Reports of cracked screens on iPod nanos are appearing on the Internet, with one Mac and iPod nano owner posting a Web site that is asking other users for their own stories and information. While we have not verified the information posted on the site, several stories and images of other iPod nanos with cracked screens have been submitted and posted at the site.
The owner of the site — who does not identify himself, but the FlawedMusicPlayer.com domain is registered to Matthew T. Peterson, and additional information has been posted to the .Mac Web site of .Mac member matthewdotcom — said that his screen cracked after owning his iPod nano for four days, and that it did so without being hit or otherwise damaged through force.
"My Nano broke on day 4," he wrote on his Web site. "The screen that is. It shattered. It was in my pocket as I was walking and I sat down. No, I didn’t sit on it, it was just in my pocket just as all iPod’s before it have done, and my cell phone, which also has a screen on the outside, does. This is what they were meant to do. That’s why they make them pocket size."
Image posted at FlawedMusicPlayer.com
At issue is the fact that Apple has so far declined his request to replace the unit, with some Apple Store employees allegedly accusing him of striking the nano against something. The site owner’s contention, however, is that his crack was the result of a design flaw relating to the plastic that protects the LCD display.
"Compare the plastic over the LCD on the iPod and the iPod Nano," he wrote. "You will see Apple has skimped on the plastic ‘protecting’ the Nano."
Since first posting the site requesting information, the owner has received and published several stories and images from people who have similar damage to their units. Of course, Apple has sold tens of thousands, or hundreds of thousands of the units since introducing them on September 7th, 2005. A small dataset of people with a problem neither proves or disproves a design flaw.
On the other end of the spectrum is the abuse that Ars Technica put a test nano unit through. The site sat on it, dropped it while jogging, dropped it from moving vehicles, dropped it from heights, and eventually ran over it with a car. It took dropping the unit from a height of nine feet before the screen cracked.
As with the small dataset posted at FlawedMusicPlayer.com, one test unit surviving incredible abuse neither proves nor disproves whether or not the iPod has a problem. The reality is that the iPod nano has been in the market for a very short period of time, but in the past, it has taken such public pressure for Apple to own up to problems with other Apple products.
Our advice for people with concerns about this issue is that they protect their nanos from any stress whatsoever.
As for the owner of FlawedMusicPlayer.com, site updates say he was contacted by Apple on September 20th. On the 22nd, the company agreed to extend to him a "one-time warranty exception in my case only."