Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

When I bought my first iPod classic just over 2 years ago, I was absolutely enthralled at the amazing capacity and versatility of this product. Being a music lover and collector, it was a dream come true to be able to carry almost my entire music collection with me. My first iPod classic was a silver 80GB. I was so impressed that three months later, I bought my husband a black 80GB to take with him when he travels on business. The silver 80GB lasted just over a year. One day I was playing it and went to fast forward to the next track and poof - the screen went black and I was not able to reboot or reset it at all. Since it was no longer under warranty, I stuck it in a drawer and used the other black 80 GB that I had bought for my husband. Approximately three months later, the black iPod classic died exactly the same way (and conveniently no longer under warranty). So, I went and purchased two more, this time a black 120GB and silver 120GB. My son uses the black one, and as far as I know is still working. In August, I purchased the silver 120GB. Within 1 month, this one died the same was as my first two. I took this one to the Apple Store in a mall near my home and they swapped it for a new one. Two months later, the warranty replacement iPod died. Once again, I took it to the nearby Apple Store for yet another replacement. This time, the technician who helped me kept making comments and innuendos alleging that I was abusing the iPod. The way I use my iPod is what I would consider normal use. I have a Bose dock that I sometimes play it on. I also have an Alpine AM/FM car audio receiver made for iPod. I also have a mini dock with speakers that I keep at work. The Apple store technician made a comment to me suggesting that perhaps I shouldn't be using the iPod this way. Now the second replacement iPod I got in November died just a week ago (lasted about 2 months). For me, that was it with iPods. If Apple manufactures this product to play music with, then it should be compatible with all the docks out there. I think that Apple has a very lucrative racket going on with the iPod consumer. You spend an average of $230 for an iPod and it lasts maybe just over one year. If the battery goes or the iPod dies, you are not able to change the battery yourself to make it work again. If you have Apple do the repairs, it costs almost as much as just buying a new one. So, then what do you do? You go buy another new iPod. The concept is wonderful, but the product quality and durability is shabby and inexcusable. I could go on about how you can't play tracks you buy from iTunes on anything but the iPod, but many other starry eyed consumers such as me have learned the hard way. I think that eventually, the public's love affair with the iPod will eventually wear off and unless Apple remedies their quality and reliability problems with the iPod, Apple has a hard fall coming. You can't keep ripping people off this way, Apple, and expect them to keep coming back.