I’ve had my 2nd gen. 8GB iPod Nano for a couple of years now, it’s been on quite a few trips with me, and well, it’s had a pretty rough life. Rougher than even I realised…

I’m a pretty keen mountain biker (unfortunately I don’t get to ride as much as I would like these days) and I like nothing more than blowing through some tight single track with some tunes blaring from my iPod. Also unfortunately, I’ve come off quite badly (broken arm in two places anyone?!) on more than one occasion and my trusty iPod has been in the thigh pocket of my riding shorts. Remarkably it’s remained in tact, save for a few scratches and minor dents.

12 months ago I had to reset it completely as some songs started skipping, but I never worked out what caused it. Could have come into contact with something highly magnetic? Who knows. Since the reset, it’s been functioning at 100%, which I think is remarkable for the beating it’s taken.

Little did I know, that doesn’t come close to the abuse the poor iPod has suffered…

I was sitting on the lounge a few weeks ago, loading up some new tunes, when my wife turned to me with a sheepish look on her face and said “Is it working ok?” I replied “Sure, just putting some new tunes on.” Then I noticed the look on her face and the penny dropped “Why? Why wouldn’t it be ok?” To which she replied “Baby, I’ve got something to tell you…” Here we go I though, but nothing I could have thought of would prepare me for what I was about to hear; “Baby, I accidentally put your iPod through the washing machine (on warm wash too!)”

The thing is, it’s still working fine!

It’s rare that you’d find me plugging an Apple product (at least in a positive way!), but i’ve got to say that my little iPod Nano is a truely robust piece of kit. Either that or damn I’m lucky