Apple Discontinues iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle

[Velin]

This sucks. Ipod Shuffle is great for anything requiring activity. It was sturdy and reliable, even with rough activity. Shuffle came with a great clip that actually works, doesn't degrade over time. Can operate the Shuffle with one hand, no screen to look at. Great battery life. It's a featherweight device you can clip to your shirt, sleeve, belt, whatever -- clip and go.

Hate this decision.

 

[PlainviewX]

I was coming to say exactly this. The shuffle was perfect for the gym and running because it was tiny, light, and inexpensive.

And it held more than enough songs for fitness.

 

[62tele]

Online retailers have jacked up the prices of Nano's by $40 to $50. That's crazy.

 

[robertosh]

The iPod will come back some day, you will see. For now it's ok that they did that cause there were abandoned anyways.

 

[lostngone]

The iPod will come back some day, you will see. For now it's ok that they did that cause there were abandoned anyways.

Technology is getting smaller, faster and cheaper. Why would I want to carry a device around that only plays Music? I can already play Music directly from my Apple Watch and my iPhone.

 

[HippyRabbitFish]

iPods are for the era of buying music files and putting them on your device. Now it’s streaming from the cloud— even the stuff you used to have on the iPhone. ‘Bye, iPod.

The statement above got me thinking...

Reasons why I am going to miss iPods, as dedicated, for-offline-audio-only, devices:

• Rare recordings (live concert bootleg recordings, audiobooks, etc), or non-streamable audio that you want to listen to without a connected device (phone, tablet, etc)
• I like to go places with no connectivity, for the reason that there is no connectivity.
• When I want a screwdriver, I don't immediately think of my Swiss Army knife. Same idea with portable music players vs. phone/phablet/tablets.
• If I want to listen to jams in a canoe/kayak/boat, etc, you can be sure I'd rather risk a (relatively) low cost music device to water damage/going overboard to losing my phone

Disclaimer:
I have never actually owned an iPod, but I hold iPods in such high regard because they sparked in me an interest in Apple that was, hitherto, non-existent before the original iPod became a "Classic".

I have a venerable Creative Zen V Plus 2GB. It has more features than an iPod Nano (radio, digital audio recorder), but the interface detracted from the experience. Having used an iPod before, I was always immediately drawn to the simplicity of the interface and the smoothness and beauty of navigation. An iPod touch does too much, in my opinion. It should do music right by eliminating distraction. An iPod should not have "ads" in streaming music (Podcasts are a different matter, entirely).

iPods piqued my interest in Apple. Now...

Now, I have my original white iPhone 4 8GB (still going strong after almost 5 years), iPad Air 128GB, 4th gen Apple TV 64GB, 3 32GB 4th-gen iPads for the family, and my most recent acquisition, my first Mac, a mid-2012 13" non-retina 2.5 i5 MacBook Pro, now with 16GB and SSD.

None, NONE of those purchases would have occurred were it not for the iPod.

Time to pony up for an 8th-gen Nano while I can.

tl;dr
The iPod meant a lot to me.

 

[Appleaker]

I doubt it. "Everyone" has an iPhone.

There are still many uses for it, it's quite a unique device.

 

[Matthew.H]

I was very late to the party when it came to the iPod. My first one was a blue 7th gen Nano that I bought new when I was in college. Bought a 4th gen Shuffle in space grey a couple of years ago new in the box for £20 locally which I do still have and use when I'm doing housework.

I also have a green 2nd gen iPod Mini that I modified with a bigger battery and a 128GB SD card and a black 8GB 4th gen Nano that I picked up about month ago from a charity shop for £5.

 

[yep-sure]

How does the iPod and the Apple Watch compare? One is for and it can store music and the other, well it's a watch.

The appeal of the iPod Shuffle is it's form factor. People (seemingly) mainly used it during fitness activities.

The only Apple product that would be equally as suitable for this use case is the Apple Watch, which, surprise surprise, was/is marketed via it's fitness tracking features/heart rate monitor, etc...

While yesterday people could purchase a $50 iPod Shuffle to listen to music when going for a run, today the only Apple option is a $400 Apple Watch, and the $230 AirPods of course.

 

[NovemberWhiskey]

Man. I use a waterproof shuffle for swimming. It's the perfect size to strap on to your goggles. Don't know what I can use for a replacement once mine goes out, and those companies run out of stock to work with.

 

[Abazigal]

I wonder what happens when Apple runs out of products to discontinue. Nothing new (exciting) since Steve died.

iPad Pro. Apple Pencil. Apple Watch. AirPods. And you call that nothing new?

Technology is constantly evolving, and what is relevant today may not be relevant in the future.

For example, we see the Mac take a backseat and Apple increasingly positions the iPad as the general-purpose PC for the everyday consumer. It's not hard to see how the Mac will increasingly become a niche product in Apple's lineup, and possibly even get discontinued one day once it no longer serves any meaningful purpose for Apple.

Just like how the iPhone may well be discontinued in the future once it has run its course and is ready to be replaced with a better alternative.

Times change, Apple will change in keeping with the times, and we all should as well, rather than continue to be stuck in the past.

 

[tripmusic]

I just bought my mom an iPod Nano recently. It gets the job done for her.

 

[SusanK]

iPad Pro. Apple Pencil. Apple Watch. AirPods. And you call that nothing new?

Technology is constantly evolving, and what is relevant today may not be relevant in the future.

Changing the size of a device and updating the software is not innovation. A stylus is nothing new. MessagePad had an onboard stylus. The only difference is that it was included with the price of the device.

Apple Watch was never relevant.

This is just Apple jacking up prices because they cannot innovate.

 

[Abazigal]

Changing the size of a device and updating the software is not innovation. A stylus is nothing new. MessagePad had an onboard stylus. The only difference is that it was included with the price of the device.

By your analogy, touchscreen on the first iPhone was nothing new as well, because other phones already had touchscreen on them.

What made the first iPhone different was how Apple made all the various technologies work so well together. That to me is the hallmark of Apple innovation - taking an emerging product category with a frustrating user experience and delivering a polished product made possible by its control over both the hardware and software.

The Apple Pencil may not be the first stylus, but it was first stylus that didn't suck to use for me. Up till the iPad Pro, I was content to use my fingers to write in Notability on my iPad because other styluses were just that bad. That to me is meaningful innovation. Innovation that I can get behind and which has a noticeable benefit by letting me get things done in a way that I never could.

Apple Watch was never relevant.

A product that is second only to Rolex in terms of revenue, and growing adoption numbers in a market that is seeing the other wearables manufacturers dropping like flies, is not relevant?

The Apple Watch looks set to form the hub of the next wave of wearable products by Apple and you think it's not relevant or meaningful?

But Apple keeping around a tiny MP3 player whose capabilities look set to be cannibalised by the Apple Watch is innovation to you?

This is just Apple jacking up prices because they cannot innovate.

Just last year, I bought the 9.7" iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, Apple Watch and AirPods, and am still happily using them. Not cheap, but they have since more than paid for themselves in the form of greater productivity and fewer problems overall.

For a company that supposedly "cannot innovate", they sure have no problems getting me to buy their products over the rest of the competition. And they are all working great for me, considering they are from a company which supposedly "cannot innovate".

At what point do the Apple critics here finally come to the realisation that perhaps it is them who are hopelessly out of touch with technology, and not Apple itself?

 

[SusanK]

By your analogy, touchscreen on the first iPhone was nothing new as well, because other phones already had touchscreen on them.

What made the first iPhone different was how Apple made all the various technologies work so well together. That to me is the hallmark of Apple innovation - taking an emerging product category with a frustrating user experience and delivering a polished product made possible by its control over both the hardware and software.

The Apple Pencil may not be the first stylus, but it was first stylus that didn't suck to use for me. Up till the iPad Pro, I was content to use my fingers to write in Notability on my iPad because other styluses were just that bad. That to me is meaningful innovation. Innovation that I can get behind and which has a noticeable benefit by letting me get things done in a way that I never could.

A product that is second only to Rolex in terms of revenue, and growing adoption numbers in a market that is seeing the other wearables manufacturers dropping like flies, is not relevant?

The Apple Watch looks set to form the hub of the next wave of wearable products by Apple and you think it's not relevant or meaningful?

But Apple keeping around a tiny MP3 player whose capabilities look set to be cannibalised by the Apple Watch is innovation to you?

Just last year, I bought the 9.7" iPad Pro, Apple Pencil, Apple Watch and AirPods, and am still happily using them. Not cheap, but they have since more than paid for themselves in the form of greater productivity and fewer problems overall.

For a company that supposedly "cannot innovate", they sure have no problems getting me to buy their products over the rest of the competition. And they are all working great for me, considering they are from a company which supposedly "cannot innovate".

At what point do the Apple critics here finally come to the realisation that perhaps it is them who are hopelessly out of touch with technology, and not Apple itself?

I'm happy that you are happy with Apple's rinse and repeat offerings.

 

[ifudge]

Just a question to anyone saying they use the shuffle at the gym. Why not put music on your Apple Watch ? Which would in fact be better because it's wireless. This is probably why Apple is doing it as well.

I don't have an Apple Watch and I don't want one. It's an expensive replacement for the Shuffle.

 

[Abazigal]

I'm happy that you are happy with Apple's rinse and repeat offerings.

How could I not be, then they are working great for me and I have never been happier using them?

The thing here isn’t that Apple has changed, it's that Apple has not changed. As its products evolve, Apple pours ever more effort into incremental improvements in the details. By themselves, none of those improvements seem revolutionary, but view in its entirety, they represent a solid list of year-over-year improvements, and the results show that consumers agree, for we continue to vote with our wallets and make Apple immensely successful.

There is something fascinating going on with Apple right now. Sadly, rather than study it, understand it, describe it, and teach it, many people are instead choosing to deny that it is happening.

 

[SusanK]

How could I not be, then they are working great for me and I have never been happier using them?

The thing here isn’t that Apple has changed, it's that Apple has not changed. As its products evolve, Apple pours ever more effort into incremental improvements in the details. By themselves, none of those improvements seem revolutionary, but view in its entirety, they represent a solid list of year-over-year improvements, and the results show that consumers agree, for we continue to vote with our wallets and make Apple immensely successful.

There is something fascinating going on with Apple right now. Sadly, rather than study it, understand it, describe it, and teach it, many people are instead choosing to deny that it is happening.

Rinse and repeat.

 

[Abazigal]

Rinse and repeat.

Again, you say that like it's a bad thing.

 

[SusanK]

Again, you say that like it's a bad thing.

I'm genuinely pleased that you are happy with your purchases. OK?

 

[audiokid]

Hope my Shuffle lasts forever now. I only use it to listen to FM Radio though.

 

[MH01]

How could I not be, then they are working great for me and I have never been happier using them?

The thing here isn’t that Apple has changed, it's that Apple has not changed. As its products evolve, Apple pours ever more effort into incremental improvements in the details. By themselves, none of those improvements seem revolutionary, but view in its entirety, they represent a solid list of year-over-year improvements, and the results show that consumers agree, for we continue to vote with our wallets and make Apple immensely successful.

There is something fascinating going on with Apple right now. Sadly, rather than study it, understand it, describe it, and teach it, many people are instead choosing to deny that it is happening.

I just see prices going up. If you are happy to pay so much for such small incremental changes, awesome.

I still don't see a reason to update my iPad Air 2 , I have an iPad Pro, and frankly Steve was right, it's too big to get regular use, I'm always on my iPad Air 2 . Apple has just started following the pack....and producing apple versions of the competitors products .... meh

 

[Bart Kela]

Hope my Shuffle lasts forever now. I only use it to listen to FM Radio though.

The iPod shuffle does not have an FM radio.

Perhaps you are referring to a different model?

 

[69650]

RIP dedicated music players

Sony are still selling the Walkman with Hi-Res Audio. Much better sound than poor quality iTunes tracks.

 

[Datalinks]

Apple Music killed them