I hacked my ipod

I had an ipod for a very long time - since about 2004 - and I had taken great care of it and it had been working great! Then Adam and I went to work out at the YMCA and I was jogging on the treadmill. I usually have it inside a pouch on one of those water bottle fanny packs for protection, but I had it out on the treadmill in the cup holder.

Sadly, I ended up whacking the ear buds cord with my arm and my ear buds popped out of my ears and my ipod went tumbling. I tried grabbing for it, but instead gave it more momentum and it crashed onto the treadmill and then got spit out on the ground behind us. Adam was jogging beside me and he got a good laugh at me comically grabbing for it and actually making the situation worse. (I think at some point I even *kicked* the ipod on its way down.) I checked it out. It still turned on and was playing music, so I went back to jogging. It couldn't have been five minutes later when the exact same thing happened AGAIN! It was so frustrating because I had jogged like this the last few times, ipod in cupholder, with NO problems. So yet again, I checked the ipod for damage, but it was still turning on and playing music. No problem.

The next time we go to the gym, I turn it on. It plays music for a little while, then starts making a horrible clicking noise. Then it turns itself off. Hmm, this is NOT good. I take another look at my ipod and notice a dent. No doubt the fall caused that. It's not too bad, but I turn the ipod on again and it is clicking like the hard drive is on its last leg, and then a sad ipod face (literally) shows up on the ipod screen and gives me a web address that I can check out for ipod problems.



Now if that picture doesn't just break your heart... I feel like I will be arrested for ipod abuse and neglect.

I feel like I've lost a friend, and jogging without an ipod is even MORE boring and monotonous.

Adam also has an ipod but his battery croaked and it wouldn't hold its charge anymore. So after a few boring, ipod-less workouts, I decide to look up to see how much it will cost to fix an ipod, or at least get a new battery for Adam's. The battery prices aren't too bad. Actually the new hard-drive prices aren't too bad either. Of course, to pay the Apple people to fix it IS going to be quite expensive. Well, I have a little electronic know-how, and I've heard of other people replacing their batteries and fixing their ipods on the cheap.

I found a great website of another person who needed to replace his battery. He had great instructions for both replacing a battery, as well as a hard-drive, a little more involved.

It took me awhile to get the faceplate off because I was afriad of snapping the plastic and breaking it. Seriously, Adam watched me play with it for an hour or two. Good thing my school classes hadn't begun yet.



So the plan is that my ipod has probably kicked the bucket due to my negligence, but my ipod battery is still just fine. So I'm going to put my battery into Adam's old ipod. (Adam has an awesome Archos anyway, so he doesn't need an ipod anymore.)

It's a delicate operation.









With great results!! HUZZAH!!!



The BEST PART. A working ipod to jog with, zero dollars. Did not cost me a penny. I already had the little screw drivers to help pry open the case.

Oh yes, my warranty had also expired LONG ago, so I had nothing to lose. However, if you DO have a warranty, you might NOT want to hack your own ipod. Apple might help you out. Read the fine print.

Here's a good video about it. I didn't see it until now, but maybe it will entertain you or help you. I thought the statistic at the end was funny. 1 out of 5 college students would trade their presidential election vote for an touch ipod. Hmm, shooting high there, college kids!