Comments on: Apple sued over 'exploding' iPod Touch

A 15-year-old boy's iPod Touch allegedly exploded in his pocket at school, causing second-degree burns and a lawsuit filed against Apple.

[crescentdave]

Yes, lots of applets bending over for the defense. Touching, really ... corporate love at its finest. If a device is marketed as being pocketable and isn't safe under those conditions ... it's the company's fault. I don't care if Apple buys batteries from Cambodia ... Apple made that decision, apple installed it, apple's responsible. If coins can get into a dock connector it most certainly is Apple's fault ... it's a design problem. But hey ... it's ok, continue to address the issue by making fun of the guy's shorts- it's so completely stereotypical fanboi behavior.

[badmojo42]

$225K is chump change. really, Apple makes that in under 2 min in revenue. $10bill last quarter/90 days/24hrs/60min = $77k doubt they are worried about the suit.

[badmojo42]

$225K is chump change. really, Apple makes that in under 2 min in revenue. $10bill last quarter/90 days/24hrs/60min = $77k doubt they are worried about the suit.

[SlimGem]

They didn't mention that it was shorted out by the little punks roach clip.
I highly doubt he is doing this on his own. His parents see a way to get out of footing his college tuition.

[ikramerica--2008]

Interesting. That amount, after the medical expenses of $19k, would just about exactly pay for 4 years of private college... hmmm....

[kevsmail]

Well that's one way to fund a new MacBook Air!

[ikramerica--2008]

Not with the SSD option. ;)

[Perry_Clease]

I got it figured out. He had iFart or Pull My Finger app installed and when he ripped one as a joke in class the virtual methane sparked on the dock connector.

[`WarpKat]

Seriously - why on Earth is this kid carrying around an iPod at school to begin with? He in college? No. This is a case where the parent should be a little more disciplinary in telling the kid to LEAVE HIS IPOD AT HOME BECAUSE IT HAS NO BUSINESS BEING IN SCHOOL!

I mean...come on - GET REAL! We hear about kids taking cellphones to school and they end up texting their friends DURING CLASS. ***?

Are these parents absolutely stupid, or WHAT?

[Lerianis3]

'WarpKat, a lot of schools today have policies where they will NOT take away these things and that they are acceptable in school..... as long as you are not listening to them in class when the teacher is trying to teach.
As to the texting thing.... it's bogus. Frankly, people can focus on more than one thing at once (at least most of them), otherwise we wouldn't be having kids taking notes in classes when the teacher is trying to teach.

The only person who is stupid here is you. Get real, get with the 21st century, and stop pulling this stuff out of your ass. I'm just BETTING that you are 75 years old, thinking that kids are 'annoyances', and that is why you are posting stuff like this.

This is not a case of a discipline problem. This is a case of a parent staying out of something unless the school complains or a teacher complains.

[illegallydead]

simply having an iPod with you is not an issue. So long as the kid wasn't listening to it, what's the big deal?

Oh, and Lerianis3: the human brain is physically incapable of fully concentrating on two things at once. So, you CAN NOT text and pay attention in class. Medical fact there buddy.
And **** about "you are 75". No, WarpKat is simply venting about the fact that kids are really attached to their gadgets. No, they should not be on the phone in school. But he is not just "pulling stuff out of his @$$...

[`WarpKat]

@illegallydead: thanks - I'm glad I'm not the only one who saw the merits of what I was saying.

@Lerianis3: how old are YOU? 3? Get real - the 21st century IS here - of that I have no doubt, but kids should NOT be carrying gadgets around like this in school - they ARE a distraction. Kids nowadays want to stay on the latest in-social scene - that's fine - I have no problem with that, but for those kids are are actually in school and willing to learn and that CAN do it without their little tethers - how fair is it to them sitting next to idiots (probably such as yourself) banging away in their pockets the latest American Idiot news?

The kids are there to learn. Not listen to music or chat with friends over their phones.

[AgentWashington]

I'm not sure why you're freaking out about how kids have gadgets in their pockets during school. I'm 18 and in high school. We're allowed to listen to our iPods with our teacher's permission while we're doing busy work, so I don't see the problem with taking them to school, as long as you're not using them when you're not supposed to. Also, with the whole cellphone/texting deal, yeah, kids text, big deal. If they want to text and not pay attention during class, it's their fault and if their grades suffer, it's their fault, not their parents'. Also, the person on the other end of the text isn't obligated to respond, I always ignore texts I get during class, I might just read it quick and find the person later and talk to them face to face.

Having the person next to you text and do other stuff isn't some horrible distraction that impedes the learning of the bystander. Quit being a typical adult and trying to judge what you don't know first hand.

Just my 2 cents.

[illegallydead]

Definition of an EXPLOSION:
"An explosion is a sudden increase in volume and release of energy in an extreme manner, usually with the generation of high temperatures and the release of gases. An explosion creates a shock wave."

The battery may well have SHORTED, causing it to overheat and catch fire, but it did not EXPLODE.
There will definitely have to be some investigation into this. My guess is that Apple will buy the kid a new iPod, cover the medical costs, and throw in an extra $25k-$50k just to shut the parents up. No way will they actually be able to win the case for that much...

[mike234x]

My iPod Touch malfunctioned, couldn't be turned off, and got very hot. I took it to the Apple store. Apple couldn't do anything either, so they exchanged it.

[armen2772]

Did that happen before or after aliens gave him an anal probe?

[Timetogetill7]

Wow talk about a dumb comment. Seriously of all the countries you decide to mention you go and choose Colombia? You obviously don't know much about the country and like insulting other people. In the future do some research before making ignorant comments like that and trying to "sound smarter" than other people.

[Dan7637]

this is the stupidest lawsuit apart from "mcdonalds made me fat", devices are not perfect- greedy bastards, did his medical treatment really cost $225000 for "burns"

[tipoo_]

Hmm, lets see.

Liar liar pants on fire?

Exploded in his pants jokes?

Its a feature?

Nah, I'll go with its a New Apple DRM scheme.

[ikramerica--2008]

"Warning, the song file you are trying to access has not been tagged as legal by the MPAA. As per our new MPAA agreement, this iPod will self destruct in 10 seconds."

[karpenterskids]

Where's Apple_Rocks' commentary when we could use it the most?

[kenfused42]

maybe it burned his pee pee

[abundantsnotbob]

Wow that's alot to sue for a 2nd degree burn and a bit of collateral damage. I would have asked for $2,000, but by knowing this if any of my gadgets explode on me I could retire earlier.

[jaycustom]

HAHA! That is so crazy. BTW..you can't call that an "explosion"..even if it caught fire. The Myth Busters ounce did this, and know-it-all grant stated for it to be an explosion, there has to be pressure waves emitted, hence the "BOOM!". I bet the only BOOM was him going boom-boom in his silk g-string style "Speedo" Anyhow, kids gettin' dat money son. Too bad that doesn't happen to ALL iPod owners. Jobs is gonna say "it's a new, state-of-the-art security feature" " We are so concerned of people upgrading our devices, that once the iPod sensors detect a hardware failure, the device automatically self-destructs." **clapping of fanboys** Don't let the size of the new iPod Shuffle fool you, you fanboy fools!

[SkateNY]

If true, then Apple needs to pay up.

The unfortunate thing, or one of them, about a litigious society, is that when anyone suffers any damage from any product, regardless of the source of the problem, the company pays.

[tabaliah]

Likely the quarter that got stuck in the charger slot in the bottom of the iPod. Probably the same guy that sued Apple for the scratches in his nano from the same keys and pocket change.

[Fil0403]

In that case, credits to Apple for producing electronic devices that explode when touched by such unusual and rare objects as quarters. And also for still producing non-scratch-resistant electronic devices in the 21st century.

[Fil0403]

In that case, credits to Apple for producing electronic devices that explode when touched by such unusual and rare objects as quarters. And also for still producing non-scratch-resitant electronic devices in the 21st century.

[Fil0403]

Well, I'm not exactly afraid of my iPod, and I'm gonna keep using it almost everyday in my pocket as I use to, but I do think this shows just how differently some people react to similar stories depending on what company is involved: if this would have happened with a Zune, I bet many people here would be talking about how much that proves Microsoft products suck and defending that Microsoft should pay the little innocent boy who was just to idiot and ignorant to buy something from Microsoft in the first place; as it is Apple involved, the general idea I get from the comments over here is that the boy is an idiot and it's his fault for using spendex or quarters in his pocket (how dare he?).