Pocket-lint broke my iPhone
Posted on 30th Oct 2010 at 09:37 by Clive Webster with 26 comments
Damn them and their photo-heavy gadget coverage. No, actually I’m talking about the fluff in my pocket. It’s all very well having a single device that does everything from run Windows 3.1 to play tunes to surf the web, but there’s no way to cover the mini-jack hole and the iPod connector, so they gather dust and fluff.
A while ago the in-line remote of the my headset stopped working – I could press that button as much I liked but it wouldn’t skip the track, and it meant that I had to get the phone out of my pocket to take a call... imagine that! To be honest I’ve never got used to the way that speaking into a small in-line microphone made me look like I had a ‘special’ friend, so that wasn’t too much of a hassle.
I’d just assumed that the wire of the headset had gone – I’ve never had a set of headphones last more than a year as the wire tends to break near the jack, and I’d probably had that headset for about a year.
However, the problem was even more mundane – the fluff of my pockets had got into to the mini-jack port and was preventing the in-line remote connecting properly. After ten minutes with a thin pointy device (a twist-tie) I’d cleared out a few chunks of lint and my in-line remote worked again: happy days!
A week or two later the wire in the headset cable broke, and only the left earpiece would work. Sigh...
If you're in-line remote has stopped working, hopefully my experience will help you avoid a trip to your local Genius bar or a pricey repair job. Then again, maybe your phone is knackered, in which case I can't help.
Next week: Anandtech lost my arm.
A while ago the in-line remote of the my headset stopped working – I could press that button as much I liked but it wouldn’t skip the track, and it meant that I had to get the phone out of my pocket to take a call... imagine that! To be honest I’ve never got used to the way that speaking into a small in-line microphone made me look like I had a ‘special’ friend, so that wasn’t too much of a hassle.
I’d just assumed that the wire of the headset had gone – I’ve never had a set of headphones last more than a year as the wire tends to break near the jack, and I’d probably had that headset for about a year.
However, the problem was even more mundane – the fluff of my pockets had got into to the mini-jack port and was preventing the in-line remote connecting properly. After ten minutes with a thin pointy device (a twist-tie) I’d cleared out a few chunks of lint and my in-line remote worked again: happy days!
A week or two later the wire in the headset cable broke, and only the left earpiece would work. Sigh...
If you're in-line remote has stopped working, hopefully my experience will help you avoid a trip to your local Genius bar or a pricey repair job. Then again, maybe your phone is knackered, in which case I can't help.
Next week: Anandtech lost my arm.
26 Comments
Discuss in the forums Replynow, just always remember to blow over the ports of headphone jack and dock adaptor before plugging anything in.
That made me cry.
That made me cry."
Beat me to it by 40 minutes. Though I was gonna say 'for shame!' instead.
"A while ago the in-line remote of the my headset stopped working"
"If you're in-line remote has stopped working"
As already mentioned 'you're' means 'you are' :)
http://www.ombwatch.org/files/budget/disappointed.jpg
Mine just did. Thankfully, unlike the first pair I owned (which suffered the same fault), this pair died just before the waranty expired.
The new slogan needs to be "Shure, they'll let you down at around the two year mark." ;)
Luckly i've got insurance, its going to be strange being without my iphone for a week or so!
In addition, one of the speakers doesn't work anymore, the screen is cracked and the case is splitting up the back. Apart from that its fine :)
I'm sorry!