Is the iPod Classic Done? 10 Years of iPod

[baryon]

WOW! Guys please go and read the 10-year old forums, it's amazingly fun!

There are comments like:

"I still can't believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player? I want something new! I want them to think differently!
Why oh why would they do this?! It's so wrong! It's so stupid!"

It's totally like any other new product announcement today

On topic: I think Apple has some amazing ideas, but also that they don't hesitate to ditch them for something new if they think it's better. I think this is the only way to evolve in today's world. Most companies stick to their traditional stuff and keep pushing it even if it's not as good as it could be, just because it was some great idea they had many years ago. Apple has absolutely no respect for tradition and will always be the first to replace one of their best inventions with something totally different. I find this admirable and dangerous at the same time, but so far it had worked great for them.

While many people will still stick to traditions, Apple won't. Rationally, the click-wheel has no real advantage over a touch screen. It's slower to navigate a menu if you have to scroll through it, rather than just press whatever you like. Yes, it is awesome and you got used to it and it looks nice, but Apple won't care for that. It's good and bad at the same time.

 

[tbobmccoy]

WOW! Guys please go and read the 10-year old forums, it's amazingly fun!

There are comments like:

"I still can't believe this! All this hype for something so ridiculous! Who cares about an MP3 player? I want something new! I want them to think differently!
Why oh why would they do this?! It's so wrong! It's so stupid!"

It's totally like any other new product announcement today

On topic: I think Apple has some amazing ideas, but also that they don't hesitate to ditch them for something new if they think it's better. I think this is the only way to evolve in today's world. Most companies stick to their traditional stuff and keep pushing it even if it's not as good as it could be, just because it was some great idea they had many years ago. Apple has absolutely no respect for tradition and will always be the first to replace one of their best inventions with something totally different. I find this admirable and dangerous at the same time, but so far it had worked great for them.

While many people will still stick to traditions, Apple won't. Rationally, the click-wheel has no real advantage over a touch screen. It's slower to navigate a menu if you have to scroll through it, rather than just press whatever you like. Yes, it is awesome and you got used to it and it looks nice, but Apple won't care for that. It's good and bad at the same time.

Sent from my iPod Shuffle, I lol'd

Seriously though; iPod Classic has passed away now. The remaining stock is just the remains of what was probably the lifesaver of Apple Inc. and allows us to still be loving Macs today. I really hope they make a high capacity Touch though, since I still have a 6th gen 160GB iPod and I want to get at least SOMEWHERE close to that space in a new device for my car.

 

[MacAddict1978]

still seeing 24 hour shipping times in the apple store.

 

[msavwah]

I had my 160gb classic ripped off. I would have been pissed if I couldn't replace it with a new one, which I promptly did.

I also still have my 20gb from 2002. It's like a priceless artifact. Survived a year of combat and it still rocks.

I bought an 80gb when they came out, then gave it to a friend when I got the first 160gb.

I will always own the highest capacity iPod.
Hoping the classic sticks around until at least it can be replaced by the touch model. Still, I love the classic. It's rugged and holds everything I have, and it's also simple. No wifi, app store safari, etc.
Just iPod. Classic!

 

[0098386]

What I don't like about my iPod Touch is that it takes 10-20 seconds to just load up the "music app". I've cleared off all files that weren't music, gone through numerous firmware updates. 29gb of music takes ages to load up.
Not so on my iPod 5.5G. Loads anything up instantly - songs, videos, photos. Feels like the powerhouse of MP3 players.

Apple hates physical buttons. No Apple device in the past ten years has ever moved backwards in the drive to eliminate physical buttons.

iPod 3G was fully touch operated (save for the hold switch).
iPod 4G+Photo went backwards and added physical buttons. To this day they still haven't gone back to the full touch design of the 3G.

 

[tmofee]

Heh. Those were the days. 2001 where the only forum I frequented was a nirvana one and my small compact music player was a Sony mini-discman. Still have it and works to this day. Have dozens of minidiscs in the cupboard, full of old radio shows i used to listen to. Unlike those old cassettes, they sound fantastic still!

 

[djransom]

I still have and love my iPod Classic. I hope it's not discontinued, but I have feeling it will be though

 

[Signal-11]

iPod 3G was fully touch operated (save for the hold switch).
iPod 4G+Photo went backwards and added physical buttons. To this day they still haven't gone back to the full touch design of the 3G.

The 3G had separate, discrete, non-mechanical touch pad "buttons." 4G+ eliminated those and incorporated them all onto the touch wheel. For you to claim that those weren't buttons is like me claiming my microwave oven's keypad is fully touch operated. Each of the touch pads are a discrete element. I would have thought that was obvious in the context of what I wrote instead of having to be explicitly stated.

 

[Laird Knox]

And even the interface of the iPod Touch could be much better if they dropped all those useless animations and transition effects that only achieve one thing: They slow me down. And that is especially dangerous when using the bloody thing while driving a car.

That's why I added an iPod interface to my car. Toss the iPod in the glove box and control it from the steering wheel.

Very often, I envy the people who have a USB port in their car radio; they just plug in a USB stick without all those unnecessary fancy things and they are not locked into the "iTunes experience" or any other DRM prison.

DRM prison? Glad I only have mp3s on my iPod.

Why? it's an ipod first of all, and 128 is a step back from 160. who cares SSD or not? its an ipod not a computer.

Actually the HD based iPods don't get along too well with the vibrations generated from a motorcycle. With that said I did take a 6000 mile trip with my iPod Video and definitely put some wear and tear on the HD. Later in life it even started acting up in the Jeep on paved roads. I hope the HD has completely failed now for whomever stole it.

if tapping an orange square is really too much for you, there's always the option of leaving the ipod app open all the time.

The classic is nice while doing yard work. If I don't like a song I can just reach down without looking and hit the skip button. No need to stop, take off the gloves and unlock the screen.

Rationally, the click-wheel has no real advantage over a touch screen.

See above.

 

[Signal-11]

That's why I added an iPod interface to my car. Toss the iPod in the glove box and control it from the steering wheel.

I am picturing you steering right to go down a list, left to go up and honking each time you want to middle button.

Actually the HD based iPods don't get along too well with the vibrations generated from a motorcycle. With that said I did take a 6000 mile trip with my iPod Video and definitely put some wear and tear on the HD. Later in life it even started acting up in the Jeep on paved roads. I hope the HD has completely failed now for whomever stole it.

My HD based iPods that failed from too much time on the back of a motorcycle didn't show signs of failing. They just farted out and unhappy faced me out of the blue.

The classic is nice while doing yard work. If I don't like a song I can just reach down without looking and hit the skip button. No need to stop, take off the gloves and unlock the screen.

You know, it's like the headphones with remote and mic w/ volume controls never happened to half you folk. After a very short and easy learning curve, it's even easier to interact for basic functions than the wheel. One of the projects that's on my list of to-dos before my South American ride is to rig a control scheme.

 

[macintosh1097]

I e-mailed steve jobs and told him "not to kill the classic cuz a lot of people still like it even though it's not the ipod's selling point" his response was " We have no plans to"

 

[eye]

The old comments are priceless. Here's one:

"It's now at the online Apple Store!

$400 for an Mp3 Player!

I'd call it the Cube 2.0 as it wont sell, and be killed off in a short time...and it's not really functional.

Uuhh Steve, can I have a PDA now?"

 

[Laird Knox]

I am picturing you steering right to go down a list, left to go up and honking each time you want to middle button.

Now that would be fun. On the back of the steering wheeling in my Jeep there are buttons for volume +/-, station +/-, seek and input select. The adapter I bought plugs into the factory radio's wiring harness and makes the stereo think it has a CD changer pulgged in. The seek button cycles through play lists while the station +/- lets you change tracks. It is pretty nifty.

My HD based iPods that failed from too much time on the back of a motorcycle didn't show signs of failing. They just farted out and unhappy faced me out of the blue.

The first time mine did that it took me about a week of fiddling with it before I was able to get the drive reformated.

You know, it's like the headphones with remote and mic w/ volume controls never happened to half you folk. After a very short and easy learning curve, it's even easier to interact for basic functions than the wheel. One of the projects that's on my list of to-dos before my South American ride is to rig a control scheme.

True, but I already had the iPod Video with real buttons and the BT adapter I was using was only a transmitter. Sure I could make the transition to the touch. I was just pointing out that buttons weren't useless.

As for your trip, you don't need to rig anythig up. I have a Belkin SportCommand that works great on the bike. I just strap it to my left thigh and have full control over the iPod stuffed in a bag. Just drop your hand down to the control and you don't even have to take your eyes off the road.

Unfortunately I was just looking and they may not make it any longer. There are other, similar, solutions out there.

South American ride? I want to go!

 

[foidulus]

They better fix the iPod ios app first

The ios iPod app is an abomination. Even with my moderately sized(about 3000 songs, most are just vocab flash cards) the thing chokes on my 3gs and even a bit on 1g iPad. It takes seconds, yes SECONDS to respond to input, not to mention all the crashing. Even if they could make a 128gb iPod touch, I would shudder to think at how insanely slow the iPod app would be if you loaded that puppy up with music.

 

[Malithion]

Maybe all these rumors of a "squashed iphone 5 mini" are really leaks of the next gen ipod classic? That type of form factor makes more sense considering the way things are headed. Touch screens and all.

 

[Malithion]

The ios iPod app is an abomination. Even with my moderately sized(about 3000 songs, most are just vocab flash cards) the thing chokes on my 3gs and even a bit on 1g iPad. It takes seconds, yes SECONDS to respond to input, not to mention all the crashing. Even if they could make a 128gb iPod touch, I would shudder to think at how insanely slow the iPod app would be if you loaded that puppy up with music.

In my case it's adding ONE podcast to listen too before bed, then waiting forever as it sits there "updating" the library. I can sync and start to listen to it in the same time on my classic.

 

[foidulus]

In my case it's adding ONE podcast to listen too before bed, then waiting forever as it sits there "updating" the library. I can sync and start to listen to it in the same time on my classic.

One thing to try is disabling the spotlight search for songs, I used to have the exact same problem too until I disabled searching songs. That window still pops from time to time, but at least it's not all the time!

 

[CraigEvander]

Well we have to agree it was a long run with many songs. After all 10 yeas is a long period for every gadget these days. Just look at how phones are appearing and disappearing on the market.

 

[delToros]

Ideal iPod

For those about.. to use high-capacity player=)

What will be the ideal ipod for you?

For me it is:

Ipod-like model with clickwheel. Support of ALAC. Black/white.
Sata interface instead of zif (with programm support of dual-disks drives and unlimited music titles), so that consumers could choose prefered storage (maybe someone want 32-64gb fast ssd instead of hdd). This also let us install up to 320Gb in this device. To save battery, I would prefer old-fashioned black-white screen. And, if it possible to fit, more advanced music system (for high-end headphones).

This is my vision of iPod line:
If you want touch-screen media player (but for some reason don't want iPhone) = iPod Touch
If iPod Touch is too big = there is nano
If you think nano is still too complicated, you just need something to play mp3's = shuffle
BUT if you are looking for high-end MUSIC player with high capacity option there is new iPod Classic 7th generation.

What do you think? How about a petition=)?

 

[Signal-11]

As for your trip, you don't need to rig anythig up. I have a Belkin SportCommand that works great on the bike. I just strap it to my left thigh and have full control over the iPod stuffed in a bag. Just drop your hand down to the control and you don't even have to take your eyes off the road.

See, I think that's unnecessarily complicated. I only need one button to handle play, pause, next and previous with a rocker for volume and this doesn't necessarily have to be separated.

I'm not sure how I want to do the GPS and if the iPhone will be a part of my panel or if I'm just going to use BMW's unit. I ended up doing some pretty neat things with my iPhone in Burma, Cambodia and Uganda so I'm leaning towards use the iPhone as the primary. Anyway, how I set up my gear will affect how I set up my control scheme. I don't know yet, but I'm going to experiment with it over the next year.

South American ride? I want to go!

I'm giving myself a year. Want to learn some Spanish.

I had this planned out a year or two ago but the guy I was going to ride with changed his mind and decided to do it by bicycle instead and I ended up getting suckered into another series of assignments on the ass end of the planet.

Rain or shine, starting in the summer of 2012. Gotta start before the end of the world.

 

[morphineseason]

Anyone else think they'll probably rename the iPod touch to simply "iPod"? I think it makes sense, considering almost all of their products feature multi-touch technology at this point.

 

[T'hain Esh Kelch]

Anyone else think they'll probably rename the iPod touch to simply "iPod"? I think it makes sense, considering almost all of their products feature multi-touch technology at this point.

They won't. You wouldn't know if people talked about iPods in general or iPod touches.

 

[edenwaith]

Interesting glance at the state of the Apple-centric world at that time. Quite a few people clamoring for an Apple PDA. I suppose they finally got it with the iPhone, in a sense -- however PDA is rarely used these days, replaced by smart phones.

Shortly after the iPod debuted, I received a call from Apple asking me if I had heard about the iPod and what I thought of it. I thought it was a neat product, but for $400, it was far out of my budget at that time. For $75, I would have jumped for it.

Two years later I purchased a refurished 2nd generation 10GB iPod, which had a good life for the next five years.

 

[danielwsmithee]

A Phat iPod Touch sounds like a great product to me. Integrate an iPad touch with limited flash storage and a iPad Hard Drive. Call it the Phat iPod Touch..

 

[tbobmccoy]

A Phat iPod Touch sounds like a great product to me. Integrate an iPad touch with limited flash storage and a iPad Hard Drive. Call it the Phat iPod Touch..

Hard drives would not be good AT ALL for an iPod Touch. Apps depend on the instant access that flash memory allows for using data, so a hard drive would slow the whole process up, especially on the processor size. Plus, moving objects are exactly why they moved to flash: too fragile and much easier to destroy. Nope, the hard drive based music player has seen its day in the sun and is now going off into the distance. It has a good run, but like the floppy before it (didn't flash memory also kill that too?), its just not good enough for today.