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No. The iPod is engineered to last; Apple is consistently ranked number one (1,2) in product quality and support by leading consumer groups, such as Consumer Reports. Apple also has out-of-warranty service and extended warranty options. Apple has officially stated that the iPod is designed to last "for years".
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If the battery does fail, and the iPod is no longer under its original one year warranty or $59 AppleCare Protection Plan for iPod, or any of numerous third party service plans, you don't have to buy a new iPod. You may replace the battery yourself for as little as $20, have a third party replace it, or have Apple perform the replacement for $59.
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Yes. Over time, the battery will not hold the same amount of charge as when it was new. This is natural, and is true of all lithium ion batteries. This slow degradation will not affect, or be noticed by, most users during the life of their iPod. However, based on usage, environmental factors, and many other variables, some heavy users may notice a greater degradation than others. It is important to understand that this is the exact same degradation that would occur with any lithium ion battery used in any laptop, cell phone, portable music player, etc., and is not unique to the iPod.
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A battery which only lasts for half, or less, of the specified time may be considered to be defective under warranty terms. However, you can follow the steps in this document to test your battery life in a controlled way.
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According to the AppleCare Protection Plan Terms and Conditions, the iPod battery is defective when "capacity of the covered iPod battery to hold an electrical charge has depleted fifty (50%) percent or more from its original specification, after being fully charged and the covered iPod playing music with all settings reset."
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The iPod uses the latest lithium ion battery technology from the leading battery manufacturers, such as Sony and Sanyo. See this table for more information on battery capacities on various iPod models.
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Apple uses the best lithium ion battery technology available from leading battery manufacturers. This is the best, most cost effective battery technology available given the requirements of the device. The lithium ion batteries that Apple uses are no different than the lithium ion batteries used by any other manufacturer, on products from portable music players, to laptops, to wireless phones. The battery should last most normal users the life of the product (several years).
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Lithium ion batteries are good for 300-500 charge/discharge cycles. A "charge/discharge" cycle generally consists of an extended charging period, and an extended discharging period. A quick charge, listening for 30 minutes, and charging again, for example, does not constitute a full "charge/discharge cycle", but could rather be considered a portion of one.
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No. The iPod stores all of its music on a hard disk. If the battery is drained completely, or even removed, all of the music on the iPod will remain intact. Additionally, you still have all of your music in the iTunes music library on your computer.
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This can also be a more complicated issue. Lithium ion batteries age faster when stored at full charge. If your usage of the iPod consists almost exclusively of use while plugged in for extended periods of time such as weeks or months, and very limited usage from the battery, the battery is essentially always in a charged state. A fully charged lithium ion battery ages at a faster rate than a lithium ion battery at the optimum storage capacity of approximately 40%. However, keeping an iPod battery near this optimum storage capacity can prove difficult to manage. A lithium ion battery also ages from use, as well as from storage, so the aging effects of constant use of the battery in order to keep the charge closer to 40%, versus constant use while attached to external power, come close to being even.
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