Is the iPod nano hubbub really worth a class action suit?
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Oct 25, 2005 at 2:29am
Don’t get me wrong: I’m not a blind Apple follower. I seem to get on their nerves often enough (but that’s another story); still, I’m wondering if the hubbub over the “easily scratched” iPod nano screen is much ado about nothing—or at least about very little. It seems that lawyers are the biggest beneficiaries of the legal shenanigans.
As Macsimum News noted on Friday, consumers who claim that the iPod nano screen scratches too easily have filed a class-action lawsuit against Apple, saying they want their money back plus a share of the company’s profits on the music player’s sales. The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California in San Jose on Wednesday, was filed on behalf of nano owner Jason Tomczak and others who have purchased the device. The lawsuit alleges Mr. Tomczak rubbed a paper towel on his nano’s face and “that alone left significant scratches.” The plaintiffs are represented by law firms Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and David P. Meyer & Associates.
Maybe it’s just the fact that I’m not prone to suing others. I’ve been run over with an automobile, unfairly dismissed from a job and faced other tribulations, but never felt the urge to sue. I try to work things out with the other parties/people involved and leave the legal eagles out of it. Also, I find it hard to believe that a scratched screen on a US$200-$250 device warrants a class action suit. If Apple did release a crappy product and I bought it, wouldn’t a refund of my money be sufficient?
Interestingly, Steve Berman, one of the managing partners of Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP, has done some intensive work for Microsoft. As noted here “more recently, Microsoft recognized Mr. Berman’s experience and expertise when the company retained him to be part of the core national team representing the company in antitrust class actions arising from Judge Jackson’s Findings of Fact in the Department of Justice antitrust case against the company.” I guess it makes sense that a pro-Microsoft attorney would be involved in an anti-Apple lawsuit.
According to Berman, who’s lead attorney for the proposed class, Apple chose to disregard the design problem with the iPod nano before its release and has not taken any steps to correct it since then.
“We intend to prove that in an effort to rush the iPod nano to the market, Apple ignored obvious defects in the design and later tried to cover up negative responses received from consumers,” said Berman. “We seek to recover money lost in purchasing this product as well as the $25 fee Apple has chosen to impose on those who have returned their product after it became unusable.”
Previous versions of the iPod separated the screen and controls from the case and was covered with a thick film of resin. In designing the nano, Apple purportedly “reconstructed the housing into a seamless front where the screen and controls reside directly under a much less durable film of resin allowing irreparable damage to occur,”
The suit claims Apple knew the Nano was defective, but chose to go forward with the release and pass the cost of replacing the defective device on to class members. The suit also claims that instead of admitting to the flaw after widespread complaint, Apple concealed the defect and advised class members to purchase additional equipment to prevent the screen from scratching excessively.
I personally find it hard to believe that Apple (or any company) would deliberately choose to sweep a known defect “under the rug” in our litigious society. And Apple, of all companies, would, I’d think, have a fear of marring its reputation for designing and delivering “insanely great” products. Now an error somewhere along the way I can believe. Apple admitted in late September that some iPod nano screens cracked too easily, but blamed that separate issue on vendor quality problems and said it had occurred in less than one-tenth of one percent of the nanos sold at that time.
I own an iPod nano and have seen nothing that indicates its screen is any more prone to scratches than other iPod models. Maybe I’m just lucky. Still, I’ve neither seen nor heard of enough anectodal evidence to make me think that I’m the exception to the rule. In fact, with iPod sales exploding and nano supplies not able to keep up with demand, I find it hard to believe that there’s a widespread problem.
However, if there is, Apple should deal with it. The question in my mind is whether Apple was given proper time to deal with any nano defects before the lawyers were called in. If not, it’s a shame that Apple has to waste resources dealing with the matter. Of course, if there is a problem and nano owners with defective products aren’t being properly served by Apple, that’s a shame of another sort.
On the lighter side, check out this wonderful new song: “Laptop Like You.”. It’ll bring a smile to your face.
Thoughts? Write me at dsellers@macsimumnews.com
Also, don’t forget this week’s Macsimum News poll. Last week Apple introduced new dual core Power Macs. So we’re asking: will you buy one?
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Contributor
Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 4,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
