Apple Addresses Flaws in Some iPod nanos -- Shortly after writing about the iPod nano (see "New iPod nano Replaces iPod mini" in TidBITS-796), a reader wrote to me asking, "What about the issue of reports of the easy breaking of the screen when there has been no obvious / excessive / accidental misuse of the iPod nano?" As the device had only been out a few days, I had no idea what he was talking about. Soon, though, I began to see reports on the Web about people having problems with iPod nano screens cracking without being mishandled, as well as scratched screens. At that point, I didn't pay it much attention: when dealing with hundreds of thousands of consumer hardware devices, some flawed ones are bound to appear.
<http://db.tidbits.com/article/08242>
<http://www.apple.com/ipodnano/>
Last week, however, Apple's Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing Phil Schiller addressed the problem in an interview with Macworld Magazine. He said that less than one-tenth of one percent of the iPod nano units suffer from a manufacturing defect, and that owners with the problem can call AppleCare to have the iPod replaced. As for the scratches, Schiller noted that the screens use the same materials found on the current iPod color line, which have not generated complaints. (One enterprising owner documented his success at using a $4 can of Brasso to bring his black iPod nano back to like-new condition.) [JLC]
<http://www.macworld.com/news/2005/09/27/ nanoscreen/index.php>
<http://todd.dailey.info/archives/2005/09/27/ restore-your-ipod-nano-to-new-condition- with-a-4-can-of-brasso/>