Latest iPod lawsuit weighs on Apple shares
Shares of Apple Computer continued their downward spiral on Monday, this time amongst concerns over a new lawsuit charging that the colorful displays on the iPod nano are prone to scratches that render it unreadable.
The latest suit, filed by Los Angeles, Calif.-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, seeks class-action status and demands Apple recall and replace all affected iPod nanos.
"This is marketed as a beautiful, sleek device, which it is, but that feature is completely gone after a few weeks of using it," Harvey Rosenfield, an attorney who filed the latest complaint, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "If Steve Jobs can pull it out of his pocket, we should be able to pull it out of our pockets without it being ruined," he said.
The 19-page complaint filed late Thursday in San Mateo County Superior Court is the latest in a string of lawsuits to hit Apple following the introduction the iPod nano less than five months ago. It's also the second suit to allege that the iPod nano is defective due to its scratch-prone display/protective coating.
In October, a disgruntled iPod nano owner filed a class-action suit against Apple, charging that the nano's screen scratches excessively during normal use. The complaint seeks that customers be refunded for their nano purchases in addition to gaining a share of the company?s profits from the players.
Apple, which acknowledged that there is a "real but minor issue" that could cause unexplainable cracks in a fraction of 1 percent of iPod nano displays, has denied the player's screen or protective coating is defective.
"The iPod nano is made with the same high-quality polycarbonate plastic as the fourth-generation iPod," Apple said in a statement last September. The company's official stance on the matter is that customers should use one of the many protective cases on the market to shield their iPod nano from scratches.
Apple shares closed at $64.71 on Monday afternoon, down $2.60 or 3.8 percent.
The latest suit, filed by Los Angeles, Calif.-based Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, seeks class-action status and demands Apple recall and replace all affected iPod nanos.
"This is marketed as a beautiful, sleek device, which it is, but that feature is completely gone after a few weeks of using it," Harvey Rosenfield, an attorney who filed the latest complaint, told the San Francisco Chronicle. "If Steve Jobs can pull it out of his pocket, we should be able to pull it out of our pockets without it being ruined," he said.
The 19-page complaint filed late Thursday in San Mateo County Superior Court is the latest in a string of lawsuits to hit Apple following the introduction the iPod nano less than five months ago. It's also the second suit to allege that the iPod nano is defective due to its scratch-prone display/protective coating.
In October, a disgruntled iPod nano owner filed a class-action suit against Apple, charging that the nano's screen scratches excessively during normal use. The complaint seeks that customers be refunded for their nano purchases in addition to gaining a share of the company?s profits from the players.
Apple, which acknowledged that there is a "real but minor issue" that could cause unexplainable cracks in a fraction of 1 percent of iPod nano displays, has denied the player's screen or protective coating is defective.
"The iPod nano is made with the same high-quality polycarbonate plastic as the fourth-generation iPod," Apple said in a statement last September. The company's official stance on the matter is that customers should use one of the many protective cases on the market to shield their iPod nano from scratches.
Apple shares closed at $64.71 on Monday afternoon, down $2.60 or 3.8 percent.
Comments
That said, I would call the current material choices poor enough to be defective. Some people say that it is a deliberate choice for marketing reasons, but I think it is pretty f-ed up to deliberately chose substandard materials.
Suggesting that customers buy protective cases is a cop-out, because that hides the design of the core product and even accelerates the scratching where dirt gets caught between the case and the iPod.
Scratches are another.
Is Apple lying when they say the iPod Nano surface is the same material as other iPods?
Originally posted by nagromme
Scratches are another.
Is Apple lying when they say the iPod Nano surface is the same material as other iPods?
My understanding is that Apple is replacing the ones with severe scratches.
But I'm still wondering about the material, and whether Apple's lying when they say it's the same. Especially in light of other iPods NOT generating the same scratch hysteria, and in the light of Consumer Reports believing that the material is different.
It could simply be an interesting study in group psychology that explains why nano owners complain more about scratches than 4G or 5G owners. But it COULD be Apple telling a really stupid, easily-caught lie.
I'd think there would be solid evidence (as opposed to anecdotes) one way or the other by now, but I haven't run across any. Is the nano's material the same, as Apple claims?
Its called taking care of your shit.
Pardon my french.
Originally posted by msantti
Well, if you are stupid enough, as these suers are, to put your iPod in a pocket with keys and change, hell yeah it will get scratched. I bought a nano the day it came out and I have nary a scratch.
Its called taking care of your shit.
Pardon my french.
and also ibuzz!!!
Take care of your shit.
That is like suing GM and Ford for shopping cart dents and sand/rocks that hit your windshield/paint on the highway.
If you mistreat your camera lens and keep the lens cap off all of the time it will get scratched.
But the battery died a few weeks after purchasing it, so Apple replaced it with a new unit.
I grabbed a palm screen protecter & threw an iskin on the ipod & it looks just fine a year later. I have note needed to replace the palm screen protector in this time. I have had to in the same amount of time for my wifes Palm, but that gets constant scratching on with the stylus.
I agree with the others. Take care of your stuff.
But wait! what is that ding in the side of my Saturn! WHERE'S MY LAWYER!!!
Originally posted by nagromme
Is Apple lying when they say the iPod Nano surface is the same material as other iPods?
Maybe people just don't take as good of care of a device that costs $200 vs. one that costs $400.
Then again, I wouldn't be surprised if the materials are somewhat different. They are different devices.
i own a white 2GB ipod nano.
bought a case from http://www.case-ari.com/ (made of leather, color of your choice and it includes a transparent sticker for the whole face of the ipod, a circular one for the clickwheel and only the clickwheel button is unprotected) and that's it. no scratches. looks beatiful and you can barely tell the protective film is there. well, you can if you look closely, but the case + film do the job. costed about 35 bucks, ipod is protected. end of story. if you hate scratches you must factor that in with the price of the ipod.
everything gets scratched, watches, cars, gameboys, palms, get a clue people. it's not unbreakable its made of plastic or whatever.
In October, a disgruntled iPod nano owner filed a class-action suit against Apple, charging that the nano's screen scratches excessively during normal use. The complaint seeks that customers be refunded for their nano purchases in addition to gaining a share of the company?s profits from the players.
I remember hearing this.. they actually thought they deserved a share as well as a refund. What a douche bag.
It's no pack of gum you're sticking in your pocket. I don't think it matters what material they used, if you keep it in your pocket with no protection, it is going to scratch and probably (even with protection) eventually crack or somehow break. Anything I ever put in my pocket comes out looking like hell.
I don't think they thought long and hard enough, however, about Steve Jobs pulling one out of his pocket. Monkey see, monkey do.
Originally posted by monkeyastronaut
buy a damn case!
User: Microsoft Windows is full of security holes, malware, spyware, adware and viruses!!!
Microsoft: Buy a damn Protection Suite! Preferrably Windows OneCare Live!
Apple has had lots of these kinds of cases brought against them and the stock price has been doing great.
Do you seriously contend that this suit is a bigger deal that the lawsuit brought by Apple Corps (the Beatles label).
I suspect that the owner of this web site either has a scratched up Nano in her pocket or has shorted apple stock and wants to encourage it to go down, after all the stock is up 4% today. Did the case get dropped? What a maroon.
Originally posted by eobiont
What a maroon.
Hey, watch the racial slurs. The color of his skin does not matter.
Originally posted by Louzer
Seems more likely that the iPod nano has/had an issue with the screen component. It may be fixed now, but it doesn't mean it didn't have the problem.
I agree, that sounds likely. Maybe Apple discovered the "bad batch" AFTER making that earlier statement. Thus the statement turned out to be wrong, but wasn't exactly a lie either.