Is my ipod dead?

My ipod woudn't connect to my mac so I rebooted it (holding down the two center buttons) Now all i get is an apple that will click on(for about seven seconds) and off and on again repaetedly.
Is my ipod dead? Is there anything that I can do to recover? I'm very upset. If it's truly dead I'm going to throw it in the river and buy a copmetitors product!