Apple of my eye? Not really.

The iPod was released in 2001. I'm not sure when I got mine, but I was by no means an early adopter. If I had to put a date on it, I'd say 2004, which is when I started making regular business trips - driving - to Syracuse, NY. That's a long drive - over 300 miles - and radio isn't always reliable. I had a course on CD (Terror of History: Mystics, Heretics, and Witches in the Western Tradition), which was quite good and informative. But mostly when I was on I-90, breezing by all those old industrial revolution towns like Amsterdam and Gloversville, I wanted tunes. 

So I got an iPod and loaded it up, mostly with Bruce Springsteen and the Irish singer Mary Black, so I could sing my way to Syracuse and back home again. 

That iPod is around here somewhere, but I haven't used it in years. 

It was the first and only Apple product I've ever owned.

My husband had an early-ish Apple II from early in the 1980's, but when it comes to personal computers, I've always been a Windows kind of gal, and over the years, between desktops and laptops, I've had 'em all. Leading Edge. Gateway. Compaq. Toshiba. HP. Dell. Sony. Microsoft. 

I'm one of the only people I know who doesn't have an iPad or Macbook or other Apple computer.

And I'm one of the only people I know who's never had an iPhone. 

Back when they came out, I'm not sure what I had. A Nokia flip phone? A Motorola? A Blackberry? (I had a couple of those along the way.) My last few phones have been Samsungs. And, even though I think there are more emojis on Apple for some reason, and even though overseas there are issues when trying to text between an iPhone and other sorts of phones, I'm fine with not being an Apple person.

Nothing against Apple, mind you. I admire the aesthetic, their marketing genius, etc. It's just that I've always felt their products were a bit pricey. And, in general, I can be an aginner.

Did I just say "nothing against Apple, mind you"? Tsk, tsk.

There may well be something to hold against Apple, and that's the issue about whether they put in software fixes to deliberately slow down iPhone performance on older models to force folks to upgrade to newer ones.

Apple has just agreed to settle a class action law that claimed that they did just that:

The proposed settlement agreement requires Apple (AAPL) to pay the owners of certain iPhone models $25 per affected device, totaling a minimum of $310 million and a maximum of $500 million, according to documents released on Friday in US District Court in San Jose, California. The amount each user receives could increase or decrease depending on how many claims are filed as well as any additional legal fees and expenses approved by the court, the document added. (Source: CNN)

$500 million is, of course, chump change to Apple. The company's market cap, as of last Friday, was $1.265 TRILLION. And they may find this a small price to pay to put this issue behind them.

The company has admitted:

...that it used software updates to slow down older iPhones, soon after angry customers and tech analysts flagged that the updates were causing diminished performance. Some of them suggested that Apple did so to force users to upgrade to the latest iPhone model, but the company said it was aimed at addressing issues with older lithium-ion batteries that would make the phones suddenly shut down to protect their components.

So maybe they didn't actually put the fix in to deliberately slow down the old iPhones to the point where people couldn't stand using them any longer. But I'm pretty sure that someone there kinda sorta knew that the slowdown caused by the supposed battery fix might lead some iPhoners to upgrade to something newer, shinier, faster and more expensive. 

Not good.

Built-in obsolescence is the name of the tech game. I typically hang on to my phones and laptops for about 3 years before they just plain wear out. Or until I just want something that runs faster. I get relatively high end models - a nice Samsung galaxy, a decent Microsoft Surface. And still they tend to run out of steam after a few years use. (Or I run out of patience and just want something with a bit more zoom.) I do know that I get a ton of use out of both my phone and my laptop. I don't record how much time I spend on them during a day, but it's plenty. So when the nag has to head to the glue factory, I never feel as though I haven't gotten my money's worth out of it. Still, I'd be plenty ticked off if I found out that there were deliberate attempts to diminish performance, rather than just the reality that things fall apart, there's a lot of wear and tear and/or a desire to have a more souped up model.

If I were one of those iPhone users with an older, dowdier phone - one numbered in the 6's and 7's, that I bought before December 21, 2017 - I might be inclined to file a settlement claim. I think I saw somewhere that the likely payout will be around $25. Still, $25 is $25. Which is more than I've ever been rewarded from any of the class action claims I filed. (Did I get $2 once???)

I'll be on the lookout for a class action suit on yesteryear iPods...