What can I do with a dead iPod?
September 9, 2006 2:27 PM Subscribe

What can I do with a dead iPod?

Mini. 4gb. Silver. Got wet.

posted by airguitar to Science & Nature (21 answers total)

This?
posted by special-k at 2:31 PM on September 9, 2006

Repair it? (Was this a trick question?)
posted by jaimev at 2:32 PM on September 9, 2006

Or this?
posted by mcwetboy at 2:38 PM on September 9, 2006

If it is totally dead... If you buy another iPod at an Apple Store, they will give you 10% the purchase by trading the old one in.
posted by birdherder at 2:38 PM on September 9, 2006

I second iPod ResQ... they did me good when a friend spilled coffee all over my 60g a week before I had to move to China. Good prices, friendly and responsive service.
posted by trinarian at 2:45 PM on September 9, 2006

I was thinking about smashing it open and toying with the innards. Or mailing it to a friend with a note explaining how much it meant to me and asking that he care for it. Like a Jesus and Lazarus thing, or a viking funeral. I wonder what's on the inside. There's probably some blog in there.
posted by airguitar at 2:52 PM on September 9, 2006

I'm also missing an eagle.
posted by airguitar at 2:53 PM on September 9, 2006

Contribute it to the Rockbox project.
posted by orthogonality at 4:02 PM on September 9, 2006

airguitar: "I wonder what's on the inside. There's probably some blog in there."

Well, rip it open, scoop out all the juicy, juicy blog, and smear it all over your monitor. That's what the rest of us do.
posted by koeselitz at 4:47 PM on September 9, 2006

Isn't it pretty much de rigeur to turn old Apples into aquariums?

I can imagine some very happy Sea Monkeys in there...
posted by Pinback at 6:19 PM on September 9, 2006

While not as creative as some of the other ideas above, you could sell it on ebay as "broken" or "for parts"... After checking recent completed auctions, the 4gb mini goes for between $36.00-$65.00 ...
posted by eli_d at 8:00 PM on September 9, 2006

Do what eli_d said and sell it for parts, but take it apart and sell each part individually... you'll make more money that way.
posted by fvox13 at 8:17 PM on September 9, 2006

I second birdherder's suggestion of turning it in to the Apple Store to get 10% off. I did that when my 3G iPod's hard drive died. At least it's something.
posted by lunarboy at 8:41 PM on September 9, 2006

Mourn it.
posted by neda at 9:20 PM on September 9, 2006

wet? I sweat all over mine, I ran during rain, I took it to two-and-a-half-thousand-percent-humidity-nigeria and it almost didn't die - unlike me, who almost did die. what do you mean by got wet? did you swim laps with it?

alas, I plan on throwing mine at steve jobs. battery dead after eight months means payback.
posted by krautland at 12:34 AM on September 10, 2006

Well, this might have changed recently, but with the first generation of iPod mini's, the 4GB drive inside was basically on a CompactFlash bus (i.e. it was a 'microdrive.') So if you have a digital SLR that takes CompactFlash cards, you could gut the mini and use the drive to hold a lot of pictures.

A few years ago, Creative released a 4GB MP3 player (the MuVo II, I believe) that contained a similar drive. The thing was, at the time, the player sold for $200, whereas a bare 4GB microdrive sold for almost $300. There were widespread instances of people buying the player, gutting it, selling the drive, and replacing it with a smaller CF card.
posted by cebailey at 7:12 AM on September 11, 2006