A bad batch is at least possible, but I really doubt the material on every new iPod is different when Apple says it's the same.
However, the negative hype that snowballed causes two things, even if the problem (meaning iPods that scratch more easily than others) is rare or nonexistent:
1. It makes people LOOK for scratches up close, and notice more scratches than they would have.
2. It makes people TRY to scratch models on display! The display models I saw were fine, but I wouldn't judge by any display model. Especially when people say the SCREEN especially was all scratched up on the one on display. You know that scratches concentrated right on the screen were intentional, not just random handling by shoppers--it's not like the screen is made of something different from the rest of the face.
Actually, I'm pretty sure ALL full-size iPods have always had a clear casing that covers the entire front, NOT just the screen. The type of clear plastic may have changed over time (I doubt it--and we know the 4th and 5th gen/nano are the same), but the iPod has always been white-under-clear.
I believe the reason some people think that's a recent change is that the newest iPods (like the first very ones) have a hard corner around the front edges. That helps you SEE the clear shell that was always there. My 4th gen has rounded edges like your 3g, and it's not as easy to tell the shell is clear--but it is. Your iPod surface isn't made of white plastic with a clear screen, it's a whole clear shell--over top of white plus the screen. No matter which gen you have. (Black instead of white might show more scratches of course.)
The warranty would always cover problems that are Apple's fault (if any such REAL issue should emerge). Now Apple is offering support BEYOND the warranty, covering abuse. That's nice of them, whether it lasts a week, a month, or a year. ANY time period is above and beyond what they have to do. Things are better for customers today than they were before this decision. So what's the problem?
It's like if Apple gave away a free charger to iPod buyers this month. Special promo. Does that make it BS if the promo EVER ends?
Remember, this isn't something Apple is promising or advertising--this is inside info that has been intercepted. Apple's decisions like this ARE subject to change. There's nothing surprising about that.
Something makes me think this rumor will spiral into strange and surreal new places for a long time 😛
IF "it comes out that Apple is at fault" then your warranty is likely to apply, or a new decision is likely to come from Apple to rectify the situation. No such fault has emerged YET (and there may BE none) so how you can you criticize Apple's response to it?
You don't NEED a "generous" replacement for a faulty device. Only if you plan to abuse your iPod. The included case is a more convenient solution for that 🙂
If you're thinking that bhttps://forums.macrumors.com/images/editor/menupop.gifecause two people have posted, remember this: who would BOTHER to post and say "I have no dead pixels"? Very few would. But if you DO have them, it's human nature to complain. Thus, ANY online forum will make the product in question seem more trouble-prone than it really is. 1% of people with a problem will post ten times as much as 99% of people who have nothing to complain about. Nothing wrong with that--it's human nature, and sharing problems/solutions is actually very useful. (And bad pixels on LCDs are an occasional fact of life--otherwise they'd be insanely expensive. 5g iPods of course have many MORE pixels than any previous iPod.)
