I have an iPad2 and like it very much when it is not causing me grief for one reason or another. I'm not very up to date with technology but like everyone else I am forced to charge my device and so I have to buy a charger. There isn't a charger I've bought so far which isn't f*cking SH*T. I'm wondering whether in the end I might not end up spending more money on f*cking chargers than I spend on iPads / iPods ? It seems to me that they design these things to only last for so long ?

There is a sickening and rather transparent tendency these days to try to rip customers off. I wonder whether this latest move by Apple (to recall and "replace" all non-Apple chargers) is not another such move ? My message to Apple would be : Just make your chargers more durable (they really ought to last for a whole lifetime !), make them available in longer lengths. It's not that hard is it ? We're in the midst of a recession - you understand that hopefully ? And also make them CHEAPER, or at least don't raise the price.

These products make people's live "better, easier", make them feel their life "if worth more". That's how Jobs saw the basics of marketing. Once the need has been created, people would buy the next generations to feed their need "for more".

But after a while, you have to find incentives to generate new sales. Especially if you want to push new generations faster than customers had expected. Programming obsolescence, making repair impossible or economically uninteresting is everywhere. be it Ipads, computers, dishwashers, ovens or even shirts.

Could it be an iPad2 thing? My iPad4 hasn't had any charging issues at all, I'm still using the one that came with my iPad.

Unfortunately Apple has been at the forefront of that trends . Back in 1984, they released the Macintosh with screws that could not be opened by the users, securing a captive market for their technicians. Nowadays, their view of their customers is exactly that they will pay for the privilege of owning such pieces of inventive technology. And it works.

For some it works. I for myself won't ever buy crapple technology. They are un-repairable and closed down in every way. And why should you buy a 90$ charger every time you buy a new phone?

Is that the new one or the one before? Read an article, that some hackers discovered some malware built into the noname cables (probably had some form of flash drive built in) that when connected could install malware even when the device is locked. I'll have to find the article.

My sister, broke hers and is in the same boat as you. She bought a couple of the cheapies and they worked for a week, if that. So, now she is convinced to buy the expensive Apple branded cable.

Not the article I read, but it seems a bunch of researchers determined it was possible to inject malware using a special iphone/ipad cable.

It's certainly not just an iPad2 issue, that really is rather a patronising suggestion. It seems it is a new way of doing business : to find new ways of conning people. Governments need to step in and make it illegal, stamp it out. All Apple needs to do is two things :

1. Make chargers MUCH more durable (even to the point of making them last for a whole lifetime).
2. Make them in several different lengths and not just in 1m lengths.

Stop CONNING people !

You might want to take your iPad to an Apple store for service pronto. I use the provided charger on both of my iPads all the time without any problems.

Most other hardware manufacturers have realized that using common standards means that they can focus on their core competences instead of producing everything themselves. It also means that customers find it a lot easier to use their products, and experience less frustration over issues with lack of compatibility between products. As a result, I can now use the same cable for charging my phone and my wireless mouse and for connecting both my phone and my camera to my PC. For me, that adds value to all those products.

Apple still insists on maintaining rigid control over every aspect of their products' life cycles, which means that they deliberately make sure not to use any common standards if they can possibly help it. That's why they can get away with charging (pun unintended) outrageous prices for chargers, which for everyone else (using non-Apple products) cost next to nothing, and are usually available everywhere.

Um, because the iPad charger is *seriously* more heavy-duty than most USB chargers. My iPad 3 one is 10 W, and the new one from the Apple store is 12W. It's only $19. And it won't kill you.

Oh wait I forgot, this is the Internet.

"Why should I pay $187 for a lousy charger that I can get a perfectly good one for 12 cents from a buddy of mine! Waht a ripoff !!1!11!one!11! It's even sealed shut so I can't open it up and mod it myself!!!1! Apple is the antichrist!"

And we have a lot of those cables on hand, because every device we own comes with the same cable. Now if only my Transformer prime and Walkman used the same cable that every other device I own uses.

Apple's iDevice cords do suck. They have a 1 year warranty so you can make an appointment with Apple Genius Bar and likely get free replacements. Since October I've gotten 2 replacement charger cords for my iPod. They're very crappy.

There's nothing wrong with my my iPad2, it's just a charger I bought. It was a 2m long cable and it is GREAT ... for about seven weeks. I don't know exactly why it ceased to work but it's not the first time. But when you buy Apple's own chargers they are not exactly cheap and they seem designed to wear out. I love my iPad2 but I don't like Apple. I will not bother to buy another Apple product after my iPad2 goes kaput I think.