Ipod Story

[Franck]

In the spirit of full disclosure, following is the Neismat brothers 
point of view, which is posted at the top of the page I sent earlier.

Two comments:  1) You guys thought that a (untold) $250 battery 
replacement was acceptable?  for an Ipod? for a car? for a PC?
2) What happened to the "think different " spirit?  Theses guys love 
their Ipod and their Mac.  They make music and film with it.  As good 
consumers, they felt they were being taken for a ride by Apple, and 
they resolved the issue the Apple way: creatively.  In the end, we 
Apple consumers won: Apple offers a $99  battery replacement.

Long live the independent spirit!


December 23, 2003 - The Neistat Brothers are in no way affiliated with  
   the pending class action against Apple Computer, Inc. or the law firm 
of Girard    Gibbs & De Bartolomeo LLP. The Neistat Brothers are not 
partaking in the    potential suit nor are they supporting it.

Our Message:

In September of 2003 the battery in my first generation ipod would hold 
a charge    for no longer than one hour. I brought the iPod into the 
Apple store in Manhattan    for repair and was told they do not 
currently offer a battery replacement program    and my best option was 
to buy a new ipod. I then called the Apple Care 800 number    regarding 
this issue and was told the same. I then sent my ipod to the Apple    
Executive office addressed to Steve Jobs with a note explaining my 
situation    and requesting a replacement battery. The Apple Executive 
office contacted me    via telephone to explain that Apple does not 
repair or replace dead ipod batteries    and that it was policy of the 
company to recommend to the customer to purchase    a new ipod when the 
battery fails. I then looked into and purchased a third    party 
replacement battery , this battery was not endorsed by Apple. After    
the complicated installation my ipod did not work at all, even when it 
was plugged    in. I then purchased a new ipod for $400.00.

In response to this my brother Van and I made the short film "iPod's 
Dirty    Secret" After we finished production of the film, but not 
necessarily in    response to it, Apple began offerring a battery    
replacement program for the ipod for a fee of $99 and an extended    
warranty for the ipod for $59.

We think Apple's new policy is fair. Our movie is a documentation of 
our experience.

-Casey Neistat