1st Gen Ipod Shuffle 1GB, USB interface Broken

I got this ipod shuffle about a year when it first came out.
it worked fine, nothing wrong.
this Ipod is in mint condition so theres no possibility of it being damaged by falls or knocks.
I usually plug it into a 2.0 USB hub or the back of my laptop which is also USB 2.0
i use this daily for plugging up to the stereo or in the car.
i recently wanted to add a new song to it, but when i plugged it in.
the computer would not detect anything being plugged in.
Iv tried various PC's/laptop's direct or indirect connections.

no matter what I did it seemed the USB connector was broken from the inside,
since i noticed that the connection get quite hot when charging/connected to the PC. is Apple that cheap that the metal inside can be easily melted and then shorting out the USB connector, so the power to it is going somewhere else and therefore not forming a connection?

the only way to find that out is to open it, but these aint made to be opened.
so i'll wait for a better solution to this , so i avoid making the case look like a mess.