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'iPod Father' Tony Fadell Comments on Discontinuation of iPod Classic

DeanLubaki said:
It's not streaming that killed the iPod.
Sorry, but when you have a 20GB library like me, stream it over 3G would cost an enormous amount of money.

What killed it, is Apple not renewing them. If Apple didn't stick with a 6+ years old iPod Classic and had added flash memory or bigger storage on the iPod Nano, features like Bluetooth to the iPod Classic, the iPod business wouldn't be declining like it is right now because I can't be the only one with a 20GB+ library that wants a new device with enough flash storage.

I hear people saying "Well buy a 64GB or 128GB iPhone".
Well guess what: there's also people like me who prefer a device dedicated to music.
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Yes, Apple do seem to have a habit of confusing their visions of the future with the here-and-now reality. I'm not sure why they're so convinced that every man and his dog now streams all of their music - my real world experience would seem to suggest that despite the growth of streaming services, everyone I know still stores their music locally. Unfortunately, such is (was?) the market influence of Apple that what they think will happen tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy anyway.
 
usarioclave said:
BTW, has anyone noticed that iTunes match seems to have dropped its 25,000 song limit? I have around 27,000 songs, and after the 11.4 update all of my music seems to be up there. Maybe they're only applying the limit to uploaded songs now?
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It's supposed to be a limit of 25,000 uploaded songs but purchases made via iTunes don't count towards the limit.
 
milo said:
I don't get the talk like Apple isn't making iPods any more, since they still have the shuffle, nano, and iPod touch.
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The touch and the nano haven't been updated in 3 years, and the shuffle hasn't been updated in 4 years. It seems like everything is iPhone and iPad now.
 
Moonlight said:
Music in the cloud didn't kill the iPod (classic). You still need a device to play the music off of.

MultiTouch screens killed the iPod (classic).
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Music in the cloud killed the need for massive amounts of local device storage for music. The iPod classic provided that massive local storage at a reasonable cost in terms of price and portability. With cloud services, it's easier to have a smaller, cheaper device with less storage, knowing that you can browse, stream, and selectively download virtually any song you want while on the go.
 
The team that worked on the iPod poured literally everything into making it what it was.
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I think Tony may have forgotten the definition of literally. Unless of course he didn't, in which case "everything" did go into making the iPod and we are all living inside it now!
 
The iPod still has a feature no touchscreen Apple device has. The ability to add a currently playing song to a playlist without dredging through menus. (just press and hold the center button...done)

iPod will be missed.
 
I'm surprised that that it took so long...

When the iPhone and iPod Touch came out, it was just a matter of time. The apps and the web on a portable device are where the money is. The Nano is priced so that the logical buy is a streaming device. The Touch hasn't been updated because there's more money to be made from the iPhone. That's why I'd bet Apple isn't worried about cannibalization of the iPad Mini.
 
dannyyankou said:
They were last updated in 2012, and the weren't updated in 2013 or this year. So if it's updated in 2015, that will be 3 years.
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They were updated in October of 2012. And last time I checked Apple is most likely having an event in October this year. They also don't need to announce it at an event. They have updated stuff in the past with out events.
 
freediverx said:
Music in the cloud killed the need for massive amounts of local device storage for music. The iPod classic provided that massive local storage at a reasonable cost in terms of price and portability. With cloud services, it's easier to have a smaller, cheaper device with less storage, knowing that you can browse, stream, and selectively download virtually any song you want while on the go.
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Then just add WiFi to the iPod Classic. My point still stands that it was not the cloud, but the touchscreen.
 
djtech42 said:
The 128 GB iPhone 6/6 Plus essentially replaces it now.
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The 128GB iPod Touch will replace the classic in the near future?

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Moonlight said:
Then just add WiFi to the iPod Classic. My point still stands that it was not the cloud, but the touchscreen.
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If Apple had cared enough about the Classic, they would have updated it with... something. Wifi, screen style, UI design, storage space, storage style, whatever. I don't think it's the lack of any features that killed the Classic, it's Apple's apathy that killed it.
 
The iPod will be discontinued. Apple thinks if we're not moving, we should stream from phone. If jogging, etc, we should stream from watch. That's their vision, I think. It's not mine. I now have moved to a Fiio X5 and will also be checking out the pono player. The iPod classic had pretty good sound for the price and storage. And ease of use was the best. If they want to discontinue in, a lot of musicians ( moi ) and audiophiles are going to move to non apple music. I've already begun. :p to Apple
 
Pakaku said:
Some would argue it looks better than that uninspired flat iOS 7/8 look :)
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This is what a progress bar is supposed to look like... :)
 

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Why is MR calling Tony Fadell the 'iPod Father'? If anyone deserves that title it's Jon Rubenstein. The project was in development at Apple before Fadell was brought on board.
 
NightFox said:
Yes, Apple do seem to have a habit of confusing their visions of the future with the here-and-now reality. I'm not sure why they're so convinced that every man and his dog now streams all of their music - my real world experience would seem to suggest that despite the growth of streaming services, everyone I know still stores their music locally. Unfortunately, such is (was?) the market influence of Apple that what they think will happen tends to become a self-fulfilling prophecy anyway.
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Exactly - My Mac is still my central hub, not the cloud.

I'm probably a Luddite but I find while I can stream music on my phone, it feels a little precarious to stream it on my Mac.

I'm slowly embracing the new model and when I buy an iPad I'm sure it'll help, but it's nice to know if all else fails I can still sync to my mac, and if my internet goes down I can still access my content.
 
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DeanLubaki said:
It's not streaming that killed the iPod.
Sorry, but when you have a 20GB library like me, stream it over 3G would cost an enormous amount of money.

What killed it, is Apple not renewing them. If Apple didn't stick with a 6+ years old iPod Classic and had added flash memory or bigger storage on the iPod Nano, features like Bluetooth to the iPod Classic, the iPod business wouldn't be declining like it is right now because I can't be the only one with a 20GB+ library that wants a new device with enough flash storage.
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I happen to be in the same camp as you. But I am afraid the future for masses is streaming. Heck, if you are on T-Mobile, you even get unlimited streaming with some of the popular streaming services.

For many folks, the notion of paying just $10/month or $100/year for most of your music needs can be extremely appealing and convenient.

As for Apple not renewing Classic, if Apple slaps in modern UI, bigger flash storage, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, amazing DAC, etc., the sales will definitely pick up initially, but it's not going to reach beyond that core market.

It is truly sad to see Classic disappear into the sunset, but the future has spoken. I am just hoping Apple will release 128GB iPod nano for last remaining music listeners like me before sunsetting that product too.
 
I'll always miss the iPod classic. A cheap-ish music player that can hold all your music is great. And it's great for my car. So unfortunately it's stuck in the glove compartment beung controlled by my head unit, but it beats the hell out of paying $400 for an iPod touch to never look at.
 
djtech42 said:
The 128 GB iPhone 6/6 Plus essentially replaces it now.
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Not even close! 160GB iPod classic holds waaaaayyyy more than a 128GB phone! I have a 160GB in the car with 18,000+ songs on it....no streaming or data. It's great. When it dies, that will be a tough pill to swallow. I will resort to iTunes Match....
 
The 'father' of the iPod

The 'father' of the iPod :apple: is Jon Rubinstein , he put together the team of Tony Fadell and Michael Dhuey, and some design engineer named Jonathan Ive (Sir).

Rubinstein had the vision of concept, no doubt the others all brought their expertise.

The original iPod design BTW was heavily '''inspired'' by a German Radio design, seen here http://bit.ly/ipod-copied
 
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