Tech News : Got an iPod nano 1G? Apple is replacing it for free?

Those of you who still have the old iPod nano you bought in late 2005 or 2006 are about to get it replaced, thanks to an unsafe battery defect in a small number of units. There’s no way to determine which units are the bad ones, so Apple is swapping out all of the first generation iPod nanos still in service just to be safe. Just what Apple plans to replace your old nano with is another matter. Apple has to do this trade-in program for legal reasons, but it no doubt doesn’t want to. It’s not that it can’t afford to comp the relatively few first generation iPod nanos still in use after five years; after all, Apple has eighty billion dollars cash on hand (literally). No, the issue here is that what first generation nano owners end up getting back in the mail might be worth way more than that old broken circa-2005 nano they found sitting in a drawer – and that could set off a secondary market which would turn this (intended to be) quiet trade-in program on its ear…

Apple ceased selling the black and white hued original nano five years ago. The company likely kept some stock around for inventory replacement for at least another year, but any trace of first gen nano inventory is long gone by now. So unless Apple has taken the extraordinary (and expensive) step of putting the original nano back into limited production just to fulfill this replacement program, participants are likely to receive something much more modern in return. The least expensive iPod Apple still has in production is the current generation iPod shuffle, but you can’t swap someone’s nano with a shuffle without ruffling feathers. That leaves Apple in the position of perhaps having to send a shiny new seventh generation iPod nano, worth $129, as a replacement product for those who send in an old first generation iPod nano worth about as much as a ham sandwich these days even if it is in working condition. Apple says the warranty on the replacement iPod is good for only ninety days, which suggests that what you’ll be getting back in the mail might ultimately be a refurb. But even so, a refurbished seventh generation iPod nano with a touchscreen is a whole lot shinier than a six year old one with a click wheel…

We’ll see. Apple says the replacement won’t come back to you until six weeks after you send in yours – perhaps just enough time to end the program quietly before any replacements start getting into anyone’s hands. That would mean the party would be over before it started, as right around the time word starts to spread that you can get a free new iPod nano just by sending in an old one you can grab off eBay for ten bucks, the deadline will have passed anyway. So why are we tipping you off to this? Well, because you’re our readers. Have at it. Just try to behave.