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Sixth lawsuit filed over Nano scratches

updated 12:50 pm EST, Tue December 27, 2005

Class-action lawsuits

Another disgruntled iPod nano owner has filed a over scratches to her the player, according to The Advocate. Apple is apparently attempting to consolidate this and five other similar lawsuits in California, New York and New Jersey. "Emily Mayo of Baton Rouge is taking one of the world's biggest computer makers to court -- over some scratches. Mayo claims the abrasions have snuffed the life from her iPod nano, and is suing Apple Computer in Baton Rouge federal court, alleging its popular petite digital music player's design is knowingly flawed." The class-action lawsuit claims the Nanos scratch excessively with normal usage, rendering their full-color display screens unreadable.

Mayo, who bought her nano right after they hit the shelves, contends in the lawsuit that she and other Louisiana owners "are now forced to purchase products to protect their nanos from excessive scratching."

Apple's lawyer Penelope Preovolos said the company "denies that the iPod nano scratches excessively absent user abuse. The iPod nano is an extraordinarily popular and successful product and is free of defects."

According to the report, Mayo's lawsuit claims Apple violated the Louisiana Products Liability Act, which protects against the sale of defective merchandise. The suit seeks unspecified damages and legal fees.

by MacNN Staff

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recogniser
Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Nov 2003

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12/27, 01:01pm | report spam | close Reply |
Impressive...

...the level of stupidity that exists in this country. Hey, I have a great idea, let's all get together and sue GM for making cars with defective paint jobs that actually get scratched!

It's called TAKING CARE OF WHAT YOU OWN. How on Earth can any company be held liable for people scratching their products?

dynsight
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Joined: May 2005

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12/27, 01:10pm | report spam | close Reply |
Dumb and Dumber

I certainly think the Emily Mayo is not the brightest of bulbs. When she bought her iPod, she must have seen many iPod covers/protectors. An associate of mine keeps his ipod in an old children's sock.

The point is, thinks scratch. My iPod video has a few scrathes, but I but a thin mylar protector over the screen.

Mayo for brains should have done the same.

DamnDJ
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Aug 2000

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12/27, 01:28pm | report spam | close Reply |
This American Life

Southpark said it best. Soon we'll be hearing about the court case of Everyone vs. Everyone.

Better be careful, Dynsight. She may sue you for calling her Mayo Brains.

Pismo500
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Joined: Oct 2004

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12/27, 01:49pm | report spam | close Reply |
Users

The user also needs to be careful and not abusive... Or it will scratch like almost anything else...

Deal
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Joined: Apr 2001

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12/27, 01:51pm | report spam | close Reply |
What needs to happen...

What needs to happen in the country is, counter suites for wrongful prosecution.

Bad publicity resulting in loss of sales and court costs need to be passed on to the prosecuting attorney and the plaintiffs when cases are purely stupid-ic like this.

Lets see a few lawyers pay millions and a few plaintiffs pay $50 each. That will tone down the number of idiotic court cases against big companies.

ValkRaider
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12/27, 03:28pm | report spam | close Reply |
marketing

It is clearly Apple's fault.

"impossibly Small" without a doubt implies "Impossible to Damage".

eldarkus
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12/27, 03:56pm | report spam | close Reply |
suing VA

Anyone care to join me in Suing the state of Virginia? I bought a scratch-off lottery ticket when they came out... and now, half of the silver coating is gone from the ticket. I tried to exchange it, but they said that wasn't permitted.

I can only condone this case if 2 specific facts come to light. 1) Apple knew about the scratching issue and did nothing. 2) the iPod is scratched so bad, that the screen is no longer viewable at all and it happened in normal wear and tear. Is Mayo and the others can prove both, I could at least understand the case...

But to me, this sounds like negligence on the part of Mayo. That and utter stupidity

Feathers
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Joined: Oct 1999

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12/27, 04:15pm | report spam | close Reply |
Not a lawyer!

"impossibly Small" without a doubt implies "Impossible to Damage" - valkraider

On who's planet? Dipshit!

Clive
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12/27, 04:25pm | report spam | close Reply |
Sense of humour?

Feathers, you need a sense of humour injection, better see your doctor straightaway � hurry now, seems like your case could be terminal.

JEB
Junior Member

Joined: May 2001

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12/27, 08:17pm | report spam | close Reply |
Scratches *ARE* lame

I love the nano / everything Apple . .. .

Honestly, I was in the Apple Store yesterday, and saw a black nano . . . scratches really stood out; had I been actually buying one, I wouldn't.

Maybe white is just better. Anyways, 200+ bucks spent means you want to keep in in good condition. If I had a new computer, I couldn't sue for putting magnets next to my hard drive, for example; it's my fault and I damaged it.

She scratched it. Yeah, 200+ bucks is a lot, but, it isn't made of diamonds, and the "Unreadable display" claim sounds fishy.

wmcraver
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12/27, 09:33pm | report spam | close Reply |
Slip and Fall case

It's like a typical slip and fall case. Someone sees water on the floor, slips and falls in a mall, and sues.

They are minor scratches; it's not the end of the world. My 4G iPod is scratched, yet you don't see me hauling Apple to court over it. All I have to say is buy a case for your nano if you're that nervous about it! Cases are not that expensive, are they?

In my opinion it is Creative (the makers of the Zen Nano) pushing people to sue to taint Apple's name *chuckle*

ender
Junior Member

Joined: Mar 1999

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12/28, 12:15am | report spam | close Reply |
Impact on Sales

I was recently in the Apple Store in Chicago and several iPods were severely scratched in a way that it was obvious that people were INTENTIONALLY scratching them, probably because they heard about these lawsuits and wanted to "test" it themselves. It looked as if someone had taken a sharp object and rubbed it repeatedly across the screen...although my sharp fingernail and shirt button made no visible mark :) (i tested the back of the iPod.)

I saw one post on a message board from some idiot claiming that his nano was scratched in his "silk-lined pocket" with no other objects in his pocket. They do NOT scratch easily, certainly not in a silk pocket! I think perhaps Apple stock holders should file a class action lawsuit against every single one of these plaintiffs and their attorneys to sue for lose of stock value resulting from their frivolous lawsuits.

lkrupp
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12/28, 11:18am | report spam | close Reply |
Motive...

"Honestly, I was in the Apple Store yesterday, and saw a black nano . . . scratches really stood out; had I been actually buying one, I wouldn't. "

Which is exactly why some Apple hater would be motivated to stroll into an Apple store with a steel wool pad and swipe it across a Nano screen. Ever think of that? I've been an Apple user since 1982 and I continue to be amazed at the hateful venom directed at Apple by other companies AND users of other computing platforms. They simply cannot stomach the success of Apple in recent years.

carloblackmore
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12/28, 12:08pm | report spam | close Reply |
over reacting a nano bit

"rendering it unusable?" puh-lease! I seem to recall a certain iPod Shuffle that is very popular and quite usable and it doesn't even have a display at all.

Out of curiosity - not to be polarizing - but I wonder how many of these suits are being filed by Mac owners or PC owners?

pianoforte
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12/28, 12:51pm | report spam | close Reply |
iPerspective

When I first opened my new iPod - I immediately wiped off the oily fingerprints on its gleaming shell left by my first touch. Obviously this will prove to be a futile exercise as I handle it more...

but in life in general we could be more conscience of the mark our human touch leaves on previously flawless beauty. Society as a whole seems to ignore too easily the scratches it leaves on the beauty around it - until it's too late. I wonder if we'll file a suit against our Creator for creating a defective planet.

I hope Louisiana courts focus on some of the truly defective and misleading practices going on in their region before worrying about iPod scratches.

testudo
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12/28, 01:05pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: over reacting

"rendering it unusable?" puh-lease! I seem to recall a certain iPod Shuffle that is very popular and quite usable and it doesn't even have a display at all.

That's right. Who cares if you bought an iPod with a display so you could, I don't know, see what's playing. And now you say that its not unusable because it technically can still play music, assuming you hit the buttons in the correct order. And I guess if the audio jack died, you'd say it could still be used as an external hard drive, so its not unusable. And if the drive failed, well, the backlight can be used as an emergency flashlight....

Out of curiosity - not to be polarizing - but I wonder how many of these suits are being filed by Mac owners or PC owners?

Yeah, that's it! Its a freakin' attack on the mac world by PC zealots out to drive Apple under for producing products. Or the guy who basically has said scratches on an iPod were caused by a PC zealot with a steel wool pad (like there aren't mac zealots out there).

Man, talk about conspiracy theorists.

Oh, and if you've seen some of these iPods, they're really scratched up. And I'm not talking a few scratches here or there. Plus, as a consumer, wouldn't you expect a product that is apparently so fragile that it scratches so easily to actually come with a protective covering, as opposed to requiring you to buy a separate case when you purchase it (BTW, there's no warning that you need a case, either).

But I'm sure if this was an MS music player, and it had these issues, you'd be saying the EXACT SAME THINGS about the users. Right? Right? Yeah, I didn't think so.

Clive
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Jan 2001

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12/28, 02:12pm | report spam | close Reply |
Fragile

Testudo, have you seen one of these damaged iPods? FWIW I haven't, but I wouldn't even think of buying one unless I had a hard case to put it in.

It should be obvious to anyone that a nano is going to get damaged really easily - and I don't think Apple can do anything about that except stop making them, or stop selling them to people who think they are made of solid steel.

I've heard a few stories about parents buying them for kid's Christmas presents � I'm thinking "Are you crazy"? How long's it going last, three, perhaps four weeks?

carloblackmore
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12/28, 02:45pm | report spam | close Reply |
over reacting

testudo my friend, I'm not saying this consumer didn't have a scratched screen - mine is also "slightly" scratched just like every other mobile device with a screen I've owned. And perhaps I notice it a little more because of how much more beautiful my iPod is than my other devices.

I just think however scratched their screens could've become from their personal usage - that a State lawsuit really seems like over reacting a bit. It's not like it went from crystal clear to completely illegible overnight. How do they plan on defending their inaction to protect the screen once they first noticed what they thought was undue scratching - before it reached a state of unusability?

and "just curious - not to be polarizing" MEANS just that "just curious - not to be polarizing". From a marketing-research perspective I really would be interested in knowing the brand-tolerance of Windows PC users versus Mac users.

pianoforte
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Joined: Dec 2005

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12/28, 03:21pm | report spam | close Reply |
i-amnesia

You may think it's okay to sue Apple for not providing ample protection or warnings for their device - but don't forget where ya came from people...

I remember my first MP3 player not too many years ago. A $300 Rio. A week after buying it it just stopped working. The replacement galantly lived 3 weeks before quitting. I gave up on MP3 players after that. For $300 - it didn't allow for hard-disk usage, have a browsable menu display, no color, no photos, no track info, no calendar, you get the point...

Apple comes along and offers a superior alternative to the plastic mediocrity that became so common to us from a steady diet of clunky beige-box PCs - and all of a sudden everyone's an expert on what is acceptable as good product design and what accessories/warnings devices should come with and what kinda pocket lining it should withstand? Don't forget where ya came from people.

testudo
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12/28, 03:52pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: fragile

Testudo, have you seen one of these damaged iPods? FWIW I haven't, but I wouldn't even think of buying one unless I had a hard case to put it in.

Why? People have cell phones around this size or slightly larger, and these things can be thrown around with barely an issue. But putting a nano in your pocket (yeah, I know, how would anyone ever imagine someone putting a nano in a pocket, and not a feather-lined box is beyond me) will scratch the thing up? WTF is that?

I've owned two regular iPods, and I've dropped them, walked around with them in pockets, slid them on desks, etc. They certainly never ended up with noticable scratches (a nick here or there, but that's what you expect when you dump it onto a sidewalk a couple of times).

So, again, why would anyone who's owned a set of iPods all of a sudden intrinsically know "This needs a case!". And, again, if its such an intrinsic thing that everyone should know, shouldn't apple know it as well, and included a case with it to begin with (they do now, after they got sued the first couple of times). Or, if the screen is going to be so easy to scratch to make it unreadable, couldn't they have spent the $2 an iPod to put one of those screen protective films on it?

And I guess it would have also helped if apple didn't always advertise the ipod as 1000 songs IN YOUR POCKET! (Now, if they had said "1000 songs, in a protective sleeve in your pocket", then that'd be different).

It should be obvious to anyone that a nano is going to get damaged really easily - and I don't think Apple can do anything about that except stop making them, or stop selling them to people who think they are made of solid steel.

Well, if the nano needs to be babied in order for it to not get harmed in anyway, then its not worth owning, period. That's like buying a car that you just keep in the garage because, well, if you drive it on the road, a pebble might scratch the paint.

And, BTW, if you owned a car whose windshield was scratched from driving on the highway, to the point of not beiong able to see through it (or even half of it), are you telling me you'd be "Oh well, what do you expect. You drive a car, you expect it to scratch".

testudo
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12/28, 03:57pm | report spam | close Reply |
Re: i-amnesia

You may think it's okay to sue Apple for not providing ample protection or warnings for their device - but don't forget where ya came from people...

Great. So it shouldn't be "Hey, the product's defective", its about "Hey, the product's defective, but its still better then 10 years ago, so, h***, I'll live with it."

Kind of makes those people suing ford and firestone over exploding tires seem kind of lame, considering previously whole cars would explode. Or people whining over some toxic waste in their drinking water, because before, h***, they used to dump all sorts of stuff into the rivers. Now there's so much less, you're kind of silly to be whining about what's still there...

Clive
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Jan 2001

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12/28, 11:37pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: fragile

Testudo, have you seen one of these damaged iPods? FWIW I haven't, but I wouldn't even think of buying one unless I had a hard case to put it in.

Why? People have cell phones around this size or slightly larger, and these things can be thrown around with barely an issue.

Well, I've never owned a cell phone that I didn't also *buy* a case for - just because I realised that it would get scratched up pretty easily.

Also, lots of those small phones have a folding aspect, to protect the screen against such damage. Maybe that's what the nano needs too. But, I've never seen a phone that's anywhere near as thin as the nano. There's no way I'd put one in my trouser pocket and expect it to survive.

But putting a nano in your pocket (yeah, I know, how would anyone ever imagine someone putting a nano in a pocket, and not a feather-lined box is beyond me) will scratch the thing up? WTF is that?

I think it's called "not wearing a Rolex when you're chopping down trees". If you want something that's tiny and delicate looking, I think you have to treat it with the respect you'd give to something, er, tiny and delicate looking...

I've owned two regular iPods...

But that's a completely different scale - there your cell phone analogy holds up, but not with the nano.

So, again, why would anyone who's owned a set of iPods all of a sudden intrinsically know "This needs a case!".

I'd, again, always buy a case for something like that.

And, again, if its such an intrinsic thing that everyone should know...

Well, you know, some people can't find their own arseholes with a torch.

couldn't they have spent the $2 an iPod to put one of those screen protective films on it?

I doubt those things actually cost more than five cents.

And I guess it would have also helped if apple didn't always advertise the ipod as 1000 songs IN YOUR POCKET! (Now, if they had said "1000 songs, in a protective sleeve in your pocket", then that'd be different).

Coca-Cola, the real thing. Uh, yeah.

Well, if the nano needs to be babied in order for it to not get harmed in anyway, then its not worth owning,

Well, I think you've been told it will get damaged if you don't look after it, so do us all a favour and don't buy one.

That's like buying a car that you just keep in the garage because, well, if you drive it on the road, a pebble might scratch the paint.

Dude, people do that. Me, I'd rather drive my car, but there are plenty of vehicles in the world that have never seen the rain, let alone snow.

And, BTW, if you owned a car whose windshield was scratched from driving on the highway

Hey, tell you what, show me the nano that's done 200,000 m

Clive
Mac Enthusiast

Joined: Jan 2001

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12/28, 11:40pm | report spam | close Reply |
re: fragile

that was:

Hey, tell you what, show me the nano that's done 200,000 miles and I'll concede the point. FWIW the screen on my car is getting to the point that it needs replacing, and that's just normal wear and tear, driving up and down the... highway.

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Sixth lawsuit filed over Nano scratches

updated 12:50 pm EST, Tue December 27, 2005

Class-action lawsuits

Impressive...

Dumb and Dumber

This American Life

Users

What needs to happen...

marketing

suing VA

Not a lawyer!

Sense of humour?

Scratches ARE lame

Slip and Fall case

Impact on Sales

Motive...

over reacting a nano bit

iPerspective

Re: over reacting

Fragile

over reacting

i-amnesia

Re: fragile

Re: i-amnesia

re: fragile

re: fragile

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Sixth lawsuit filed over Nano scratches

updated 12:50 pm EST, Tue December 27, 2005

Class-action lawsuits

Related Articles

Recent Articles

Impressive...

Dumb and Dumber

This American Life

Users

What needs to happen...

marketing

suing VA

Not a lawyer!

Sense of humour?

Scratches *ARE* lame

Slip and Fall case

Impact on Sales

Motive...

over reacting a nano bit

iPerspective

Re: over reacting

Fragile

over reacting

i-amnesia

Re: fragile

Re: i-amnesia

re: fragile

re: fragile

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Scratches ARE lame