Amendment III: And now the website’s moved to www.openobject.org/isop
Amendment II: The iPod Social Outreach Program now has it’s own website, for more information go to www.iSOP.blog-city.com
Amendment I: I’ve decided to accept iPods with broken screens. Bring in your iPod, whatever the condition, and I’ll let you know which bits still work and which bits are cactus.
Since resurrecting Rory’s iPod I’ve had a lot of people mentioning that they also have faulty iPods. It started me thinking, there must be hundreds (probably hundreds of thousands) of iPods out there sitting dormant because their owners aren’t sure how to fix them and getting someone to take a look can be prohibitively expensive. These iPods are caught in a kind of limbo, too expensive to fix and too expensive to throw away. Like much of todays failed consumer technology they will probably hang around being useless until they’re technically redundant, their initial purchase cost has become a distant memory, and their owners are ready to move-on and leave them behind.
I’d like to help some of these iPods come out of their comas, so I’ve decided to run an iPod Social Outreach Program. This program will operate from Oct. 14th to Nov. 28th, 2006 as part of an exhibition curated by Nadine Christensen at Uplands gallery (that’s in Melbourne, Australia).
Bring your dysfunctional iPod to the gallery during this time and I will attempt to fix it for free.
Now, you should bear in mind that I am not a technician and have no formal training in iPod repairs, however I am extraordinarily stubborn and every effort will be made to diagnose and repair your iPod. Were necessary your iPod will be disassembled and it’s components tested for faults. Please note that I will not be providing replacement parts and if your iPod has a hardware failure I may not be able to repair it. If your iPod cannot be repaired it will be returned to you along with a detailed description of the fault. Do not submit iPods with cracked or damaged screens, I can do nothing about this issue and these iPods will simply be returned to you ‘as is’. Also, please do not submit iPods that are still covered by an Apple or third party warranty, you should take these to their appropriate authorised repair centre.
To take advantage of the iPod Social Outreach Program you will need to drop-off and pick-up your iPod from the gallery (regretfully I don’t have the time or resources to provide a postal service). When leaving your iPod for repair you will be required to fill out a consent form giving me the authority to dismantle your iPod and acknowledging that I will not be liable for any loss or damage associated with the repair process. Care will be taken to ensure the safe return of your iPod, however accidents can happen, this is a free service, and I need to cover my ass. Please enter into the program with these points in mind.
In addition to the repair service I will also be installing Linux onto iPods and providing plans and examples of various DIY iPod microphones. If you would like more information about the iPod Social Outreach Program leave a comment here or contact me at the following email address: iSOP (at) inbox.com
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