IPods have never been exactly low-maintenance – consider the short-lived batteries, the fragile interior workings, the heavy replacement price. For Israelis, they’re especially difficult, thanks to an operating system that doesn’t support Hebrew. Israeli software developer Edo Mendelson has gotten around that problem by creating HebPod, distributed for free at www.hebpod.com. However, Israeli iPod vendors have refused to repair gadgets that have been updated with HebPod, leading some 375 Israeli users to sign a petition promising to boycott Apple products until Steve Job’s minions have responded to their pleas. Strangely, iTunes does support Hebrew, so it’s possible to upload Israeli music into an iPod: you can hear it, but you can’t select it on the main screen. Which lends a whole new meaning to the concept of shuffle.
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