Apple iPod Essentials   Tracking the Pulse of iPod

When your mp3 player is almost as small as a Zippo lighter, it's easy to forget where you left it. From Jeffrey Kelly at the Richmond Times-Dispatch:

I have a knack for accidentally losing, maiming, drowning or destroying wallets, debit cards, cell phones and other small objects.

The fifth debit card I've replaced in the past year arrived last weekend, and I had just taken it from the envelope as I opened the washing machine door to notice a thin white cord streaming out of a front jeans pocket.

"Where's my iPod?"

The three-week-old, six-credit-cards-thin, sleek, black and $208.95 iPod nano was at the bottom of the washing bin.

The nano had been through a 30-minute rinse/spin cycle and a cold wash, as I obliviously relaxed on the sofa, watching and laughing at the newly released "Seinfeld" DVDs.

There was no drying out this iPod, as I have heard happen with others. The dip was too long, and as "Seinfeld's" George Costanza might say, the water was too cold.

In the days that followed, friends urged me to try to return it to the experts at the Apple store's "Genius Bar" and play dumb: "It just stopped, like, working all the sudden. Seriously."
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But they're geniuses. They'd know.

As expected, mom and dad e-mailed on Monday afternoon with a few lines on personal responsibility. I opine that it's not an issue of responsibility -- it's a matter of the technologies we use daily being so small and pocket-sized.

I wrote Jeremy Seftor, general manager at Capitol Mac on Main Street, for some tips on what to do should your iPod go for a spin.

"You might let it dry out for a while and see if it works," he wrote.

Thanks, Jeremy.

He continued: "I have an iPod Shuffle which has gone through two full washing machine cycles and one dryer cycle, and it still works. The first time, I was pretty depressed when my wife told me what had happened, but when I got home the thing just worked, so all was forgiven. In fact, the iPod was nice and white, especially the lanyard," which strings the player around the neck.

A few weeks later, Seftor said, his wife nonchalantly asked him if he'd been using the iPod lately. He told her yes, and "she was greatly relieved, because she had washed it for the second time."