Comments
15 CommentsIn celebration of my wife's birthday today, I stopped by the Apple store on the way home from the office and bought the 8G iPod Nano.
Starting off on a positive note, this thing is not nearly as ugly as some are making it out to be. For what is capable of doing and capacity, this thing is just unbelievably tiny and thin, and the picture quality -- along with some surprise extras (at least for me) were just outstanding.
Then I got it home.
Hooked it up to the computer, it found iTunes and updated it automatically. Downloaded the 700 odd songs on her library pretty quickly. So far, so good.
Sync complete -- Ok to disconnect.
Cool. Unplug the adapter, scroll my finger around the wheel and...
Frozen.
Read the manual on how to reboot this thing. Reboot, Apple logo on black screen...all's good. Music directory comes up, cover art floating around on the right side of the screen. Float my finger again and...
Frozen.
I've lost count of how many times this has happened now. People talk about how often PCs crash. Trust me, no PC in my lifetime has ever crashed in a single day as much as this petite, beautiful device has done in the past hour and a half.
I've done everything I know to do aside from driving back to the mall (which I will do anyway, tomorrow to put my name in the que for an Apple expert geek to help me out) to return a bum birthday gift on the night of the celebration.
I'm sure all will be made good -- no worries there; but gee, what a way to put a damper on the experience.
Remember kids, design and strategy and empathy and pricing and simplicity and all that does indeed matter. But if you let people down on the excitement of the moment that comes right after you plug the thing in the first time -- everything else, no matter how good you do it, is still an uphill climb back to mediocre.
danoph
Written Sep. 8, 2007 / Report /
maybe you bought a lemon? every batch of products has a defective one that doesn't get noticed. if that's the case, there's no use trying to fix it, just return it and get another one.
ConnorWilson
Written Sep. 8, 2007 / Report /
I don't think they're ugly, but I don't think the Nano should look like that with the "fatty" thing or whatever they're calling it. I'm definitely getting an iPod touch, though :)
Ozone42
Written Sep. 8, 2007 / Report /
definitely a lemon, used mine nearly every day since christmas and it's never acted up at all.
fuscom
Written Sep. 8, 2007 / Report /
Actually, I don't think it's a lemon at all. Amazingly, it seems to work fine now. Almost like it was in some kind of sleepy haze like one would feel right after a long nap. Now that it's been active for a while, it seems to have gotten it's wits about it.
Actually, I think maybe there was some technological burp somewhere along the line. That's the only thing I can think of anyway.
Still, it kinda put a wet blanket on the moment which was, and still is, disappointing.
jensized
Written Sep. 8, 2007 / Report /
How long did you let it charge before trying to load the music? If there's not enough juice it'll stop responding.
fuscom
Written Sep. 8, 2007 / Report /
jensized -- it was fully charged.
I guess it was one of those things that happen with apps and devices once in a while that 99% of the time a reboot will resolve. In this circumstance, it wasn't a reboot (or several) it was just time.
Time with it powered down, and away from the charger, I might add.
Scrivs
Written Sep. 8, 2007 / Report /
That is weird that it finally decided to kick in and work and because it was Apple I am obliged to say USER ERROR.
fuscom
Written Sep. 8, 2007 / Report /
Maybe, but how?
Setup went fine, songs downloaded, sync completed, ejected without cause for concern. Everything indicated that a proper transfer of data occurred. The interface just froze.
Reboots and even a restore (yes, I am man enough to admit that the possibility of "user error" on my part happened somehow) proved to no avail.
It. Just. Continued. To. Hang. Up.
It would be at different times to -- immediately after a reboot, or after a song or two were played. I'd watch a music video in it's entirety and then kick it back to the main menu, where it would freeze again.
Honestly, it wasn't until we left it alone and off the charger for a couple of hours that it just seemingly resolved itself. It's been working fine ever since.
Scrivs
Written Sep. 8, 2007 / Report /
Maybe Apple has made their iPods into NanoPets or something like that. It sensed your anger and wanted to please you later on.
fuscom
Written Sep. 8, 2007 / Report /
You could be on to something there, Scrivs.
Bottom line, it eventually worked and I eventually got my pleasure.
Damn Apple for postponing it though.
cito
Written Sep. 11, 2007 / Report /
I think the nano´s are just sad cause everybody is calling them "ulgy" and "fat"... if I were a iPod Nano I´ll froze everytime too...
Ozone42
Written Sep. 11, 2007 / Report /
Scary, I hope mine doens't ever act up like that.
fuscom
Written Sep. 25, 2007 / Report /
Seems it's not user error as my boy Scrivs' suggested. Others are having very similar issues with the iPod Classic...
From Engadget
Apple's iPod classic experiencing issues of its own?
ErinR
Written Sep. 26, 2007 / Report /
Thankfully, I'm not one of the those people that want to buy a product on the first day (though sometimes I want to!). I'll wait a few months until all the issue are smoothed out & maybe there's a price drop.
Griffith
Written Sep. 26, 2007 / Report /
The best thing you can is to reset your iPod (yeah... you'll have to re-synch all the songs) and try it again.