This iPod Mystery Meat Mystery Story

Well if you haven't already heard the whole story you can read it here --> The Story. Otherwise here is a short synopsis; a woman in Hawaii buys her 14 year old son an iPod for Christmas. She puts it on layaway at her local Wal-Mart since she can't afford the $300 upfront. Her son opens the box on Christmas only to find, instead of an iPod, some sort of sealed mystery meat. Wal-Mart declares that the box was originally sealed and promises her a new iPod as soon as they get their next shipment. Apple has no comment.

Hmm...strange. We had quite a long discussion about this down at ye old beer barn last night and came to the unanimous conclusion that, well, we have no idea who to blame for this stupidity. At first you really want to say it's the woman just trying to get a free iPod. You know, she brings home the iPod switches it with the meat and takes it back to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart not wanting to come off as the bad guy has to replace it. The whole thing about the kid is just sad and weepy nonsense. Unless she has two kids, and can only afford one iPod. It's really hard to say why she would go through all this trouble, and publicity, just to get an iPod. But then again it is an iPod and people have done stupider things.

So, if it's not her being sneaky who is it? Is it a Wal-Mart employee? First of all let me say that I was completely unaware that they had Wal-Marts in Hawaii. That seems ironic at first, but then you realize how expensive it is there compared to say rural Kentucky and it begins to make sense. If it was a Wal-Mart employee it means that they opened the box in the store, replaced the iPod with meat, Indiana Jones style, and secretly took the iPod home with them, after resealing the original box. Alright, so they really wanted an iPod. But, it could also have been done by a previous customer who brought the iPod home, switched it, rewrapped the box and returned it. Obviously if it is sealed and weighs nearly the same Wal-Mart isn't going to question it. It is Wal-Mart afterall. Scenario three would be that some one switched the two at wherever it is Wal-Mart gets their iPods from, but I would think in that case someone would just take the whole box and not bother with the switch. Another alternative would be that someone at the Apple assembly plant in China switched the two. There again I would think they would just sneakily gaffle the entire box.

But why meat? Why would someone use sealed meat to duplicate the weight of an iPod? Why not a piece of wood or plastic or anything else? Seems very strange. If I was a detective assigned to this case I would start with the origin of this mysterious meat. What is it? Where is it from? How old is it? These clues could in fact reveal the perprator of this iPod swindle.

There are a couple of other things that should be considered here. Has this ever happened before with any other Apple product? As far as I know, no. Would this have happened, or could this have happened if the iPod had been purchased at an Apple Store or on-line via Apple? I would think not. If you called up customer service at the Apple Store and told them you wanted to send back your opened iPod box because it containedmeat instead of an iPod they would probably not be to tempted to comply with your wishes. The other thing I don't get is how Wal-Mart is capable of saying that the opened box had not been tampered with. It's open! How can they possibly say with any certainty that this woman did not switch the two?

So where does any of this get us? Nowhere. I still don't know where to lay the blame. The whole thing is just too freakin' weird. Hopefully we will get an update on the progress of the authorities and their search for the culprit behind this uncouth iPod/meat switcheroo.

K. Panda

UPDATE:
Well, it seems that it was the act of a previous employee working at the Wal-Mart. So ends that mystery. I hereby take back my unmitigated blame on the woman in question.