with the player's battery.

Apple has won raves over the years for its sleekly designed computers. The company, with a market share of around 2 percent, is able to command higher prices due in part to Apple machines being perceived as more secure and reliable than PCs running Microsoft's Windows operating system.

Taken together, both consumer campaigns against a company that prides itself on high standards for design and engineering threaten to cast a shadow over Macworld, historically a forum for Apple and its charismatic leader, Steve Jobs, to showcase new products and innovations.

An Apple spokeswoman declined to comment on both questions of pending litigation and the claims of defective computers.

Users of Apple's iBook have been reporting problems with their iBooks in increasing numbers in the last few weeks, according to Ric Ford, president of MacInTouch, an independent site for Mac users.

But Ford attributed the increased chatter more to the fact that some users have narrowed in on the cause of the long-standing problems rather than the impending start of the Macworld show.

"I don't think it's really related to Macworld," Ford said. "I think the problems have been there, but people are starting to understand the source of the problems."

The difficulties stem from the iBook's logic board, or motherboard, users say in discussion forums and on message boards -- including boards on Apple's own website. Many users report replacement units have the same problems with display and video output.

Most of the complaints pertain to a particular iBook model with dual USB ports, and many users say the problems started to show up just after the computer came out of warranty.

One of the petition sites, BlackCider.com, which uses as its logo an apple with a screw run through it, has 408 signatures from potential lawsuit participants.

Site owner Michael Johnson also offers T-shirts with the site logo on the front and "Ask me about my logic board" on the back.

The other website, created by Brendan Carolan at PetitionOnline.com, has collected 850 signatures and calls on Apple to either extend the iBook warranties or offer a replacement.

Neither Johnson nor Carolan was immediately available for comment.

The claims of problems have also extended to the company's higher-end PowerBook line. Macworld magazine, in its December issue, said it had to return three of six 15-inch aluminum PowerBook G4s it ordered for testing purposes because of defects.

Meanwhile, a video making the rounds of the Internet shows a man spray-painting the message "IPod's unreplaceable battery lasts only 18 months" on iPod posters.

The filmmaker, Casey Neistat, said in a note on his website that he decided to make the film after his unit essentially died in September and he was told the battery could not be replaced. Subsequently, Apple has begun offering a $99 battery replacement service.

here's something to thing about

From: [email protected]
Subject: iPod story
Date: December 20, 2003 6:18:37 PM CST
To: [email protected]

I'm very disappointed with your iPod story, for several important reasons. If you only read one of the responses you get about this story, read this one:

1. Apple began offering the battery replacement program as early as November 14, before the ipodsdirtysecret.com domain name was even registered (November 20). While coincidentally close, Apple released both the AppleCare Protection Plan for iPod and the battery replacement program BEFORE anyone had ever seen the videos, and indeed before anyone at Apple or otherwise knew anything about the Neistat brothers' video. A small - very small - amount of research would have revealed this. (Also, the battery program was in the works since at least June.) The reason this is important is that you make it seem that it's only because of the brothers' tactics that Apple responded, the implication being they otherwise wouldn't have. That is false.

2. Since the battery replacement program - that the Neistat brothers themselves say is "fair" in their statement - was already in effect when they rolled out the video, they KNOWINGLY let almost a half million people see the incorrect and inaccurate video without telling them the truth: that Apple DID offer a battery replacement program. I'm sure they felt like their little video would be essentially negated since Apple already released a replacement program, so they went ahead with it anyway.

3. ALL lithium ion batteries fail after a period of time. ALL. The fact that the iPod's battery is not user replaceable, i.e., is a custom form factor carefully engineered into the product, is one of the things that makes it so small, and thus, so desirable...tradeoffs.

4. The Dell DJ's lithium ion battery is also not user-replaceable, and Dell officially has no repair or replacement plan (outside of warranty) for the battery.

5. They are currently hosting their anti-Apple video on Mac.com - Apple's own servers! (albeit paid by another Mac.com user - yes, I realize that a Mac.com user can do whatever they want with their webspace; it's just ironic).

6. I offered to host their video for them when they were begging for mirrors in the first few days...with ONE condition: that they post/link to/etc information about Apple's battery replacement program that had ALREADY BEEN ROLLED OUT that they were essentially denying existed. They NEVER posted the information after several promises to do so (while I was hosting the video) and taking complete advantage of my offer. See http://das.doit.wisc.edu/neistatoriginal.txt for proof of this.

7. My girlfriend and I both - and thousands of others - have first gen iPods over two years old that have no problems with the battery. The blanket statement that the batteries only last "18 months" is also false. Do the have a finite lifetime? Yes. Is it always, or even mostly, 18 months? Nope.

Disappointed,

Dave Schroeder
University of Wisconsin - Madison
[email protected]
http://das.doit.wisc.edu/
608-265-4737

Meh, who cares. No one buys macs anyways. If they do it's their own fault if the shit breaks.

This is what you need to read if your even worried about it.
http://ipodbatteryfaq.com/

Macs rock Brad.. sorry couldn't resist :)

Macs are great for graphics and design.

After all these years, is that really still true?

OS stability was a big issue before. Win9x was not always reliable enough for business purposes, but now XP is.

I just don't see how anyone could have a problem with a P4 3ghz 1gb RAM machine running XP. And that will cost less than a Mac too.

And a pc isn't? Both mac and pc can do graphic design... what's the difference? NONE. ...


NEXT

apple rulez... PC's don't even come close!