Thanks largely to those meddling kids at Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry—who were investigating cases of people burned by too-hot-to-handle nanos—Cnet says Apple admitted today that some first-gen iPod nanos were overheating and said that it will replace any first-gen iPod nano that smokes or sparks (or blows up). Apple says the issue has been traced back to a single battery supplier, and affects less than 0.001 percent of first-gen nanos. So if yours is bubbling or you're using it as a space heater for your pet mouse, hit up AppleCare for a replacement. There's a big question here though: If Japanese officials hadn't gotten involved, would they have made this announcement? I don't think so, even though it's not like exploding iPod nanos are an undocumented phenomenon. [Cnet]
DISCUSSION
Here I thought everyone who bought Apple products did so because they are hot.
It is understandable Apple is not going to make a blanket "we will replace your iPod Nano" statement unless there is so much bad press on the issue that they have no choice. MobileMe — yes, they need to essentially give customers a free year of use. Nano's overheating? Until it becomes a dinner table conversation, Apple is going to minimize the damage by denying as long as they can. And, honestly - so far, they have done pretty well given the fact that this was a problem with the original Nano.