I purchased an iPod almost exactly two years ago. About one month ago, it began failing intermittently. Within a week, it no longer booted up at all.

When I turn my iPod on, the Apple logo appears, and I can hear the hard drive trying to rev up, but then it clicks. Then I can hear the hard drive again trying to rev up. But then it clicks. That happens five or six times until this guy shows up:

It’s very easy to find the help page that corresponds to this icon on Apple.com. Unfortunately, it didn’t help me at all. After a few misfires I got an appointment today at the Genius Bar at my local Apple Store. (I shudder whenever I call it the “Genius Bar.”) I can pay Apple roughly three hundred bucks to repair my iPod. I can pay someone else as little as $125 to repair my iPod. I can sell my iPod to one of several websites that buy dead iPods, for an unpredictable sum. Or, finally, I can give my dead iPod back to Apple in exchange for 10% off my next iPod. How about 50% off?

Seriously — Are these things designed to last two years after normal wear and tear? I paid 400 bucks for two years. That’s 200 dollars per year. I’m tempted to buy a Nano with its lack of moving parts and ultra small size, but a 4GB is $250 and a 30GB iPod video is only another fifty bucks! But $300 just to get back to where I was a month ago?

PS — Maybe this story has a happy ending. Two weeks ago I bought a Nintendo DS Lite for $130 and it came with a game … F iPod. I’ve got something to do on plane rides.