My iPod is dead. Long live the iPod.

I'm unhappy with Apple.

First, they release iTunes 7, which royally screws up my iPod, ruining the hard disk. Now it makes loud grinding sounds whenever I hook it to my computer and it refuses to connect to iTunes, and all the data on it is gone.

Then their support turned out to be worthless, and their repair service downright ridiculous. They said they'd charge me $275 to fix an iPod I bought for $250 and could replace for a brand new, video-playing one for the same. They also suggested I just buy a new one, but since when do I reward a company for screwing me over?

Instead, I fled to eBay, where I found another iPod just like with a 30-day warranty that it would work perfectly. End price? $86.

And now I have a spare iPod that would work if only it had a new hard drive. I might turn it into a news story. We'll see.