April 8th, 2006

Filed under:
Music, Technology
13 Comments »

My iPod is Jacked

Last week, my iPod stopped working. Well, that’s inaccurate. Last week, my iPod stopped displaying anything. When I pressed a button, it would spring to life with a cool blue glow, but no actual text is displayed.

After some experimentation, I determined it was probably a loose connection. If I torque the device by putting pressure on the upper-left and lower-right corners, some connection is completed and the text is displayed again. When I release the pressure, it’s back to the Periwinkle Screen of Death.

It still plays audio, but I’d kind of like to see which song is being played.

It’s about two and half or three years old, has received heavy use and is headed for that great Apple second-hand store in the sky. That said, I can’t help but agree with filmgoerjuan, who remarked “I find it depressing that companies have got us thinking that 3 years is a decent life span for a product”.

I think I’m going to get an iPod Nano. Reviewing my iPod usage, I pretty much exclusively listen to podcasts or specific playlists. I can’t imagine why I’d want photos or video on my iPod, so I think a 2 GB Nano will do just fine.

That said, I do want some kickass headphones. Does anybody use those ear canal deals? How are they working out for you?

In photographing my b0rked iPod, I had to also document the quote on the back. What’s engraved on your iPod?

Comments: 13 Responses so far

Harmen
April 9th, 2006
2:22 am

I’ve got the Etymotic 6 for about two years and they are great. You do need to replace the filters every now an then, which are not cheap, nor are the headphones itself. But the sound and the silence are great, but there are less expensive sets to be found.
You really need to be careful when using them walking on the street. Biking is impossible with them :)

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adrian
April 9th, 2006
3:13 am

Oh the irony.

My ipod died yesterday. It stopped mounting on windows and mac, and is making a very unhappy mechanical clicking sound =(

Anyway, i’ve been holding off on buying a nano, since i already had a working ipod, and i’ve been holding off on buying a cellphone since the nokia N91 was supposed to be coming out.

Perhaps i’m going to try it ipod-less for a while, as the N91 is the first ‘conversion device’ (*coff*) that appeals to me.

What with dedicated music buttons and a 4gb hard drive.

I don’t think i’m going to get another proper IPod until the much rumoured touch screen one comes out (if ever).

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biv
April 9th, 2006
6:08 pm

headphones? sony fontopia. (only if you can stand the in-ear type).

http://www.sonystyle.com/is-bin/INTERSHOP.enfinity/eCS/Store/en/-/USD/SY_DisplayProductInformation-Start?ProductSKU=MDREX71SL%2FWK

Apple headphones do give clarity, but like Bose, they do not give the full range.

These babies give superb clarity and rumbling bass, as well as cutting out all sound. And yes, they’re actually comfortable (as opposed to the awful rubber apple earphones)

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Derek
April 9th, 2006
11:41 pm

Please do invest in some good headphones — they make a huge difference, and Apple’s earbuds don’t cut it. But don’t buy Sony. They still make some good stuff (including headphones), but they no longer deserve anyone’s business after all the evidence of their hostility to their own customers in recent years.

I haven’t personally tried the in-ear headphones, but have heard good things about them, particularly models from Shure, Etymotic, or (if you’re into crazy budgets) Ultimate Ears.

That said, I can also highly recommend two models of more “normal” headphones from Sennheiser: the HD 280 Pro ($150 Cdn) full-size closed-back (”sealed”) traditional-style headphones, which I use and which provide almost as much isolation as the in-ear models, with the convenience of being able to pop them on and off quickly; and the PX100 folding set ($80), which are more like traditional Walkman headphones, but sound great and come with their own excellent carrying case. My wife has those.

If you want something in between in size, and superior in sound, Grado’s SR60 and SR80 headphones, if you can find them, can’t be beat ($130 and $170, I think), but they don’t give as good isolation. Koss’s classic PortaPro model ($70) is also a good deal in the low range, similar to the Senn PX100.

Some resources:

http://www.goodcans.com/
http://www.headphone.com/
http://db.tidbits.com/getbits.acgi?tbart=07479
http://www.audioshop.on.ca/grado.htm

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Darren
April 9th, 2006
11:45 pm

Derek: Thanks for that–very useful. I’d never use the Apple headphones–they’re total crap. I’ve been using some decent quality Sony buds, but I’m thinking ear-canal because then, perversely, I can listen to them at a lower volume while out and about in the busy city streets.

I’m not a man for big earphones out and about. At home, I’ve got some old Sennheiser HD200s which are fantastic.

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adrian
April 10th, 2006
8:36 am

I got my ipod working again btw.

http://daemon.co.za/journal/an-entirely-unlikely-fix-for-the-ipod-clicking-sound-of-doom

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Mel
April 10th, 2006
1:39 pm

Engraved on mine: “Without music, life would be a mistake.” - Nietzsche

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Derek K. Miller
April 10th, 2006
1:41 pm

Yeah, the benefit of either sealed around-the-ear headphones or ear-canal models is that, because they isolate external sound, you can use them at lower volume and save your hearing. (As a drummer, I damaged my ears enough before I started wearing earplugs religiously.)

In addition, both kinds keep the sound of your music from leaking out, which makes them good for office environments where not everyone wants to hear your Beastie Boys or Burl Ives or whatever.

If you do get in-the-ear models, make sure you fit them correctly. The sound can apparently be remarkably crappy unless you get a good seal.

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Andy
April 10th, 2006
7:04 pm

Did you try to look for a repair shop or ask if Apple will fix it? As Adrian demonstrates, electronics are often very fixable, until the smoke leaks out of course. Even if you can’t just bang it, loose connections can be soldered by someone who knows how to do it.

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Krishen
April 10th, 2006
9:14 pm

“It still plays audio, but I’d kind of like to see which song is being played.”

Maybe you can sell it as a Shuffle.. with on-demand reading-light :)

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Russ Miller
April 11th, 2006
6:14 am

Three years of portable, probably not so gentle, use is pretty good in my opinion.

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Roli
April 23rd, 2006
11:23 am

you’re are lucky: my ipod won’t still work anymore and the warranty is over :(

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sankar
September 10th, 2007
1:37 am

I had got an ipod shuffle from malaysia some 2 years back and the earphones have lost its quality now.So i got imod earphones which suits for all the ipods for 200rs.Does the constant usage of ipod damages the earphones?am using my ipod atleast 2hrs a day continously.will by ear- canal get affected by any chance?I would really appreciate if i get some concreate answers for the above queries.Thanks

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