Assault on batteries could fatten Ipod
NEW LAWS currently being drafted in Brussels could spell the end of the Ipod as we know it, according to Apple Insider. You can kiss that oh-so-pocketable Iphone goodbye while you're at it.
The EU's 2006 Battery Directive which was implemented to prevent the use of unnecessary toxins, and which came into effect last month, is now being strengthened and amended.
The New Battery Directive, which is being drafted over the next year, will require all battery-powered devices to have power cells which are able to be easily removed for replacement, or disposal at the end of the gadget's useful life.
Anyone who has ever attempted to get at the inner workings of Apple's ubiquitous media player will know that it's locked up tighter than the script of a Steve Jobs Keynote speech the day before he presents it.
The new directive is expected to insist that new the batteries on future devices can be removed, and replaced, by opening a cover by hand, or with the unfastening of one or two screws.
Kiss goodbye to your smooth, svelte and shiny toys, then. Bulky bolt-on batteries are the future, it seems. µ
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Okay, hacker award announcement.... 

I'll give a cash prize to anyone able to crack Jobs' presentation and modify it to make him look silly.... Oh, wait... he does that every time.... Never mind...
I've replaced iPod batteries on several occasions and there is no good reason why that backplate cannot be removable for easy access to the battery. It has nothing to do with making the device fatter...
It doesn't have to be bulky, it can be a little power cell that slides in & is virtually unnoticed.
Surely Saint Steve will figure out a way of making the iPod/iPhone/Air battery removable without compromising the design? And surely having a removable battery will make the product more desirable anyhow?

Having just changed the battery on my Gen4 Pod myself for £15, I'd much rather have something that I can self-service, rather than having to fork out £90 to Apple for them to do.

It wouldn't take much for Apple to replace the clip-on cover of the Pod with a screw-on back?
This is the 2nd best law created by the EU. Until recently mostly crap came out of the folks at Brussels but now the (1) standby-law (reducing the power consumption during standby to 1 watt) and (2) the law which prohibits that apple & Co. can sell their iCrap with out a changeable battery. Until now this was the iP*** biggest flaw: Everyone could throw their devices away after 1 or 2 years due to battery failure or send it to apple for a expensive "exchange". With that law that has been history :-) 
BUT thats only if it really comes. Maybe the EU gives in to the wailing companies: "Uuuuaaaah, we lose thousands of Euros because of this impossible law! And then we have to lay of 10.000 workers in our plants ....whuaaaaa. - Stop crying and start making consumer friendly and technologically advanced products!!
Because cell phones are definitely big and bulky now. I'm sure apple will figure something out... they haven't been lacking in the enginuity department.
This is one of those Orwellian things. Removable batteries = green, not! 

I smell protectionism. Nokia, ya can't compete on your own anymore. You're a bunch of pu$$1es
I think assuming that a re-design away from the sleek design we've all come to expect from Apple is a mistake. All apple needs to do is provide consumers (european and otherwise) with a way for people to easily TURN IN their devices at the end of their life cycle to meet this EU requirement. But you know you can replace your <a href="http://www.ipodjuice.com">ipod batteries</a> with companies like ipodjuice.com or some other companies so this is a non-event being worked up into a frenzy by a few apple-haters.
I'd actually appreciate it if were possible to replace iPod batteries with ease. I'm sure Apple would find a way to make them with the same appearance.