A previous generation of iPods had problems with surface scratches, but that's not the case with the current generation. My daughter has had her 30GB iPod for over a year, has never had a cover on it, and the iPod has no evidence of screen damage whatsoever. Since there is evidence of physical damage to yours, neither the store nor Apple would likely honor your warranty. Damage such as the cracked screen, accidental or not, is evidence that the iPod may have been roughly treated.
I got my husband a 30-G Ipod for father's day. He's an avid cyclist, and he got hooked on copying books from cd's to his pod and listening during his 2 hour rides. A day ago, the screen had black marks and the ipod did not respond to any function or button. I took it to Best Buy, and they claimed that it had been damaged by being in an accident, and than neither Apple or Best Buy would cover the damage. The B-B guy said that they see a lot of cases where men put their pods in their back pockets, and the screens break when they sit down. That damage is also not covered. My husband's pod has been in a silicone glove since day one, for protection. He puts it in a secure pocket on the back of his cycling jersey, so the guy-sitting-on-back-pocket scenario couldn't possibly have been the situation. Besides, would a cracked screen make the whole thing not work?
What gives? Are the screens that easily damaged? Have other people had problems where what seems to be normal wear and tear gets excluded from warranty coverage? I got one for Christmas, and have already exchanged it when it went funky, but there was no question about accidental damage raised. What kind of quality control and design problems are we dealing with?

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