Shit from Robots from the Future, you mean.

I should have probably mentioned that I sacrifice ipods and sometimes small children to the Gods of technology, so I think that has some bearing on the varying quality of J's and my electronic karma. Being Asian also helps.

I also do considerable research before I purchase anything, looking specifically at track records for hardware failures. For instance, I would never buy a refurbed Xbox 360 because of all the red ring of death scares. Nor would I buy anything refurbed from Sony these days (I bought a refurbed portable Sony CD player waayyyy back in the day and it was awesome and still works, but these days I hear weird things). They have a horrible record for mechanical failures and repair (though I can't fault J on his PS3 purchase; that thing is a beaut. Oh, and for what it's worth, I sat and played that rig and right at the point he was sure it would freeze on me, I went on and kept playing. I'm telling you, these things have DNA recognition in them....) Manufacturers with good track records: Canon, Creative Labs, Apple is hit and miss (though flash-based mp3 players are generally less prone to failure than hard drive based ones). Long story short: read both the customer and professional reviews of anything you buy. If people are complaining that it craps out on them right after the warranty runs out, DON'T BUY IT.

If you don't want to go refurb, Creative Labs still takes a dump on Apple's lawn with its regularly priced products.