The internet can be a wild beast for a tech company’s PR efforts. The ravenous desire for the latest screenshots and the best story means issues can get blown out of proportion pretty quickly. Remember that white iPhone that overheated and turned brown? That thing started a shitstorm of controversy that even non-tech folks heard about. I had a regular from a bar I used to work at ask me, on seeing my iPhone, if I’d had “any of those overheating problems.” This is a guy who didn’t know what a hard drive was and had trouble operating his old Nokia candybar. Nonetheless, he’d heard of the problem and was more than willing to share.
Could the same be true of the exploding iPod? Apple certainly thinks so. For now they’re calling the problem, which has apparently happened a few times in Europe, a set of isolated incidents. An Apple spokesperson from the Europe branch said, “We are aware of these (media) reports and we are waiting to receive the iPhones from the customers. Until we have the full details, we don’t have anything further to add.”
Seems pretty reasonable to me. I’ll be interested to see what comes of it all. I really don’t like the idea of holding a ticking bomb up to my face. Call me a narcissist. I’m fine with that.
