iPod Repair

The NY Times recently ran this helpful article on do-it-yourself iPod repair:

A FEW months ago, Stephen Ironside, a student at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, confronted a minor but modern tragedy: the iPod that filled his life with song stopped working.

The device was out of warranty, and Apple would not fix it free. So he left it in a drawer until he happened to read a blog posting on CrunchGear.com that described how he might fix it — with a small, folded piece of paper. Mr. Ironside celebrated by posting thanks on the blog: “I’ve been on CDs for months. You saved my life (and my iPod).”

The author of the blog post, Matt Hickey of Seattle, says that using paper as a shim to put pressure on the hard drive has worked on about 70 percent of the failed iPods he has encountered — even though he is not sure why it works.

Gadget-fixing is adapting to the modern era. Neighborhood repair shops are all but gone, and along with them the repairmen who could offer casual advice, even when that advice was whether it was worth repairing the device. But Web sites can help users find and share solutions that can save a device from the landfill. If the job is too tricky, a number of Internet-based firms offer highly specialized repairs via overnight mail.

Some sites like macfixit.com, fixmyxp.com and macosxhints.com are devoted to a single product, while others like avsforum.com sponsor debates on a big product area, in this case home theaters, televisions and stereos. People with laptops that have suddenly gone blank can turn to www.notebookforums.com or notebookreview.com, and there are even a few sites like www.highdefforum.com for fixing TVs.

Something to keep in mind.