Follow Up on Our iPod nano Scratches Hands-On Report--A Black iPod nano Observation

Yesterday, we posted the condition (with photos) of our five-month old white iPod nano showing nothing unusual for a relatively unprotected unit. Today, we post the observations of a reader with a black iPod nano. According to reader Dave Badovinac,

We have a black 4 GB iPod Nano, that we bought at about the same time you bought your white iPod Nano.

My wife uses it nearly everyday when she exercises. She carries it around (wrapped with its cords etc.) in a regular hard glasses case. There is no other protection for the iPod.

I just checked it and its not scratched much at all. As you said in your article today, scratches are more apparent on the metal back than on the front of the iPod.

So the severe scratching alleged by some iPod nano owners is not necessarily caused by the black color. While our observations are on only two among the millions of iPod nanos out there, we still find it hard to believe the allegations in the lawsuits against Apple over "excessive" scratching and "unusable" screens. It's also hard to believe that so many people would make this up. Could there be a batch or batches of iPod nanos with out-of-spec (too soft) plastic? [Bill Fox]