Apple Design Life and Build Quality

[Wage Slave]

I don't have a lot of Apple products - an ancient imac, two ipod touches and one ipod classic. The Mac and the classic I acquired for free because they needed repair. The gen 2 touch needed a new headphone socket at about the 3 year mark and now desperately needs a new battery. The newest of the pack - an ipod 4th Generation - is already showing signs of battery degradation after a bit over a year's moderate use. Not a great track record at all - What's the design life of these products - three years?

On top of that they seem intent on making their stuff ever flimsier ever harder to repair. I see ipads, 4th gen ipods and newer iphones are all now glued together rather than clipped or screwed. Excellent idea when you know the battery will need replacement within 3 years at the most. Still, it's dirt cheap and can only work to keep sales up I suppose as people replace rather than re-use.

[kurogane]

I don't have a lot of Apple products - .

And yet, you have 4, though admittedly on the cheap did you get them.

As an admitted but curious techno-magnon, how many Apple products would constitute 'a lot'?

At any rate, as an uninterested non-observer, it seems to me that Apple has taken the ethos of 90s Microsoft to heart. They are the new Antichrist.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I received an iPod for Christmas many years ago (maybe 10 years). The box remains unopened, and the product unused.

Any rough estimates how much that would fetch at second hand sale?

[Wage Slave]

I admit a weakness for the ipod Touch - It is a very handy little thing. I never would have bought a classic but I am finding that I like having it. The imac is really old - A collectors piece possibly? - It's the one with the flexi arm and transparent Harmon Kardon speakers. I enjoyed repairing it but have never really used it.

As for value of your ipod I don't know. Being mint and boxed, It may be collectable so may have some value. Try searching ebay with the finished auctions box checked for something similar.

[Taro Toporific]

- What's the design life of these products - three years?
On top of that they seem intent on making their stuff ever flimsier ever harder to repair.

I'm the ultimate Apple fanboy (and stockholder) but their build quality has become ridiculously poor. Right now I have several Apple devices less than three years old that have gone wonky (and I unsuccessfully attempted to repair).

[Wage Slave]

I've been lucky so far with repairs - except for that ipod nano which was a learning experience. They are hard to repair and they are meant to be as far can see. It tends to make me all the more determined but you need a bit of luck that's for sure.

[Taro Toporific]

[CrankyBastard]

- What's the design life of these products - three years?
On top of that they seem intent on making their stuff ever flimsier ever harder to repair.

I'm the ultimate Apple fanboy (and stockholder) but their build quality has become ridiculously poor. Right now I have several Apple devices less than three years old that have gone wonky (and I unsuccessfully attempted to repair).

Was a time when Being a Macuser used to be fun, joining a MUG and going to the MacWorld events, coming home with all the goodies and freebies,feeling just that little bit different!
Now, if you use anything Apple, you're just a part of the masses.

[yanpa]

The Mrs. went out and bought a Sony Walkthingy after the iPod Nano I bought to replace her aging quite-old-iPod failed in the 13th month of operation (the button stopped working). She is happy about being able to put music on it without involving iTunes (which went all "you must answer two of your three security questions" on her a while back). Despite its Sonyness it does look like something that Just Works (though let me get back on that just after the guarantee runs out) without Apple's Be Glad We Exist, Mortals.

Strange times.

Posting from a MacBookPro which I am kind of still happy with, but not sure if I would buy a replacement once it end-of-useful-lifes.

[Wage Slave]

Funny you mention the Sony walky thing. The nano I alluded to earlier went through the washing machine and came out the other end pretty badly affected. I had a go at a repair but Apple defeated me on first encounter and it was likely a lost cause in any case. My daughter's Sony after a trip through the wash was another story completely. It survived cosmetically unscathed. The case opened nicely with the removal of a few little phillips head self tapping screws and I carefully dried it out with a hairdryer. After that, it powered up perfectly happily. There was a shadow on the screen but after leaving it on the charger overnight that too faded away and it is still working flawlessly. Even the battery is fine about 5 years down the line. And she uses it quite a bit.

The sound is good too. So yeah, I agree - A much better made piece of kit that does its job very well.

[Coligny]

Comparing your target consumers with a monkey banging a screwdrivers might not be really smart... (And yes, there is something like bad publicity, ask Renault when they singlehandedly killed the Renault R14 by comparing it to a pear... Pear being a synonim of idiot in French...)

[Coligny]

http://teaser.kano.me/

Strike that... Just another kickstarter scam...

[Coligny]

Funny you mention the Sony walky thing. The nano I alluded to earlier went through the washing machine and came out the other end pretty badly affected. I had a go at a repair but Apple defeated me on first encounter and it was likely a lost cause in any case. My daughter's Sony after a trip through the wash was another story completely. It survived cosmetically unscathed. The case opened nicely with the removal of a few little phillips head self tapping screws and I carefully dried it out with a hairdryer. After that, it powered up perfectly happily. There was a shadow on the screen but after leaving it on the charger overnight that too faded away and it is still working flawlessly. Even the battery is fine about 5 years down the line. And she uses it quite a bit.

The sound is good too. So yeah, I agree - A much better made piece of kit that does its job very well.

Sony hardware is often quite awesome... It's the software that is usually a steaming pile of shit... (Looking at you ereaders...)

[Wage Slave]

Sony hardware is often quite awesome...

I'm glad you said that - I was beginning to think I was living in a parallel universe. I've had a number Sony things and they have all been excellent. Camera - over 10 years of use and still working fine with a just one dust out after about 7 years. Has a Zeiss lens and takes pretty decent pictures. A laptop 7 years old and still working fine apart from the batteries of course. Has an excellent display. A few TVs that were all excellent. Maybe I was just lucky?

You are right about the software though. It's OK at best.