Apple Removes iPod Click Wheel Games from iTunes

Seems unfortunate to kill off the old iPod line completely without having the new line be a complete replacement. Maybe higher capacity + better voice control will be good enough.

... or maybe they'll introduce a new classic iPod that runs iOS! Just kidding.

I've owned a couple HDD-based iPods in the past (starting with the 4GB iPod mini, then a 60GB "thick" classic and finally a 160GB "thin" classic), and it'll be tough for me to see these old standbys finally get the axe (assuming that's Apple's plan) considering they're what got me interested in Apple in the first place... that said, though, I'll gladly welcome a transition from the slow file access times of HDD-based iPods to those with much faster flash memory, as long as the excellent sound quality of the iPod classic can be maintained in the next-gen iPod touch/iPhone.

The Doors iPod Edition

I can just imagine the Apple event opening to the music of The Doors song The End. My only friend the end. Maybe Apple will release a Door's themed iPod Classic similar to the U2 iPod. lol

whathesaid said:

sad day. still use my ipod classic everyday on the morning commute.

still is a class music player, just hope the touch ipods get bigger storage to accomadate the large libraries people have.

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Same here. Although what would really be awesome is if your car stereo could access all of your music via the cloud. I rarely even remember to bring my Classic in from the car to sync it.

Why the Classic was never upgraded with more storage.

Apple never upgraded the capacity because they want the storage gap between the Touch and the Classic to be as little as possible when they discontinue it.


My theory.

Gasu E. said:

If they introduce a 128 GB Touch, it kind of reduces the market for Classics down to next to nothing; especially when coupled with Cloud services.

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Can they do this now? I don't know the details, but as I recall the iPod touch has two "slots" each capable of holding the then max of 32GB (or cost effective max). The iPhone has only one "slot" (the space for the other filled with antenna parts). So, if the other rumors are true that a 64GB option on the iPhone is imminent (1 slot with 64GB), then a 128GB iPod touch is possible and likely.

With such a iPod touch is possible, I'm sorry to say, but I don't see apple keeping the iPod classic around just to appease the people who like the older design. An iPod touch has a lot of benefits for apple- classic owners aren't shopping on the App Store and all. Plus, having had a classic, I know the hard drives are fragile- its great if yours still works but it is still definitely fragile. The company that prides itself in axing old tech- floppy discs, cd-roms, etc., can't possibly keep around the classic with all of this stacked against it.

Apple is going to release a new iPod with the same high capacity but it's going to use flash memory, not an HDD

Apple is turning everything into the "all-in-one" device... what does the iPod Classic do? It simply plays music. Like the Kindle displays books. Like a DSLR used to only shoot photos. Apple's "motto" has always been to keep things simple.. why not keep doing that, in addition to making all of these wonderful iOS devices? I want something I can listen to music on, so as not to get distracted with the internet, or games, taking pictures, etc. And he's right, they DO make great additions to a car stereo! I use my iPod Video 5G for that!

I have to restore my iPod classic every time I update it, and iTunes practically locks up my computer each time I connect it. If you actually have 160 gigs of music, the iPod classic is a huge hassle. Even the click wheel is a bit unintuitive for a library of that size. I feel somewhat cheated, like they were never catering to my demographic but I bought the model offered to my demographic out of (stupid) loyalty. They don't care about the audiophiles, they care about the people who have never had a problem fitting all of their crappy songs and apps on an 8 or 16 gig iPod touch.

I'm just reaching maximum capacity, so I guess I'll be buying my first non-Apple MP3 player soon.

Seems logical...

iPhone boost to 64 GB
iPod Touch boost to 128 GB
iPod Classic discontinuation
iPod Nano remains a Shuffle/Nano hybrid

Don't know about you guys, but this seems perfect to me.

The iPod appeared to be unbeatable until it became clear that in the near future, people would be listening to music on their smart phones. Soon, it would be redundant to carry a single purpose music player when you could have everything in your one device. The big elephant in the Apple boardroom: The mighty iPod had its days numbered.

Apple was smart to get in the phone business. If they hadn't, today, we would be talking about Apple going down in defeat as they shut down their iPod line.

Instead, Apple is closing it down but still at the top with a duo of at the time non existing products: iPad and iPhone. How far they've come

This is just the icing on the cake. Goodbye to a classic.

I really hope they don't drop the Classic. I take mine everyday to work with me and still works great after daily use for years. I'm tempted to buy a new Classic for when this one dies.

Arrogance show by some people on this thread (and others, usually the same people) is astounding! Just because you don't want the iPod Classic does not mean no one else does!

My thouights on this, it's sad to see the Classic go (that's if it is, it may get a re-launch, you never know), as it's a high capacity gadget. It would be rather strange should Apple discontinue it and have nothing else to replace it with. But then, it's all down to Apple, there's nothing any of us can say about it.

Would be nice to see 128GB iPod Touch (or even bigger, again it can go either way) I agree..... we'll just have to wait and see what happens next week.

Damn shame to see this device go. I'll miss the ease of being able to interact with it without ever having to take it out of my pocket.

Obviously the Touch makes a ton more money for them via the AppStore, but it would be sad to see the click-wheel go the way of the dodo, it is much easier and safer to use while driving than the touch screen on the iPhone and Touch. I still use my 80GB iPod for music in the car and my 40GB still works. Of course the thought of Apple nuking the iPod Classic makes me want to buy one.

That makes two of us R>

cPol said:

Damn shame to see this device go. I'll miss the ease of being able to interact with it without ever having to take it out of my pocket.

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Time to buy some Classics and put 'em in the freezer. Even if Flash surpasses HDD capacity, I still prefer the click wheel UI for music.

So long, old boy. It was a good run.

I bought one game right around the time I got my 30GB Video (which was at it's launch). It was a SRPG by SquareEnix and had some cute innovations (attaching songs to the game, so when played, they'd level up and made your characters stronger), but using that wheel for the interface was clunky and tedious. Besides the darn thing sucked up so much juice playing the game that I gave up on it pretty quickly.

I never bought another game for either that 30 or the 160 'Classic' that replaced it. A little sad that the classic is going, but when there is no demand it doesn't surprise me. I'm sure those game sales have been stagnant for years.

MultiMediaWill said:

They might as well get rid of the iPod Touch seeing as it is dead.

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Why? It's the best selling iPod that runs iOS with all those apps that bring millions to Apple. iPod Classic has no revenue anymore, except music and video, which is not enough anymore to break the bank.

It's like when Nintendo got rid of the orange gun.

I didn't even know there were games for my iPod. Either way I can't live without my classic though! Don't let it die! D:

Mr. Gates said:

THIS !

Everyone I know uses one as a Car system !

Can't they just make less iPods but keep it available for their loyal customers so we can replace our iPods when they die !?!?

Please Apple !

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Making less is more expensive in the long run.

Xenc said:

Final Fantasy: Song Summoner was one of the coolest click wheel games released. You turn your songs into warriors, which level up each time you listen to them on your iPod!

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I like that one, and vortex too.

I haven't had a classic ipod for years, I thought of getting a nano 3G a little while ago, just for the games, and a tiny video player - just to be different.

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So it does suggest the classic is out.
I still think they're going to keep the shuffle, just leave it in it's current configuration for a year or two.