iPod Shuffle: Deceptively Fragile
Apple’s iPod Shuffle is a ridiculously cool little device. I bought one because I wanted a USB thumb drive, and for just marginally more than a standard one, I figured I may as well get one that can play mp3s. I picked up a 1GB drive back in February, when they dropped the prices down. I was initially very impressed with it.
The construction seems sturdy, it’s built out of that same seemingly indestructible material as Lego. I ended up loading it up with Portable Thunderbird, putty, and a few other commonly used little executables I’d like to access anywhere. I ever fashioned a crude but effective keychain attachment with the lanyard cap and a bent paperclip. I used it for at least a couple months until the first time it came apart.
I had it precariously positioned in the USB port of my computer, which was on the floor. My chair banged into it, and the main casing seperated from the USB plug, connected only by a thin ribbon. I didn’t panic, as my friend Rob had mentioned something similar happening to him. I simply pulled the plug out gently, and snapped it back together; it seemed good as new for a little while.
Over time, the USB plug came apart more often. Not just from my chair, but also just sitting in my pocket. Eventually, it wasn’t really connected at all, and just pulling the cap off would take the plug with it. I went so far as to find my tube of shoe goo to put it back together when I had a minute, but the next day it came apart while walking to the car, just hanging from my keys, and the ribbon finally broke.
I tried many ways to reconnect it, but none of them really worked. I had an important spreadsheet on there that I’d never backed up, so I had to run out and buy another (512MG) so that I could disconnect the plug and get my 1GB working again. This was actually really simple. There’s plently of good explanations of how to disassemble the shuffle, so it was easy enough to remove the broken ribbon from its plug by the flash drive and replace it with the new one. This allowed me to get my spreadsheet off and keep using the drive for my email. I assumed the chair was to blame for my problems, and that all would be well again.
Saturday, the new one broke as well. It was a clean break, right in my pocket, the ribbon torn in the middle. The shuffle was less than 2 weeks old at that point. Now, I know that I put lots of stress on the device. I hit it with my chair, and it probably wasn’t meant to be worn in the pocket. For this reason, I’m not particularly upset at apple, but I am disappointed in an otherwise sturdy device having such an obvious achilles heel. Hopefully I can still return the one I just got and get my money back.
I supposed the moral of the story here is that there’s a damn good reason the shuffle doesn’t come with a keychain attachment, it’s just not sturdy enough to handle that sort of environment. It’s not a USB drive, it’s a small electronic device like any other, and should be handled with care.
