How Tough Is Apple’s iPod nano? Maytag Tough.

I’ve washed money, rings, watches, jewelry, and a driver’s license or two. My iPod is sufficiently important to me that I promise not to leave it in the wash.

But that’s just me. Here’s an iPod nano story worthy of a Maytag commercial.

The original iPod (the ‘real’ iPods; the ones with hard drives) had a great feel. Bulk. Substance. Like a quality machine.

The biggest seller among the iPod family was the diminutive iPod mini, which, even with an internal hard drive, felt more like a very colorful 1950s transistor radio. Light. Fluffy. No substance. Ready to break if the music got too loud.

Among other millions, I admit to being impressed when I first saw the even smaller iPod nano. First, it looked like a real iPod, not the mini. Second, it was even smaller and more lightweight than the mini. Much smaller.

Things that are heavy have a certain ‘feel’ to themselves. Like a heavy watch. Or a cell phone. I’ve never put a cell phone in the wash and never met anyone who did (though I wouldn’t be surprised).

The iPod nano is so light, so small, so, so, tiny and inconspicuous, that it was just a matter of time before someone forgot it was in a jeans pocket and it found its way into the wash.

What would the Maytag repairman do with an iPod?

IPod nano owner and user “jonknee” over at MacMerc describes his adventure, complete with photos of the wet, then dry, iPod nano.

Set yourself up for the worst feeling you can have regarding an iPod. You spent $250 on a new nano, and you showed it’s beauty and sound to all your friends; oooohs, and ahhhhs, aplenty, right?

Right? “It’s so small,” they said. “It’s really tiny,” said others.

Jonknee said, “The nano is light enough that it turns out you can’t really tell when it’s in a shirt pocket and when it’s not. On this Saturday morning it was, and unfortunately the shirt was in the washer.”

Uh oh. It’s like your worst nightmare coming true. Better to read about someone else’s experience and take proper precautions than have it happen to you.

Is there life after death? Only your Maytag repairman knows for sure. Jonknee continues, “I got ahold of it after about a minute in the dryer, so the little white contraption had already experienced a warm wash, cool rinse and exciting spin cycle. It was non-responsive and if I was an ER doctor the nano would have been pronounced dead.”

Uh oh. Let the tears flow. Let the mourning begin. Lay out the nano on a pure white terry cloth towel, and mourn. “iPod nano, we hardly knew ye.”

What would you do in a similar situation? Cry? Dry? Go buy another nano? Curse the Maytag? Not iPod nano owner ‘jonknee.’  “Surprisingly (I guess this is where the spin cycle helps) the unit itself wasn’t too wet. I dried it off and after a while plugged it in. It didn’t mount—my hope that only the screen had been nuked wasn’t panning out.”

See? There was hope, even in death. Just like on ER, the patient was allowed to die calmly, and lie on the bed while passersby mourned and took pity. Lie on the bed, er, uh, on a towel. And dry.

Lassie has come to life after a long fought battle with the bear (Maytag). “But after several minutes I saw the battery icon on the screen and that lifted my spirits. After another wait, probably about 30-40 minutes, the backlight kicked on and the nano mounted in iTunes and on my desktop.”

What a happy story. Click Here for all the details and actual photos.

Now, when you toss your jeans in the wash, try to remember where you put your iPod.