I have a five year old Diamond Rio PMP 500 MP3 player that I use exclusively while exercising. It simply will not die no matter how badly I mistreat it.
The screws on the back are rusted. I’ve run many times in the rain with it. The screen doesn’t work half the time. If you push on it the wrong way you get a 5x volume jolt. The battery cover is broken. I have to take the battery out whenever I don’t use it or it will discharge prematurely.
But alas, I’m much more frugal gadget-wise than I used to be (thanks dotcom crash) and simply refuse to buy a new one until it stops working entirely.
Reminds me of this gem from The Onion:
VOLUME 38 ISSUE 32 — 4 SEPTEMBER 2002
Area Man Hoping Cell Phone Breaks So He Can Get Better One [broken link is their fault]
CHULA VISTA, CA–Dave Sychak, a San Diego-area project manager and self-described “gadget freak,” has been increasingly careless with his 10-month-old cell phone in the h…