iPod Stopped Working - How to Go From Zero to Hero in 6 Seconds

Last year we bought my stepson an Apple iPod nano 4 gig for his 15th. birthday. Beautifully designed and super slim in black. Of course he didn't need an iPod, he already had a perfectly fine, unbranded 1 Gig MP3 player, but this thing was what he wanted.....

So last September in good time for his birthday we duly ordered one from Amazon.co.uk for around about 134, plus a couple of accessories to go with it. I'm a huge fan of Amazon and the kit arrived within the promised couple of days.

Move on to this August, off he goes on holiday, but he has to borrow an MP3 player from a friend. Not having my brain in gear at the time it didn't register that he wasn't taking his own lovely iPod. But on his return and with his impending birthday coming around again and the threat of having to provide the latest iPod, I asked what was wrong with his iPod.

"Oh, my iPod just stopped working." "How do you mean just stopped, did you drop it, did you leave it out in the rain did you go swimming with it on?" "No, I just charged it up one day and it was working and the next time I came to use it - a few weeks later - it wasn't working. Wouldn't even work when connected to the PC. Nothing"

Now, I'm as much of a technophobe as the next 50+ year old, but I was an early Apple Macintosh user, back in 1985/86 and am a huge fan of Apple and all things Apple. Surely they don't make stuff that just stops working - I mean I know times have moved on and everything, but the ethos of the company hasn't changed that much has it?

To my mind with my limited technical knowledge and my even more limited knowledge of batteries and rechargeable batteries at that, I was convinced this was a battery issue. He hadn't misused the thing at all. I assumed he'd also tried everything in his iPod manual to sort the thing out, although I do have a bit of a belief that if you need a manual to use a thing it needs to be better designed - but that's another whole subject!

Thank goodness the iPod came from Amazon. I located my order online (phew, within a year ago) and phoned them. No good. I emailed and got an immediate response - "to better serve Apple customers, Apple wants iPod customers to phone them direct."

Uh-oh I thought, here we go. But no, Apple customer service was brilliant, I needed the iPod with me when I phoned so they could get me to try a couple of things before they sent a replacement.

I duly took the iPod with me to the office the next day and called Apple. I had a reference number so got straight through to someone who had all the details in front of them in an instant.

So, within seconds, and I mean seconds, the chap at the other end of the phone, a Frenchman I think, had the iPod working again.

So, why am I writing this piece?

Well it occurred to me that there are a whole lot of people out there like me who have bought iPods, for their loved ones, not really understanding what they are all about, other than maybe realising, or being told that they are sooooo COOL. But worse than that the MSN chat loving, glued to the PC screen, use the computer everyday, supposed technical whizz kids for whom the thing was bought, have never even opened the manual. (And with this well designed piece of kit - why would they?)

In case it goes wrong of course. The troubleshooting guide. So, don't assume your teenager has read his or her Apple iPod manual. He or she probably hasn't even downloaded, or installed it or whatever. Wouldn't recognize a troubleshooting guide if it slapped him or her in the face.

And why do I think I am entitled to pass on what could prove to be a pure gold nugget? Something that could save the hassle of a return, or the expense of a replacement iPod? Well just today, completely unprompted, my own daughter handed me her very fancy 30 gig iPod with the words - could you have a look at this dad, it just stopped working - even when I recharge it, or connect it to the PC - nothing.

I did exactly what the man at Apple customer service had told me to do and even though my daughter is something of a gadget whizz kid, I became her instant hero - fixed, one 30 gig iPod in white. What a COOL feeling that was!

OK, so what was it that I was able to do that saved me having to buy my stepson a new (and obviously the latest, more expensive) iPod? Or at least having the hassle of arranging a swap? What was it that turned me from a doddery old man to a technical hero in my daughter's eyes?

It was this - and it's not original, it's not my own idea, it's not that clever even, it was the first thing the Apple man said to try, it probably appears in the iPod user manual, but I am prepared to bet more than 50% of teenage iPod owners have never heard of it - it's how to reset the iPod.

Press and hold the menu button and at the same time press and hold the circular central control button. Hold both for about 6 seconds. It seems like an age, but in that short time you could 1. Save yourself upwards of 200 - the cost of a replacement, 2. Surprise a know it all teenager into thinking you are hip and cool and switched on after all, or 3. Be your 20+ year old daughter's hero all over again, 20 years on!

I hope this works for you and you are now your iPod owner's hero. In case you aren't, I've put together a couple of resources that may help.

http://www.keenbiz.com/ipod.htm

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