Apple to pay $22.5m for scratched iPods

Apple will pay $22.5m into a settlement fund to compensate buyers of early-release first-generation iPod nanos. You see, these nanos had displays that were easily scratched. The settlement covers only "uncoated" iPod nanos, meaning the original nanos that began shipping in September 2005 and immediately ignited a firestorm of …

[Rolf Howarth]

Class action lawsuits

"Finally, if you're one of the attorneys working on the settlement, you won't need to go the cheap route. As part of the settlement, Apple has also agreed to pay attorney's fees of $4.5m"

Precisely... class action lawsuits are great for lawyers, a complete waste of time for consumers (and an unnecessary and costly distraction for businesses, who could devote those efforts better to actually improving their products and services to consumers).

It generally goes along the lines of "batch of cornflakes have incorrect label printed on the box... lawyers rustle up and bribe a few people to make a complaint and sue the company concerned... class action settlement, everyone who bought a packet can mail in for 50 cent rebate in compensation... lawyers get hundreds of thousands of dollars or 10% of the total nominal value of the settlement as their fee..." And we're all supposed to be better off as a result?

Time the whole pointless and corrupt system is scrapped.

[Colin]

US Only

Appears to only be for US customers. Not much help for those of us who were early adaptors here in the UK.

[Anonymous Coward]

brasso?

i used polywatch, designed specifically for polishing scratches out of acrylic watch crystals. it's probably even cheaper than brasso!!

[J]

OK

Filled my claim form, sending it soon. Just wonder if I'll ever see the money. I'm sure the leeches will see their millions soon enough. Oh, well, that's the system.

[Anonymous John]

"use your settlement windfall to score a new iPod touch."

Oh look! My iPod touch was been scratched. i want compensation!

[Anonymous Coward]

What about the regulard ipod?

The ipod that was released at the same time as this did not have scratch resitance coating either. Why does it only apply to the nano?

[Anonymous Coward]

"Apple to pay $22.5m for scratched iPods"

I'd have figured maybe fifty bucks, but for $22.5m I might have to buy a couple and start scratching!

Mine's the one with the Sansa in the pocket...

[Dr Patrick J R Harkin]

Dear God,

I wish to claim compensation. Last Friday, while bathing my cat, I discovered that You do not supply me in a scratch-proof coating.

Yours truly

Dr P J R Harkin

[sleepy]

Cellphones?

This is a bit like buying haute couture and asking for a refund after you've taken it backpacking. Practically every cellphone (but not iPhone) has a plastic face that gets scratched more or less as soon as you start using it. It's just that they mostly aren't beautiful design statements.

But I'm sure Apple take the view that that which does not kill them makes them stronger. No other manufacturer's customers even consider this kind of complaint.

[The Fuzzy Wotnot]

What a crock!

Look after it! I had a Casio digital watch for 13 years, it was absolutely scratched to buggery, but I never went back to Casio. It was a portable device, it got used , it still worked and I caused the scratches! I have a 5 year old iRiver 40GB LCD MP3 player, scratched to buggery, but still works fine, the battery has been charged way beyond it's shelf-life, but it will not die, dropped it, covered in mud and rain, used in armpit of sweaty hill-walking coat for hours at a time, looks like crap but still works. When it breaks, it will be my fault!

Spoilt, cry-babies!

"Wa! Wa! Wa! My toy got ruined 'cos I was born in a throw-away society and grew up without having to worry about looking after my stuff! Mummy, I want someone to fix it now!"

[Anonymous Coward]

check?

you have to wait for a check, does someone come and have a look at it?

having said that, what MEH news story - like a give a sh1t about apple users - you buy the expensive crap, you deserve what you get...

'nuff said

[Matthew]

wtf

they came with cases back then... did people think they were for fun?

[richard]

Naysayers...

It's called 'fit for purpose'. Your phone, watch etc. may get scratched but you expect it not to happen the first time you slide it into a pocket. Cases, half the time, only made the scratching worse when fitting/removing the unit.

Why should a company that deliberately uses shoddy materials, to encourage the 'throwaway culture' we have, be able to get away with it?

[Andy Bright]

I wonder if Sony are watching

Nothing more annoying to me than the scratches you get almost as standard on a PSP. I love the thing to death, it's screen is awesome .. except for two minor details, which combined make it an ideal candidate for waiting for your 23 cent check in the post*.

They're both pretty well known, easily scratched and difficult to view in bright light. Curiously the one thing that isn't difficult to view in bright light is the scratches. Bad (or no) light and you're golden. Even the scratches are difficult to view. So I'm wondering if Sony are watching this, because their product is possibly the most scratch-prone device ever to reach the market.

They even stopped including the cleaning cloth with the device by the time the second version arrived, because the worst thing you can do is attempt to rub off fingerprints or specs of dust.

And it's infuriating because for the 3 minutes that the device doesn't come with scratches, the picture quality is unrivaled by any hand held device. A cheap 8gbyte memory stick can hold about 4 movies at a time (I use a fairly high resolution and decent sound quality so most movies I convert take up about 2gbytes), and the disks are so cheap now they're even worth buying if you have somewhere to store them while you're traveling.

*(I once won a class action lawsuit and got 23 cents for taking the trouble to fill out a form, this amount seems typical of your average pay out which confirms the first poster's comments).

[Anonymous Coward]

Rules of engagement

1. Shiny new object costs $$$$

2. Shiny new object has value

3. Look after shiny new object

4. Keep safe

Thank you.