iPods Don't Like Water

A few weeks ago, on my way into work (on my motorcycle) I was rained on. Now, I wasn't expecting it to rain, it was pretty heavy, and I was listening to my iPod Nano that was in my pocket. I didn't think it got that wet, but when I got into work I noticed that I couldn't turn down the volume or pause what I was listening to. I figured it would dry out and start working again so I put it aside and went on with my wet-pant-filled day. When I went to leave, the click wheel was working again, but only for a few seconds and then it stopped responding. I thought that maybe it needed more time to dry out so I put it in my backpack and went home. The next morning it had stopped responding completely, so I started freaking out. My iPod has become a staple in my life ever since I got it a little less than a year ago, and I cannot do without it. I went to Apple's web page where they had some suggestions on fixing a non-responsive iPod and I tried them to no avail. Finally, I decided that I was going to have to send it into Apple and pray they could fix it. According to their web page, the iPod has a 1 year limited warranty. After 6 months, though, they charge you $30 shipping and handling to send in the iPod. If they determine that your iPod is under warranty they will replace it with a new one. If it isn't covered, I could get a new one for $150. Seeing as how a brand new iPod Nano costs $250 retail, I figured that my worst case scenario would be a new iPod for $150... Sending my iPod in to Apple was a satisfactory experience. I received an empty box at my house the day after I had filled out the request online. I put my broken iPod in the box, and dropped it off at a DHL pick-up location. Apple received it the day after that. Then I got some surprisingly great news: within two days the status of my repair had gone from "diagnosing" to "shipping replacement." I was so excited: Apple had decided to replace my iPod free of charge. So, after getting my iPod wet, I got a new one for $30. This whole experience has really boosted my faith in Apple, and I am now more likely than ever to purchase additional products from them. Who knows, I may even own a Mac one of these days. (Maybe once they finally put a Core 2 Duo in a Mac Mini) In related news, I have put together another web page. This one has to do with podcasting. If you don't listen to podcasts you probably won't have much to do at the site, but go ahead and take a look at the hard work I have done: Podcast Research I have a new poll at the bottom of the page, so be sure to add your vote. You may also notice a link to "Archived Polls." If you click on the link you can see the results of all the polls I have done on my site over the past few years.