iPod Static and Third-Party Headphones

Jonathan Seff, at the Macworld Editors’ Notes weblog:

In fact, I purchased a new 40GB Click Wheel iPod recently that suffers from the static affliction. So, I figured I’d try and contact Apple tech support as a regular consumer instead of PR as a member of the press.

After giving my name, phone number, and serial number of my iPod (to make sure I was still entitled to free support, I’m guessing), I was transferred to a person who asked me what the problem was. I explained to him that I got static through my headphones, especially when the hard drive spun up. He asked about my headphones, and I told him I’d tried several different ones. How about the Apple headphones? Those worked fine, I told him. His reply (not an exact quote): “If it sounds fine with the Apple-supplied headphones, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the iPod.”

★ Thursday, 5 August 2004