I missed this story when it came out on Slashdot, but it’s pretty amusing and the video is worth watching.

Brothers Casey and Van Neistat, who collaborate on video projects using Mac editing software, said they were told by a technical support representative at Apple Computer that the cost to replace the dead battery in an 18-month-old iPod would be $255–comparable to the cost of a new device. Irked at what seemed to be the early obsolescence of the music player, the brothers trekked around New York City stenciling the words “iPod’s unreplaceable battery lasts only 18 months” on all the iPod posters they could find.

Apple’s web site says it costs $99 for battery replacement, but it’s not clear if they started doing that before or after hearing complaints. $99 still sounds like a lot of money. I’m fairly certain I can get a car battery for cheaper than that (and I am certain I can get entire mp3 players for less than the cost of an iPod battery.)