iPod's a Really Hot Item!

Haha

I pour skins for iPods, iPhones, Razors etc....

Sounds like a hot time in the old pod tonight :P

Probably the iPod's adverse reaction to him downloading pop music! :shock: :lol:

Dan

Similar thing happened to me last week. Plugged a wireless modem in at work, and bam! It started smoking and caught fire! :shock:

Perhaps technology has begun to revolt? :lol:

Pete

Technology can be revolting.

Battery failures are the sort of thing that gives product engineers nightmares. Most people have no idea how much energy is stored in those little devices' batteries. We sweat every charging and thermal management design detail to make sure any failures are "safe" failures. Nothing makes the test engineering quite as nervous as thermal testing a nickel-metal-hydride or similar battery in a metal temp chamber. Metal is shrapnel.

And then every once in a while, my team gets a battery failure return from a beta user or customer service. Without exception, these go to one of several places for careful failure analyses. The last one I received, a program manager helpfully suggested we "wrap up very securely" and send back to the manufacturer. This required a little re-education: We wrap them LOOSELY and place in a big box with lots of soft padding, then ship it.

There's a warning E-mail circulating claiming it's dangerous to talk on a cell phone while charging it due to risk of battery explosions, that further claims someone was killed that way. Haven't checked it out on Snopes. I suppose it's just possible that a bursting small battery could kill someone. In any case, I wouldn't want it to blow up right next to my ear. Nevertheless, I do fairly often briefly use my cell phone without disconnecting the charger.

Greg, thank God you are a madman engineer! Batteries are scary...LOL