Happy 17th Birthday to Apple's Original iPod

[rafark]

My 1 gen nano won't turn on anymore, I guess it's the battery.

 

[MikeyCopeland]

That ad is so bad. The idea isn't terrible but the execution is shocking.

I always thought the star of that first ad looked like Jeff Goldblum and Danny Pudi had a child.

He is now a very famous actor in the UK, playing Massood in Eastenders for many years!

 

[iGeek2014]

He is now a very famous actor in the UK, playing Massood in Eastenders for many years!

When I saw the advert I did wonder if it was Nitin Ganatra!

Apple must have a thing for EastEnders actors as Don Gilet (Lucas Johnson in the soap) appeared in their “Window Shopping” advert for the G4 iMac:

Can’t remember which generation my iPod Classic was but loved it at the time; absolutely gutted when it fell over at work and smashed.

Got the iPod Touch 2nd Generation after that but it wasn’t the same... there was something about the iPod w/click wheel.

 

[MarciaFunebre]

I miss the simplicity and usefulness of these early devices. You could connect it via firewire and use it as a small external drive. This way you could transport data before the age of thumb drives.

The fact that for contemporary iPods/iPhones you have to use special tools to get into the file structure is cumbersome. I'd love to add music or remove it via the actual file/folder structure via Finder. But no, easy and straightforward had to be replaced by iTunes horror.

 

[japanime]

For a laugh, it’s always fun to take a look at the infamous Thread 500: https://www.macrumors.com/2001/10/23/apples-new-thing-ipod/

I call that thread up every time one of these iPod anniversaries is mentioned. It's always good for a laugh.

Still have my 1st-generation iPod, and it still works (though I did have to do a hard drive and battery replacement a couple of years ago). It sits next to me PowerBook 2400c, which also still works.

 

[femike]

I would by a new dedicated music player and recorder, and offer features for musicians. Apple could do this.

In addition to normal playing of tracks and albums from iCloud and your personal collection, Apple has the ability to add things for musicians: eg
speed control
pitch control
A-B loop
software to analyse what the beat is, and
(if possible, an option to add a count-in so a you can practise along with it from the first bar)
a tuner
a quality metronome
a recorder with auto & manual input levels
good built-in speakers
good built in stereo mic
socket for external stereo mic
a headphone jack
SD card slot or USB
no app store or messaging apps
- all with a nice clear non-messy interface in a pleasing quality designed software and hardware package with ongoing Apple support.

I think if they promote this, it could be quite a sizeable market. There are millions of musicians around the world and there are not many (if any) that has all these features.

 

[Lone Deranger]

My first iPod was the excellent OG 4th click wheel 20GB without color and photo. I still have it but the battery has been dead for a long time. It’s too bulky to use today.

Why, have your pockets and/or hands shrunken over time?



I sometimes still take my NEC PC-Engine GT out for some quality mobile gaming.

 

[chooyoshi]

If Apple dropped a retro iPod classic for their next event, I bet they will sell out faster than the iPhones.

 

[bodonnell202]

If Apple thinks a $300 Apple watch can replace a $40 iPod shuffle, they really are out of touch with regular people.

I don't think Apple cares about people that can only afford a $40 device, especially looking at what has been going on with their pricing lately.

 

[Coffee50]

I had an iPod nano & the shuffle.....Good music memories.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

No that was the A7.

I stand corrected, thanks!

Then it is probably the earliest 64 bit Ax SoC still in Production... ;-)
[doublepost=1540346195][/doublepost]

What you're missing is the extra layer you have to go through to "Downloaded Music" to do anything that involves just playing the playlists and songs that are actually on your device, you know, like an original iPod. I guess I'd be happy(er) if they'd allow you to turn off iCloud/iTunes music purchases, and at the same time disable the entire layer that makes you have to select "Downloaded Music" to get to anything that's stored local... I don't want my entire iCloud/iTunes Music Library on my phone. I don't want Music app streaming music or shuffling Music I chose not to sync to my phone.

That's what you're missing.

Maybe I'm missing something. I don't use iCloud ANYTHING. I do subscribe to Apple Music; but that is completely separate from my actual iTunes Library.

Quite frankly, I don't generally listen to music on my phone. I tried streaming an Album from Apple Music while I was driving once, just to see if it worked (it does). But I don't have long enough of a commute to make messing around to listen to music on my phone worthwhile (at least to me). And when I am at work, I tend to just steam Apple Music using iTunes on my work (Windows) laptop, And at home, I have taken to using my local music and Apple Music using my Apple TV.

All of these methods seem to work pretty well, at least for me. YMMV.

 

[AFDoc]

Just watched a 9 minute clip of the keynote on youtube...... my how things have changed when it comes to reveals.

 

[MacsRuleOthersDrool]

Gen 2 was also Firewire only. Gen 3 was the first with the dock connector, which allowed it to work with either Firewire or USB, depending on which cable you purchased. I stuck with Firewire though, when I got the 3rd gen as my first ever Apple product purchase. It was much faster than USB 2.0, and charged faster, too. I was a Windows user at the time, but already had both six- and four-pin Firewire ports because I was interested in video editing as a hobby and all the digital camcorders of the day used Firewire to transfer footage for editing.

Thanks for the correction!

And yes, the FireWire i/f was vastly superior to the USB 2.0 (mostly because before USB 3.0, USB was particularly ILL-SUITED to "streaming" (large file) transfers, even though it was technically FASTER than FW 400)...

 

[doctor-don]

Still have my iPod Photo (replaced the battery a couple years ago, but it won't hold a charge ), iPod Shuffle (a gift to my wife in 2006 and into which I'll soon be replacing the battery - Software Version 1.0.4), iPod Nano (square, Software Version 1.2), iPod Touch (iOS 9.3.5) and iPod Classic (Software Version 2.0.5).
What can I say, I like my music.

My Android phone has a bunch of tunes - too bad the operating system isn't as sleek as Apple's when I need to update. The system is so-o-o obtuse.

 

[MidwestMacGuy]

Too bad Apple abandoned the audio market to the likes of the Onkyo DP-X1A, Sony's line of High-Res pocket players, and Astell & Kern's players. Any of them blow out of the water anything Apple is making which is actually nothing. Don't forget Tidal's high-res streaming along with Master Quality Authenticated options and Apple seems to be completely dead in the water when it comes to modern audio. Apple has focused so much on the iPhone they've been completely blindsided in the audio world. Beats is a distraction as well. Horrible headphones. Amazing.

 

[3rdiguy]

Someone gave me their old 1st gen iPod shuffle and that started me off in the Apple ecosystem

 

[BigBoy2018]

I call that thread up every time one of these iPod anniversaries is mentioned. It's always good for a laugh.

Still have my 1st-generation iPod, and it still works (though I did have to do a hard drive and battery replacement a couple of years ago). It sits next to me PowerBook 2400c, which also still works.

I'll be one to admit, while I have complained on these forums many times about what Apple is doing NOW ... the comments you linked to are VERY similar to the complaints of the people on these forums who I agree with to this day. Those complaints turned out to be misguided and wrong back in 2001.
That said, I do think that just because Apple what RIGHT back then, and I was WRONG, doesn't mean that will always be the case.
Some people (you even?) seem to assume that since Apple proved the critics wrong a few times over the years that that will ALWAYS be the case. One day, you may be wrong, and Apple will slip badly.
I guess we'll see.

 

[omihek]

For a laugh, it’s always fun to take a look at the infamous Thread 500: https://www.macrumors.com/2001/10/23/apples-new-thing-ipod/

Wow. Things really haven't changed a bit have they? People still whining about every new thing that Apple releases while simultaneously whining about everything that Apple is waiting too long to release. It's just MacRumors, but this realization makes me less hopeful for the world at large ever progressing past a certain point because history just keeps repeating itsef over and over.

 

[usarioclave]

I still have four iPods for when I travel: an iPod classic and an iPod Video both upgraded to 400GB flash, one 1GB square shuffle and a 4GB chiclet shuffle. They all still work great, though I upgraded the batteries on both the big pods when I changed over to flash. Plus the classic has to run rockbox due to the iPod track limit (grrr).

They are truly great devices, and I wish Apple still paid attention to this market. I mean realistically speaking streaming is the future, but when you don't have data streaming becomes harder.

 

[Glockworkorange]

Indeed. Apple Music, the service, has absolutely ruined Music the app, IMO. I want the Music app back that allowed my iPhone to function as an iPod used to, without all the cloud and service cruft. They could easily achieve this through settings or making AM it's own app.

Do you remember when there was an iPod app on the first few iPhones?

 

[Mayostudent]

Too bad Apple abandoned the audio market to the likes of the Onkyo DP-X1A, Sony's line of High-Res pocket players, and Astell & Kern's players. Any of them blow out of the water anything Apple is making which is actually nothing. Don't forget Tidal's high-res streaming along with Master Quality Authenticated options and Apple seems to be completely dead in the water when it comes to modern audio. Apple has focused so much on the iPhone they've been completely blindsided in the audio world. Beats is a distraction as well. Horrible headphones. Amazing.

I couldn’t agree more! You are so correct.

Cheers

 

[roland.g]

abandoning the nano/shuffle for exercisers was pretty stupid imo, especially as people generally become more active compared to prior decades.

wont see me carrying a big ass phone on a run

Bluetooth headphones and an Apple Watch or a phone in a pocket will work. I do agree the clipped shuffle and nano were great.

 

[MrJeffreyGee]

I still have one of these in great condition and still love it!

 

[ambientdaw]

I am angry with bile at Apple for their campaign against owning music. 320gb iPod oldskool please.

 

[BWhaler]

I’d love an update to the iPod ouch as long as they don’t take away the headphone jack. (Don’t mind wireless on all other devices, but I have a narrow usecase for my iPod touch which requires wires.

Here’s hoping App,e gives it a spec bump....