iPod Battery Trick

Wired's Leander Kehney describes iPod battery tricks, along with discussion of replacement batteries:

Acquired in October 2001, and in almost daily use, my iPod was down to two or three hours of continuous play from a battery originally rated for eight to 10 hours. Before breaking it open, I updated the iPod's firmware, choosing to wipe the drive while doing so. Oddly, this operation restored the battery to its former glory. After loading up a selection of songs and hitting "shuffle," the iPod played for 8.5 hours continuously, almost to the minute.

When asked about this on an earlier occasion, Apple Computer's iPod product manager, Danika Cleary, said she'd heard lots of reports, but she didn't know why it worked.