My 60GB 5th generation iPod was working just fine – for years – but the other day it joined the choir invisible, shuffled off its mortal coil, went to meet its maker. This iPod appears to be an ex-iPod: it's bleeding' demised.

This bucket-kicking was not preceded by a dropping accident, extreme temperature, nor battery run-down – just a sudden "F#ck you! I'm not going to work anymore!"

I've tried to charge it (multiple times) for multiple hours, tried to reset it multiple times (and, yeah, I know the drill), but nothing. Absolutifactually nothing.

Question: should I simply give up? #$^#, I hate throwing stuff into the e-landfill if it's fixable, but this iPod has all the hallmarks of a hardware failure that might not be recoverable.

Any suggestions?