I've found myself learning a number of interesting facts about iPods this past day or two that perhaps I'd rather not have ever known:
- An iPod can be connected safely, via the Y-shaped cable that comes with a dock, to two generic power supplies at once. For instance, the Firewire cable can be plugged into a mains adapter, while the USB cable used to transfer files onto the iPod (and incidentally charge it).
- However, this is no longer safe if one of the power supplies is reactive to what you connect to it e.g. a solar/mains-charged, third-party battery pack. In this case, if the pack spots an alternative power supply on the far side of the iPod, it will try to use it to recharge. This will be accomplished through the iPod, which will drain its battery so fast that the case becomes hot enough to fry an egg on.
- When the computer at the other end of a USB connection is switched off, it no longer provides power to the iPod, so you only have to worry about currents running down the other connection.
- However, this does not seem to be the case with the Firewire standard which, if the computer is connected to the mains, still seems to provide a large thump of power to the device. Or this might actually be a fault, owing to the age of the computer the iPod was connected to.
So, there you have it: if you use an iPod as a bridge between your solar charger of choice and the mains voltage, chances are it will nigh-on catch fire. It's a rather long and drawn-out way of destroying the device, but it has a certain Goldfinger charm to its convolutions. Bring in an experimental death ray or a room that fills with poison gas in twenty seconds and you're all set to be the next Bond villain.
In a sense I was lucky that my iPod was already showing the archetypal signs of pod wear, as it's now turned into an unresponsive metal brick: this finally gives me the impetus to free myself from the tyranny of making-do. Anyway, I'm now looking for a new portable music player (money willing) if I can find a suitable device. It really has to be:
- Longer-lasting than my iPod (hence Flash- rather than hard-driven?)---the greenness of the product is important for me, and I'd rather just not buy anything than buy a product with a two-year lifespan.
- Compatible with Linux on some reasonable level. I hear that anything other than the iPod lets you drop files onto it as if it were a USB hard drive, but that might not be the case.
- Probably not made by Apple. Between their environmental policy, their use of sweatshops, and their disdain for their customers, I'm heartily sick of Apple's use of beautiful design to paper over their moral cracks. I hope to find a company that, while it might be just as badly behaved, doesn't present its products as a choice of lifestyle or aesthetics.
If anyone has any suggestions then do let me know.
