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RIP iPod: A Look Back at Apple's Iconic Music Player Over the Years
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Well, to all you 2001 Macrumors users saying that Apple will discontinue the iPod.. You were right. ?
I love my original Nano.... which many may forget was prone to combusting and was one of Apple's "let's pretend it's not true and not own it" controversies. Mine was in the sun for 5 minutes and blew up. Was so upset about it. In 2010, they settled and issued cash and the 2010 model as a settlement, which was my last and only second iPod I ever owned as the iPhone made needing a new one irrelevant after the explosion.
Glad it's not just me. I have 0 memory of that, and its so bad you'd think you wouldn't forget. Apple Keynotes in the iPod/iTunes era were also their best and most fun to watch... so I know I didn't skip that either. Back when one more thing, was a thing.
Maybe?
But the "watch" idea for the Nano did not come from Apple at all.
Third parties created these bands. In 2011, after seeing how a lot of people hackintoshed it as a watch, Apple added watch faces in an update (and strangely, no bands from the accessory happy company).
In reality, it sucked as a watch despite tracking steps and having some early fitness ability.
- There was a belt clip on the back so it's much bulkier on the wrist than the photo conveys
- Bluetooth headphones didn't exist and no bluetooth in it.... to use it as an iPod, you had to take it off your wrist.
While my 160GB iPod Classic will always be my favorite, the iPod Shuffle was a truly remarkable device. So compact, but it still had useable controls and that clip made it ideal for taking to the gym or bicycling. If only I could’ve replaced the battery.
I still use my shuffle for cutting the lawn. Much better for switching tracks with gloves on.
I never liked the touch screen iPods. I have a shuffle sized touch screen nano and I hate it.
I got it because it was a recall replacement for a prior model with clickwheel, because of a battery defect. I liked the click wheel models much, much better.
One of my favourites though is the mini.
I never liked the touch screen iPods. I have a shuffle sized touch screen nano and I hate it.
I got it because it was a recall replacement for a prior model with clickwheel, because of a battery defect. I liked the click wheel models much, much better.
One of my favourites though is the mini.
I still use my iPod video. I replaced the battery (super simple to do) and recently found a new iPod HiFi on eBay. All I can say about the combination is WOW.
The iPod nano changed my life in a significant way. I bought a first-generation nano and the Nike+iPod Sport Kit in 2006. I had recently turned 40 and felt the kit might inspire me to exercise more often.
Now, 16 years later, I'm still logging Nike+ miles on a daily basis. My Apple Watch is the tracking device nowadays, but I still have a few of the trackers (the battery life was terrible) in a desk drawer, the iPod dongle, and some swag that Nike sent to me over the years for reaching mileage goals.
Now, 16 years later, I'm still logging Nike+ miles on a daily basis. My Apple Watch is the tracking device nowadays, but I still have a few of the trackers (the battery life was terrible) in a desk drawer, the iPod dongle, and some swag that Nike sent to me over the years for reaching mileage goals.
Absolutely. And the fact that they still had the word “Touch” in the product name tells me that it was only a matter of time before they axed it.
Wow, your story is almost identical to mine!
I started running in my early 40s, too, but started out with a Sandisk MP3 player (which felt like it held about three and a half songs) and a stopwatch. I soon switched to the iPod nano/Nike pod combo and used it for years, until I finally moved to using an iPhone 5c and then eventually an Apple Watch.
I had the 5th generation nano (the one that weirdly came with a video camera), skipped the 6th gen (did not care for the design) and ended with a shiny green 7th gen nano, which I used until I got the 5c. I still have the nanos (along with an 80 GB Classic) and the 7th gen and Classic still worked fine the last time I used them.
In fact, if Apple had kept making the nano and offered a 32 GB version, I'd still be using that for my runs today, if only because transferring music to the watch is so agonizingly slow I rarely do it. Having a so-light-you-don't-feel-it nano in my pocket while running, that works with my wireless earbuds? I'd buy one in a minute.
I bet you're the most fun person at every party lol!
Just teasing. For us people who had just gotten their first taste of broad band internet, which was still new and also having Napster come out right then so music all the sudden being available in a minute instead of having to go to a store and buy a cd for one song you liked.... is actually a very emotional story, not non-story.Ha! Very similar stories, indeed!
Were you active on the now long-gone Nike+ website, with its rankings and challenges and bulletin boards? I still find myself from time to time wondering about the mysterious Chuck Jonard, and whether he continues to run a couple of marathons 365 days a year ?
I wish I still had my first-gen nano, just for nostalgia reasons. Long after the battery died (by which time I was using an iPhone with the Nike+ app to log my miles), I heard about Apple's recall through which my nano would be replaced with a new model, so I sent my old companion in and received a sixth-generation nano. I used it a couple of times before deciding to just stick with my iPhone when using Nike+.
So many memories here. I think for a lot of 80's and early 90's kids this is our youth. Going from a walkman to a discman to a harddisk iPod to a flash iPod to then hold on to those for far too long before eventually caving to just using an iPhone to do it all.
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This is very sad story. Of course iPod Touch can not compete with iPhone! I remember my first iPod was Mini, and my favorite was and still is iPod Nano (squared) which could be a nice form factor for todays iPod, as a budget version for Apple Watch, especially today when it has wireless Airpods. I don't like how Tim Cook is destroying product strategies put by Steve Jobs. He can not see elementary things at all
This article nicely shows how boring Apple is without Steve Jobs. I mean just look at all the different shapes, colors or those nice and friendly interfaces. Also, each product served a different purpose for it's use case. For example, you didn't want to take your big iPod for running so you bought the tiny Shuffle, etc.. Now Apple makes a few products which they sell in small, medium and big size. Not to mention that the cheapest and smallest ones are just old designs with current SoC. So lazy and uninspired. But people are buying them so...
Agreed, and wish they’d use a similar design for the iPhone.
Always loved my 3rd gen iPod. Sad day to see that Apple never realized the full potential of the iPod as a brain for various pro mobile devices. Cameras, Audio recorders, digital slates, external video recorder, portable HD. Apple's UX would trounce most electronics manufacturers idea of modern UX.
I bet you're the most fun person at every party lol!
Man those 128/256kbps connections were fire, I downloaded gladiator DivX 650Mb in like one day. Blew my mind.
A popular 128kbps MP3? Maybe 5-15 min if you were lucky.
Since Windows 95 and 128-256 internet connections, every step has been simply incremental when it comes to desktop computers and laptops.
The iPod though, magic. My art teacher in high school would allow us to use it in class. Such good memories.
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I remember when a friend of mine got iPod Video and I asked him if he can watch Lost episodes in airplane and he said he definitely did. I was mind blown because at that time I was comparing it your Nokia phones and it was so amazing that a similar device can hold so much data and play videos fluidly in full colour. You can take your tv with you.
Ironic how this is the demanded behaviour (or it sucks) from modern phones.
prior to that, the idea of the click wheel and how smoothly it responds with the software. The hardware design+software was a beautiful marriage in functionality. I mean where did they even come up with the idea of navigating between files with a flat wheel and how does it even work!? I mean I am sure everyone else was going to go with clickable arrow buttons but not Steve. Steve Jobs was a genius... he just took it a little bit too far with the 1 mouse button.
This reminds of the ol' Apple. Today even I who have been online for decades can't find my way through the iOS with its multi-gestures and having difficulty finding what I want in the settings. I once tried PowerDirector and found it better and easier than the current iMovie. As an Apple fan I was let down that some one else beat them at their own game.
Ironic how this is the demanded behaviour (or it sucks) from modern phones.
prior to that, the idea of the click wheel and how smoothly it responds with the software. The hardware design+software was a beautiful marriage in functionality. I mean where did they even come up with the idea of navigating between files with a flat wheel and how does it even work!? I mean I am sure everyone else was going to go with clickable arrow buttons but not Steve. Steve Jobs was a genius... he just took it a little bit too far with the 1 mouse button.
This reminds of the ol' Apple. Today even I who have been online for decades can't find my way through the iOS with its multi-gestures and having difficulty finding what I want in the settings. I once tried PowerDirector and found it better and easier than the current iMovie. As an Apple fan I was let down that some one else beat them at their own game.
