# iPod lawsuit



## gphillipk (Feb 6, 2006)

http://edition.cnn.com/2006/LAW/02/01/ipod.suit.ap/index.html 
This smacks of stupidity and greed...but since the lawsuit is in USA, what's the potential impact on Apple?


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## limike28 (Feb 6, 2006)

I doubt this will have much impact.  I'm not a lawyer, but as the article points out, there is a warning in the documentation, and even the plantif says he can't prove that the device was the cause.  This is an arguement and lawsuit that has come and gone over the years since the first Walkman was released.


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## dmetzcher (Feb 6, 2006)

This is some dirtbag with a lawyer, nothing more. They want it to be given Class-Action status, so they can sue on behalf of everyone who's purchased an iPod. They know that they have no case on their own. The fact is, these warnings have been around forever. Would he like it written across the screen even time the device is powered on? I'm sure he wouldn't because then he wouldn't be able to sue.

It's lawsuits like this one that give other, legit lawsuits a bad name with the American public. They give politicians something to run on, with them being able to push for tort reform by pointing to cases like this one.

This guy should be ashamed of himself. I hope the judge laughs at him and throws the case out the window.


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## Rhisiart (Feb 18, 2006)

See this link: http://news.softpedia.com/news/iPod-Blamed-For-Woman-s-Death-18284.shtml


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## Lt Major Burns (Feb 18, 2006)

arg! i'm currently pissed off that i can't get my ipod to go _loud enough_!  this is just worse!


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## Shookster (Feb 18, 2006)

Don't you just love the blame culture that we live in?


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## Rhisiart (Feb 18, 2006)

Six months ago I saw a man driving a truck at around 50 mph whilst reading a newspaper. I suppose if had crashed, he could have blamed the publishers.

It seems everyone these days are trying to win the Darwin award (http://www.darwinawards.com).

_Correction_: It was the British Sun newspaper, therefore he was in fact reading a comic not a newspaper, but I suppose the principle still stands.


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## adambyte (Feb 19, 2006)

Ugh. Please. This is right up there with the lady who sued McDonald's for burning her when she kept hot coffee BETWIXT HER LEGS WHILE DRIVING. And she won here case... that's the scary thing.



			
				Lt Major Burns said:
			
		

> arg! i'm currently pissed off that i can't get my ipod to go _loud enough_!  this is just worse!



lol. Dear lord, are you deaf? You can make thing pretty damn loud already (at least, the US versions, anyway).


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## Shookster (Feb 19, 2006)

European versions are toned down


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## Lt Major Burns (Feb 19, 2006)

there's a little app called GoPod which will release the euro ipods of their volume limiting.  it's still not ear splitting though, which is a shame.


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## fjdouse (Feb 20, 2006)

I'm still annoyed that I cannot turn mine off, works sometimes but when I NEED it to go off (like after a charge or sync and I need to go out in a hurry) it just stays on, until the battery is drained down.. and all the reinitialising and reseting in the world doesn't help.  I'd like to sue Apple.


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## pds (Feb 20, 2006)

fjdouse-

Have you tried a visit to the repair shop? Numerous people suggested that their experience indicates you have a lemon. Talk to Apple before you sue them.


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## fjdouse (Feb 20, 2006)

There are plenty of others(google?) with the same(google!!) problem(google!!!), including a friend of mine with a 4G.  It's just an unwanted 'feature'.  Odd thing is, my friend's iPod only started doing this since the last update, I'm of the opinion that it is a software issue, reinstalling doesn't help, so perhaps it will be 'fixed' when the next update comes out.

Tonight we experimented.  It only occurs after a sync/or USB port charge.  Leaving the device for 5 mins then trying to power off seems to fix it.


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## sirstaunch (Feb 23, 2006)

I wish I had an iPod when I was youth while mowing my parents lawn, the Sony walkman was not loud enough over the mower sound, hey maybe sue Victa for the mowers being too loud


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## fjdouse (Feb 25, 2006)

Lt Major Burns said:
			
		

> there's a little app called GoPod which will release the euro ipods of their volume limiting.  it's still not ear splitting though, which is a shame.



I've been trying that on my 5G, it did raise the level high enough to drive my Behringers at decent volume(no, it WAS ear splitting, my ears bled and I was rolling on the floor) but wrecked my Sony earphones, could be coincidental but music which sounded ok (Dark Side of the Moon - straight off CD as AAC 192) was sounding awful and distorted.  Now it's been recapped it sounds ok, the Sony earphones are still knackered though..

Does anyone know why euro versions are capped?  There is obviously a good reason!?!?!  I didn't measure it but I'm sure that the battery life went down faster..

I think I'm gonna sue the author of GoPod


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## Lt Major Burns (Feb 25, 2006)

the european noise levels directives in small devices etc.  it's the MAN telling us what we can do!

also, fjdouse, as silly and patronising (sorry) as it sounds, have you tried holding down play for a couple of seconds?


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## fjdouse (Feb 25, 2006)

Lt Major Burns said:
			
		

> the european noise levels directives in small devices etc.  it's the MAN telling us what we can do!


Well, bring it on I say - ABOLISH NATIONALIST GOVERNMENTS!!!

anyhoo.....................

You're referring to the power-off after sync/charge problem?  Well, without getting offended, yes.  Obviously that was the first thing I tried.  Then adding 'sleep' to the main menu, selecting it does nothing - it makes a click sound when 'clicked' but will not, for the love of God, turn off.  Before I updated the firmware, it would kill the backlight until the button was released then the backlight would come on again, now it does nothing.  As I've tried saying, this IS a known problem, others have it - just do a search and you'll see postings galore about it all over the web.  PLUS I've got a friend who has exactly the same problem, so it's not me, or my specific iPod.   I had a theory that it was because disk mode was enabled and perhaps the iPod thought it was still connected but even changing that option didn't help.

The only workaround (since resetting does help some users with this problem - but not me) is to manually eject the iPod (since it's in disk mode) then leave it (still under USB power) until it goes off by itself (actually a big charging icon comes up), then disconnect it.  I can then power it on and off without a problem. It's ONLY after a sync/charge that the problem manifests itself like the evil ghoul it is.

To be honest, I griped about it because it's crappy but this is a Mac OS X forum really, I've found more help and others with similar problems on more iPod-specific forums, and the only fix is to do what I'm doing now.. ..and hope Apple will identify and fix the problem in a future firmware release.   Bit of a pain, I wanted the freedom to whack it in the dock, update then go.. now I have to sit and wait. grr.

To quote "Albert F" who put a review of the 20GB photo iPod (which my friend has) on the Amazon page (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000932AKQ/104-0557942-0413501?v=glance&n=172282):  "Another big problem with the Ipod is it's inconsistency to turn off. Resetting the Ipod may help solve the issue but it's an annoyance. Pushing and holding the play/pause button won't always do the trick, making me click in and out of menus and repeating the hold process to make it work."

Another off a blog: "Apple did a great job making it easy to use, apart from one feature which drives me nuts! The feature I'm talking about is the way that you turn the device off. Apparently you're meant to hold down the play/pause button for a few seconds in order to turn it off. Not only is this not intuitive at all, but it doesn't seem to work a great deal of the time."

I can cite examples until I'm blue in the face.  It's an irritant, there is no fix, just a workaround.  I dare say if more people had the problem then Apple would have fixed it as a priority, but seeing how it's a relatively small number of users, we'll be waiting quite a while for a fix....


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## pds (Feb 25, 2006)

fjdouse said:
			
		

> I can cite examples until I'm blue in the face.  It's an irritant, there is no fix, just a workaround.  I dare say if more people had the problem then Apple would have fixed it as a priority, but seeing how it's a relatively small number of users, we'll be waiting quite a while for a fix....



I think there is a solution - it's called good manners and a visit to the shop. I know that if I took an iPod to my local Apple man, showed him that choosing Sleep did nothing and asked him nicely what I should do, he'd exchange it for me. Come visit me in Cairo, I _know_ it would be replaced, even though you bought it elsewhere. Or visit a local Apple Store, be polite but insistent, these things have international warrantee protection and your unit can't be more than what - 5 months old. If they refuse to help, then you have reason to rant. But honestly - otherwise...


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## fjdouse (Feb 26, 2006)

Nah, I'm not changing it, I'd have to travel quite a distance to do it and I'm not willing to, I can live with the inconsistancies and glitches, but the battery during video playback (which really pi$$es me off) - please don't be offended by this - is NOT going to improve by exchanging it.  Sure, the "power off after sync/charge" thing may be better on another unit, maybe not, if it was a fault then that would not explain the problem that other users have, nor my friend's 4G iPod - which only started after a certain firmware update, or even (as I've JUST found out), my sister's iPod mini..  AGAIN, after an update.  I'd still recommend an iPod, but point out that they are not flawless and the battery life advertised is basically codswallop.  Anyway I'm done on the subject here since it's not useful to keep going round in circles, I'm posting gripes/questions etc. to a more appropriate forum 

BTW: Cairo is a great place, visited it quite a few years back and can't wait to return.


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