Boom Box

Apple faced  a burst  of negative PR this week, after an iPod Touch exploded.

Ken Stanborough accidentally dropped his daughter’s iPod: “It made a hissing noise,” he told The Times, “I could feel it getting hotter in my hand, and I thought I could see vapour”. Mr Stanborough rather sensibly hurled the gadget out of the back door: “Within 30 seconds there was a pop, a big puff of smoke and it went 10ft in the air”.

Touchy subject: the offending iPod

Interestingly, the media did not attack Apple for the technical problems. And with good reason. For years now, hardly a month has gone by without a news story on someone who was singed, scorched or otherwise lightly toasted by an exploding battery. Unfortunately, the elements that make up our current Lithium Ion batteries are just not very stable and high-speed impacts or extreme heat can tip them over the edge. Despite this the technology is still pretty safe. How many people do you know who have seen their phone or laptop spontaneously explode? It is extremely rare, but when it does happen companies are understandably keen to keep a lid on it.

No surprise then that most of the negative fallout focused on how Apple’s legal team handled the incident: trying to silence the Stanborough family with a non-disclosure agreement in exchange for a refund. That was when then the real fireworks began.

30 minutes on the Tube

I had the unpleasant experience of having to travel on the Tube the other day minus music, as I left my iPod at home.

The results: not good. I thought my music blocked out merely the rattling of the Tube, however it turns out it blocks out a multitude of other sins. Namely – the interference of other people’s music on the tube. I’d never realised how irritating it is!

Therefore I believe some form of music etiquette should be followed at all times:

1. Have your volume at a reasonable level – i.e. so no one else can hear the not-so-faint strains of some hideous happy hardcore tune blasting out by your left ear. There have been studies done in the past where MP3 manufacturers have had to set limits on the volume at which music can be played – clearly some MP3 players managed to avoid imposing this legislation.
2. Do not hum, sing, or worst of all, whistle along with the tune.
3. Don’t drum your fingers in an annoying ‘I want to be the drummer’ style tapping rhythm.

I obviously abide by my own rules at all times – although I have noticed I tend to attempt to do some form of mini-dance moves occasionally when on the train. Ultra embarrassing!

On similarly hilarious theme –  this made me laugh a LOT this morning. I think every seasoned Tube user has seen something similar to this:

30 minutes on the Tube…

…can bring up some interesting finds. I enjoy people watching, as does pretty much 100% of the population, and for me one of the best places to do this is on the Tube on my daily half hourly commute into work. It’s for this reason I’ve decided share with you all my foray into the world of 30 minutes on the Tube.

Today’s 30 minutes…’When technology fails’

I often spot people casually whipping out their BlackBerry/iPod etc and then revealing one of a few potential faces. I’ve reduced it down to three basic faces:

Happy: Phone is working and all is right in the world

Surprised: Phone is not working much to owner’s surprise

Angry: Phone is not working and this causes rage in the owner of said gadget.

I witnessed the ‘angry’ face this morning. A businessman, aged about 30 I’d say, pulls out his phone to check his emails/text messages so far for the day. It’s a new phone, very stylish and modern. He tries turning it on – but to no avail. He looks around, and tuts, once, very loudly. He tries taking off the back cover, checking the battery’s in there, and starts muttering, probably some form of expletive under his breath. He tries turning it on again. It’s simply not going to work. And then, out comes the ‘angry’ face. It’s amazing how we rely on technology and mobile phones in particular, and when they fail it’s seen by some, possibly many, as an absolute catastrophe. The ‘happy’ face and ‘surprised’ face weren’t present on the Tube today, maybe they got off before I got on? Either way, they don’t travel as regularly as the ‘angry’ face – especially when mobile phones are involved.

Next time

MP3 players and such-like: musical etiquette on the Tube…