Students should be aware they may be carrying around a bomb in their pockets. But wait, before you throw everything out of your pockets or rip your pants off in the middle of class — it isn’t exactly what you’re thinking. However, it is close.Earlier this month, a family from Liverpool discovered their pint-sized explosive device the hard way. Eleven-year-old Ellie Stanborough was the proud owner of an iPod Touch. For those unfamiliar with the “iTouch,” it’s simply an iPhone that doesn’t make phone calls, along with a few other minor feature differences. But her relationship with Apple came to a screeching halt when the company attempted to silence the Stanborough family after the iPod exploded.  That’s right, I said exploded.A few weeks ago, Ellie’s father Ken accidently dropped his daughter’s iPod, according to TimesOnline. “It made a hissing noise,” he told TimesOnline. “I could feel it getting hotter in my hand, and I thought I could see vapor.” Stanborough then threw the device out his back door. Seconds later, “there was a pop, a big puff of smoke and it went 10 feet in the air.”When Stanborough contacted Apple to have his iBomb replaced, not many people took him seriously. After being passed around from department to department, he finally spoke to an Apple executive on the phone.  The Stanborough family has not received a full refund in the mail, at least not yet. What the family did receive was a letter basically saying the only way they would be reimbursed for the iPod Touch was if they signed a gag order swearing to keep silent on the matter and that Apple was not liable for selling Ellie a bomb.While I do agree with Apple that people dropping their electronics does usually void any type of manufacturer’s warranty, I cry foul in this case. Naturally, electronics don’t work when you drop them, but they are not supposed to explode “10 feet in the air” as a result of the mishandling.This is not the first case of an iPod causing serious damage. Reports from fires caused by iPods have been showing up since 2005, according to AppleInsider. Really, Apple? Their devices have been burning people for the last four years, and they obviously haven’t done anything to fix the problem. The problem is simple. The rechargeable battery inside of the iPods overheats to the point of ignition.I blame Apple. This is a different case than a cell phone catching fire. Most reports of exploding cell phones are because the owner put a cheap, knockoff, third-party battery into their phone and the phone just didn’t like it. That’s not a new story. However, with iPods, there is no way of changing out the battery inside. That’s all Apple’s doing.Last year, a mother sued Apple because her 15-year-old son’s iPod Touch exploded in his pocket, burning his leg. Apple denied liability for their faulty hardware in that case too. These two recent cases should be problem enough for a company to change an obvious flaw in its battery production. Yet, with iPods   being one of the hottest pieces of gadgetry right now, Apple is just trying to do everything they can to keep this hush-hush and push on. As an owner of an iPod Touch, I have sometimes felt the back of my iPod grow extremely hot, but never thought anything of it. I guess it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to have a bomb squad on speed dial from now on.Adam Arinder is a 19-year-old electrical engineering junior from Baton Rouge. Follow him on Twitter@TDR_aarinder. –Contact Adam Arinder at [email protected]