The Manic Mechanic

This sort of thing makes me chuckle and shake my head at the same time. In a case filled with metric tons of irony, it seems that Apple has accidently shipped a fair number of iPods with an extra bonus, a Windows virus, "RavMonE". It seems that the virus originated from a production line Windows PC which is most likely used during the formatting and setup of the iPods. That Apple's iconic device needing PCs during their creation isn't enough to jump the snark, lo and behold an Apple spokesman takes this time to dig at Windows' inherent security weaknesses:

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company apologized on its Web site for the problem, but also used the opportunity to jab at Microsoft, its operating system rival.

"As you might imagine, we are upset at Windows for not being more hardy against such viruses, and even more upset with ourselves for not catching it," Apple said on its site.

Lame, lame, lame. While I will be the first to agree with claims that Windows is a veritable culture dish when it comes to viruses, to blame the OS for becoming infected and passing it's payload into product is akin to Republicans constantly blaming Clinton for everything they do wrong. First of all, steps should be put in place to prevent malware infections. This is SOP for any respectable company using platform computers in manufacturing settings. Also, give some courtesy where it is due. The iPod owes it's bewildering success to PC users. It's generally known that the iPod is primarily a Windows device, Apple itself recognizes this fact. Add to that the iPod being the first Apple-branded item that most of their owners have purchased, windfall sales of Apple computers and other items to PC users benefit Apple immensely these days and have practically saved the company from being the next Commodore.

You dont bite the hand that feeds you. Admit you made a mistake, make good on your promises to deliver a quality product and perhaps even use this as a learning experience and not a chance to shove off your responsibilities on others. Otherwise, the spotlight ends up shining instead on poor quality control on your part.

Reactions from Microsoft and security experts were in this same vein. Ironically, McDonalds (yes, the hamburger people) ran into almost the exact same scenario only recently when a MP3 player given away to Japanese customers as part of some promotion also contained a virus, presumably infected in a similar fashion. McDonalds immediately sent out a link to a website hosting a solution to fix any problems with the device. McDonalds! Not who immediately pops in one's mind when it comes to computer perpherals and containing malware, but they did the right thing and did it immediately.

Okay, back to transferring more music onto my iPod. From my PC.