iPod Explodes in Classroom

Nicole Martinelli ()

iPod Explodes in Classroom

@Manfreddi on Flickr.

Police and fire officials were called when an iPod spontaneously exploded on the desk of a high school student in West Newbury, Massachusetts.

The iPod was sitting on the girl’s desk in science class when it exploded. No one was hurt and fire chief Scott Berkenbush said the situation proved to be minor.

“iPod is the new Toyota,” Berkenbush remarked to the Daily News Online. “I think the problem is with the battery itself. If any moisture gets on it or it falls in a puddle, it can spark.”

Unfortunately, the report doesn’t mention what iPod model — one of the older iPod nanos that have had battery problems — was or whether it was a school-issued iPod Touch that more and more schools are adopting for classroom work.

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Via Daily News Online

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About the author

nicole_martinelli

Nicole Martinelli is a San Francisco native who has lived in Milan and Florence, Italy. She's written for Wired.com, The New York Times and Newsweek. You can find her on Twitter , Facebook and Google+.

If you're doing something new/cool that's Apple related, email her about it.

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Posted in iPod, News |

  • Harrison

    “iPod is the new Toyota” Actually, until an someone dies because of their iPod, I think this is a bit over-reaching.

  • Dustni

    i always though dropping my iPod in a puddle would FIX my problems -__-

  • andrew

    The iPod didn’t spontaneously explode. From Gizmodo:

    “The iPod did not just explode. It was broken so a kid took the entire thing apart and was rubbing wires against the battery, which became very hot, then exploded. This is not a faulty product that caused a danger to people. This was bored kids, in a classroom with a substitute all week, who found a dangerous way to entertain themselves.”

  • pskennedySOS

    Thanks for your expert opinion, Mr. Berkenbush. And how many of these exploding iPods have you encountered and researched the origin of?

  • Jeff

    Scott Berkenbush is the new Toyota.

  • Ken Todack

    It’s hard to justify the headline “IPod Explodes in Classroom” and the sub headline “IPod is the New Toyota”. Actually after about two minutes of research- I found from the schools staff inquiring into the incident the following REAL facts that were sent to all the parents at the school from the principal: Here is the schools letter:

    The letter the principal sent home with the students in the classroom.

    Dear Parent/Guardian,

    I am writing to inform you of an incident that occurred during your child’s period 3 science class today. Several students took apart an I-pod music device and as a result the battery malfunctioned and gave off a plume of smoke. The teacher ventilated the room and shortly thereafter students were moved to another location. The students closest to the area and those who had touched the device were seen by the nurse.

    We contacted the public safety office in West Newbury who sent a crew from the fire department to assess the situation. The crew inspected the room, the device and the students most directly involved. They concluded that there appeared to be no injuries and that there was no danger to others in the building. The room was cleaned and students resumed their normal activities.

    If you have any questions, please contact me at the high school office.

    Thank you.
    Jonathon P. Seymour
    Principal
    LikeReport

    Notice the IPod gave off a plume of smoke– not EXPLODED as in the headline sent to the entire planet by Nicole Martinelli.

  • Reed Richards

    Ken — if this letter’s everywhere, please link to it.
    Also, technically it’s not a subhead, it’s a quote — one that the fire chief told the other publication.

    And if you look at the clarification that gizmodo “gave” it’s a comment on the same local news post from an anonymous commenter.
    This is one of those cases where somebody should really phone the school and ask, but until someone does, it’s that one local news source, which did, in fact say it “exploded.”

  • Ken Todack

    Response to Reed Richards–
    Ok– Here is the Newburryport Daily News article and the response by a father of one of the students who was in the classroom. It’s the father who sent out a copy of the letter sent by the Pentucket Regional High School. See commentary by JOS. The link:

    http://www.newburyportnews.com/punews/local_story_056225627.html

    As you can see from my original post the letter from the principal of the high school is signed. Anyone who thinks the parent JOS is making this all up has to be delusional.

    It seems apparent that the reporter Katie Curley Katzman only spoke to the fire chief and not to the students, teacher or principal. The fire chief was only asked to verify that the room was safe (from toxic fumes) and if the spilled chemical residue could be safely cleaned. The fire chief was not interested in ascertaining what caused the IPod to combust by questioning the students but simply told the reporter of IPod incidents he had read about. Since other articles that the fire chief read state IPods spontaneously explode, that explanation got tagged on to this incident without any real investigation. I would say that what the principal reports in his letter is a more accurate description of the event.

  • Reed Richards

    Ken — I’m playing devil’s advocate here but an anonymous comment on the first news source does not constitute “all over the internet,” nor does it change what we know that has been *verified* about the original incident.

    I agree, Katzman should’ve rounded out her story by talking to other sources, also, since those were comments posted on that story a follow up would’ve been pretty easy, esp. if posters leave an email that isn’t published but would give a way to contact them. Also, the cult post may have been done before those comments were published — so, again, sure, you could say that the post here shouldn’t have been done at all based on that source…But if that source was the basis for the post and accurately linked, quoted, there’s not a lot more to take issue with.

  • Charli

    also regardless of the letter issue, this makes something like the 50th ipod in the history of the entire line (of millions of units) to explode, flame, smoke etc. So implying that the ipod is a dangerous and deadly device by design is still hyperbole