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iPod Classic's Future in Doubt Due to Shrinking Market for 1.8" Hard Drives?

I've been calling this (tho for a different reason) since the ipod event a year ago. Apple has clearly given up on innovating with the classic and are now just marking time until the touch has enough capacity to kill the classic off.

IMO, that time will be this next update. I'm not saying I agree with it, but killing the classic has been a long time coming (arguably, since it got renamed the "classic"). The touch is apple's top-end now, and the platform they want to push. And although I'm sure the classic's huge capacity is very valuable for some, I see very very few of these in the wild compared to nanos, shuffles, and touchs.

Whether they should or they shouldn't, they will, either this fall or next fall at the very latest (if they want the touch to get to 128 GB first).
 
Yeah, it'll be a shame to see the classic go, but it's gotta happen sometime.

Remember people had mentioned this may happen last September with the Let's Rock event.

With innovative products, applications, devices which can be used in multiple ways, the classic is almost outdated. It has served us well, and they're an icon, so may well become collectors' items!
 
These stories seem to be missing a key point, which is that none of the higher capacity 1.8 inch drives are of the 5mm single platter variety. The MBA only has space for the 5mm drive.

Quite frankly, given the target market for these devices, being PMPs, netbooks, and thin notebooks, the lack and waning of interest in the 8mm dual platter drives should not surprise anyone.
 
QCassidy352 said:
I've been calling this (tho for a different reason) since the ipod event a year ago. Apple has clearly given up on innovating with the classic and are now just marking time until the touch has enough capacity to kill the classic off.
Click to expand...

The iPod Classic plays music and videos and nothing else. Some people want a device that plays music and videos and nothing else; that makes it easier to use if you want to do these two things and nothing else. So for quite some time there will be people who actually _want_ exactly what the Classic delivers.

And remember, the iPod Touch not only would need the same capacity, it would need the same capacity at the same price. I guess that will happen when 120 GB is the "small" iPod Touch, and there are 240 GB "medium" and 480 GB "large" models :rolleyes:
 
no.1 Apple Fan said:
Please don't discontinue the Classic, Apple! First of all, It is the one iPod that represents the original iPods and second, it is great for those of us who have a huge music collection.
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Absolutely. I know I can keep as many tunes as I want on my computer disk, but to limit to 20,000 the number I can listen to on demand at any time is cruel! I mean, 20,000 songs in my pocket, how could I live??? ;)


Note: Joking aside, I suspect Apple may keep a single classic model around just for this purpose-- probably going to 240GB pretty soon, if the drives can support this. But be prepared to pay for this. $$
 
QCassidy352 said:
And although I'm sure the classic's huge capacity is very valuable for some, I see very very few of these in the wild compared to nanos, shuffles, and touchs.

Whether they should or they shouldn't, they will, either this fall or next fall at the very latest (if they want the touch to get to 128 GB first).
Click to expand...

In my experience, I've actually seen just as many classics as iPod touches. I think the classic is still profitable as a single SKU (or two for colours), and is still great for those who have lots of music, videos, podcasts etc.
 
Good riddance. Ever since my iPod 5G died on me after a year and a half, I've never wanted to get another HD based iPod again. It just doesn't make sense to use a hard-drive with moving parts in a player that gets moved around in your pocket while you're walking. I'm sure anybody else who shelled out the big bucks for the 60GB 5G only to have it stop working less than 2 years later feels the same. Flash memory is definitely the way to go.
 
nagromme said:
I've learned how to fit "all" my music on a limited iPhone via smart playlists that keep the stuff I NEED present always, and that also cycle through the rest so every song gets its turn in the shuffle. You can get as sophisticated as you like with that.
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Right, I have a folder full of about 10 complex smart playlists that all my iPods/Phones sync from, primary one now is the 3Gs. Keeps anything I've added recently in heavy rotation for a month, favors a random mix of my 5-star songs and favorite artists, and fills in with other songs that haven't played in over a year. One more regular playlist full of "must haves" and I'm set. Every time a device syncs up the playlist adjusts so every song eventually gets its turn. Also keep 2-3 episodes of a few favorite TV shows in constant rotation that fall off and update as I watch them. Once this is set up you don't have to "think" about it, just sync and go.

With over 80GB of music and almost 600GB of video I learned long ago that having all my media with me wasn't worth the cost of keeping up with the latest large-capacity iPod (I already had 20GB of music when the first 5GB iPod was released). I always listen on Shuffle mode so I'd rather have my rotating selection with me than "random play" from the whole library anyhow. If there's something I really have an itch to hear or watch, sometimes I just have to wait until I get home.

My old 60GB iPod Photo did save my butt once back in the day when my computer crashed, and my whole Library was retrievable from the little white gadget. Now my 1TB AppleTV-mini would serve that purpose...
 
I love my 160gb!

Hell! for me the whole point of ipods is having my complete record collection instantly available. currently 13,000 songs minimum 320 AAC and a fair amount in apple lossless using about 123gb. As someone else mentioned it also makes a great backup for all my music. Now if they bring out a 128gb ipod touch i will have to sacrifice some of my library on the go. How about a 256gb SSD? Unfortunately most people seem to be content with poor quality sound files or have extremely limited interest in music, or a combination of both which explains the popularity of smaller capacity ipods.
 
kaldezar said:
Hell! for me the whole point of ipods is having my complete record collection instantly available. currently 13,000 songs minimum 320 AAC and a fair amount in apple lossless using about 123gb. As someone else mentioned it also makes a great backup for all my music. Now if they bring out a 128gb ipod touch i will have to sacrifice some of my library on the go. How about a 256gb SSD? Unfortunately most people seem to be content with poor quality sound files or have extremely limited interest in music, or a combination of both which explains the popularity of smaller capacity ipods.
Click to expand...

I always used a nano because it was easier to carry around and there was never a time i would listen to 8gb of music before returning to my computer.

Now with an iPhone i loose that second device i had to carry around and even have access to any other music i may want to listen to that isn't sync'd at the time via simplify music.

Keep in mind the issue here is the hdd used in the classic may not be available for sale in the future and if flash memory reaches high enough capacity there is no advantage to having a classic over a touch.
 
I have not seen mentioned but the larger capacity ipods are great for home portable (or not so portable) home music systems not close or connected to a computer, like the thousands made by Altec and others. There you want as much storage as possible, as the device is just popped into the speaker unit and may not be synced for months. As for carrying music around, before i got a 3g, i used a 1gb shuffle classic and was fine with that :)
 
I'm thankful my wife got me the 160GB version when it came out. My music collection is topping out at over 100GB right now, and I've not even completed re-ripping all my CD's to the Apple lossless format.
 
The classic may be cut out, but i highly doubt apple will go all-touch on their ipod line up.

I hope it doesnt get cut though :( I have a 5.5G 30gb and when it dies (which is inevitable lol) I would like to have something similar to replace it.
 
I wouldn't at all be surprised about the death of the classic. The only advantage it has in most people's eyes is storage capacity. The click wheel UI is very antiquated and the screen is itty bitty compared to the iPod touch.

Still, that's not the top reason I see it dying. It will go because forcing all those potential iPod classic buyers into an iPod touch means that many more eyeballs checking out the App Store.

The same kind of thing happened (is happening?) with the transition from CRT to LCD displays. Sure, you could find some huge CRT displays for cheap, but they took up more room, used more power, weren't as purty, etc. Eventually, enough people used LCDs to push the cost down so much that the price difference between the two is now pretty much even.

The HDD technology is on the out, especially at such a small size. Therefore, you may see a year in which Apple gives up on the high-end storage market to stop the need for that hard drive. But Apple could also design a special iPod touch that is a bit larger and can hold more flash chips. If the price can be controlled, this could be a semi-stopgap until flash catches up or a compromise model that sells quite well.
 
one more update

you will see a 64gb ipod touch in the autumn. it will use an updated interface that has a virtual scroll wheel on it. the classic will last a bit longer.
 
While I have never had a classic I have always wanted one for this reason...massive storage. I have found classics for sale multiple times but always feared they would do this.

My biggest complaint if they do this is losing the clickwheel. Having an iPhone and playing with multiple touches, they are just as user friendly to me when in the car per se. Nearly all of your attention is focused on driving and before you know it you have opened an app on the touch. However on the clickwheel, you can scroll a little at a time, drive, quick glance to the iPod, and boom, not bang, your music is on.
 
Flash-based classic?

Any chance of the classic design remaining but with flash memory?

Without the touch screen they could cram more flash memory in (potentially) making (at the current thickness) almost double the memory of the maximum potential of a touch (which is 64GB (2xthe 32GB chip in an iphone 3Gs)).

Not sure how feasible it is, but if the touch screen contributes to cost...possibly the same design could be used at the same cost as a classic with large memory (though admittedly, not as large as at present).
 
I think I'm going to buy a classic this September. Could be the last chance to grab the original and best!
 
Downsizing

At a time when everything else is being super sized, including hard drives why in the heck would Apple take a step backward? I was upset when then went from 180 gig to 120 gig.
 
Hmmmm, you can buy, retail, 80GB of USB flash memory (32GB + 32GB + 16GB) for about $120. I wonder if we'll see a solid state Classic with 80 or 100GB? That'd be pretty tasty. As for the 1.8" drives, I expect either company would supply Apple with as many as they need. I'd be surprised if Apple were forced to discontinue high-capacity iPods.
 
shaunymac said:
My biggest complaint if they do this is losing the clickwheel. Having an iPhone and playing with multiple touches, they are just as user friendly to me when in the car per se. Nearly all of your attention is focused on driving and before you know it you have opened an app on the touch. However on the clickwheel, you can scroll a little at a time, drive, quick glance to the iPod, and boom, not bang, your music is on.
Click to expand...

I find the touch a bit easier to use in the car than the click-wheel on my Nano.

However, I try really hard to make sure I'm all set before I start my journey because using either is very dangerous. I hate having to change albums while I'm moving. The 3GS voice recognition helps, but it just can't handle certain album names...
 
Blue Velvet said:
Interesting news. The price of those high-capacity drives is high and given their margins, I'm not sure whether Apple can successfully market and sell enough iPods at that capacity at a suitable retail price, especially in this economy

Just the other day, I was thinking about what to do about my next iPod; I'm not entirely enamoured with the current iPod Classics because the size bump wasn't quite worth it from my 80gb 5.5. I've got a lot of music, most of it in 320AAC, and like having most, if not all of it on my iPod, instead of faffing about with playlists too much, which I currently have to do.

Given that my 5.5 is still in very good condition, I was thinking of putting in a new battery next year and possibly buying one of the Toshiba 240GB drives to put in it, but if they're going to be in short supply, then it might be best to do it sooner rather than later.

If anyone fancies doing the same, it's the Toshiba MK2431GAH, which apparently will only work in 2nd generation iPod Videos (5.5G 60GB & 80GB). They're about £UK180 through various resellers, eBay and the like, closer to $US300, I guess.

See, doesn't this look nice?

lcd-mk2431gah-ipod-drive-upgrade.jpg


:)
Click to expand...
This is exactly what I did. I put one of these in my 80 GB iPod Video two months ago and am very happy with it. Apple can discontinue the Classic now as far as I'm concerned. I got my fix.
 
BigJimmyC said:
Good riddance. Ever since my iPod 5G died on me after a year and a half, I've never wanted to get another HD based iPod again. It just doesn't make sense to use a hard-drive with moving parts in a player that gets moved around in your pocket while you're walking. I'm sure anybody else who shelled out the big bucks for the 60GB 5G only to have it stop working less than 2 years later feels the same. Flash memory is definitely the way to go.
Click to expand...

I laughed as I read this post while listening to my 60GB 5G. :)

I actually have a 5G and a 32GB Touch, and find that I use the Touch a lot more. It's not the quantity of music on it that keeps me using it, it's that it does so much! It's nearly a laptop replacement. The Classic is very limited in what it does. That said, if all you use it for is a media player, the Classic is hard to beat.

It all depends on what you use it for. :cool:
 
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