Last week I told you about reports that the bodies and screens of Apple new, hot iPod nano were scratching “too easily”, according to some, and that some of the new nanos (according to Apple, one-tenth of one percent of all nanos shipped, and limited to a single vendor) had “screen irregularities”. Apple has, of course, offered to replace defective nanos.

All this fuss about scratches has prompted two members of the Mac online community to explore just how sturdy and resilient an iPod nano can be. One, by accident – the other, on purpose.

We’ve all accidentally left something “not necessarily washable” in the pocket of some article of clothing that we’ve put through the washing machine. Many times we don’t even discover it until we hear the clunking sound coming from the dryer. If we’re lucky, its just some coins or some cash (no money laundering jokes, now).

What if its something more valuable, like, say, a $250 iPod nano? Sure enough, a young man reported this week on his web site that he had accidentally washed his iPod nano. Horrified, he let the nano dry for a day, then turned it on, expecting the worst. To his surprise, it started right up playing music, although the screen had a large “amoeba” of water within it. Two days later the screen amoeba had dried up, and the nano is now running flawlessly.

The crack staff of the website ArsTechnica (with obviously way too much time on their hands) decided to see just how much torture an iPod nano could take. They focused on simulating everyday accidents that could cripple an iPod.

First, they sat on the nano. No damage. They then jogged about 20 feet and dropped the nano (at an estimated speed of 4-6 mph) onto a sidewalk. Again, the nano didn’t skip a beat.

Undaunted, they dropped the nano out of the window of a car going 10, 20, 30, and finally 50 mph. Although the body was scratched (duh) the nano (and screen) continued to function flawlessly.

They then dropped the nano from a height of 10 feet onto the sidewalk. This “bugged out” the screen, but “the band played on”.

They then ran over the nano with a car twice, and finally “killed” it by dropping it from 40 feet in the air. Note: these tests were performed by trained professionals – do not try them at home.

© 2005 Peter F. Zimowski