Memories of the iPod: A whole new relationship to music
Ben Lovejoy
Its official: Apples groundbreaking portable music player is no more.
All were left with now is memories of the iPod, and perhaps that one last
model some plan to keep forever.
The decision was inevitable. Most of us now use our iPhones and streaming
music services to listen to music. The other role played by the iPod Touch
as a device for kids too young to have a phone has largely been supplanted
by the iPad. All the same, its still a somewhat sad moment
A bunch of us here at 9to5Mac last year shared our early memories of the
iPod, on the 20th anniversary of the launch of the device. I thought it
would be interesting to expand on my own experiences of the device over the
years.
Life before iPod
Ive always loved listening to music, and while the first Sony Walkman
stretched my meagre budget to the max, I had to have one.
Its kind of hard to imagine now how revolutionary a device it was. For the
first time, we had a portable music player so small and light that it was
practical to take it with us everywhere, and I did just that.
The big drawback, of course, was that it was limited to a single album at a
time. Still, that was good enough for everyday use, and mine was indeed used
every day. I later upgraded to a Discman, as CDs took over.
As an early adopter of gadgets, it surprised no one when I bought the first
ever mp3 player: the MPMan F10. The tiny amount of flash storage meant I
was still limited to one album at a time, and swapping music was less
convenient than switching tapes, but it was way smaller and lighter, and
hey, it was a gadget.
Buying an iPod on launch day in 2001
As soon as the iPod was announced, I knew I had to have one. A thousand
songs in my pocket? That was irresistible!
I happened to be in New York the day it went on sale. Id always promised
myself Id fly Concorde one day, and managed to get two of the last
discounted tickets available before British Airways announced the upcoming
retirement of the service, and only full-fare ($5,000 one-way!) tickets were
available.
As Id secured that deal, I tasked my then-girlfriend with finding a
suitable hotel deal, and she managed to get a room at the Waldorf. A mix-up
with our booking resulted in a swift apology and an upgrade to a suite. This
trip was going well! Adding an iPod into the mix would be the icing on the
cake.
I remember we had to trek halfway across Manhattan before finding a place
that had any left in stock, and actually getting my hands on one felt like a
triumph. Despite being in the city for just five days, with a lot of
sightseeing on the agenda, I spent a few hours in our hotel room
transferring music to it, to the bemusement of my non-techy other half.
Travelling with her, it wasnt like I was going to don my headphones and
listen until the return flight
(not on Concorde!), but still, I had this incredible new device and I wanted
to set it up and at least test it.
The user interface was just genius! To have a thousand songs on the device
(I of course had to test the claim!) and still be able to quickly select the
one I wanted felt like magic to me. I somehow did manage to resist the
temptation to abandon my girlfriend to my music collection, but listened to
it non-stop on the flight home. After that, it was rare indeed for me to
leave home without it and I think it was many months before it ceased to
feel like magic.
30GB iPod Classic in 2003
My next upgrade was to the 30GB model in 2003. By then, I was greedy. A
thousand songs felt insufficient, and being able to store a very large
proportion of my music collection on the device was too much to resist.
This model also changed the way I listened to music at home. Instead of
playing CDs, I hooked it up to my hifi system, to give me the same instant
access to my music I enjoyed when on the move.
This was also the point at which I had to admit that I was no audiophile.
The quality of mp3 files available then was significantly lower than CD
quality.
When I listened to the same track back-to-back in each format, the mp3
version sounded noticeably muddier. However, while I could easily tell the
difference, and would choose CDs for active listening, my everyday
background music was played on the iPod.
Resisting other models
Other models came along. The iPod Mini. The iPod Shuffle (so cute I wanted
one, but had no excuse for one as my Classic still went with me everywhere).
The iPod Photo. The iPod Nano. However, Apple did manage to sell me one
more
160GB iPod Classic in 2007
Finally Apple offered a model with enough storage for my entire music
collection! This was the holy grail. No longer having to decide what music I
might want to listen to while on the move, instead having access to any of
it, anytime, anywhere. I cannot begin to tell you how happy that made me!
I kept that model for years and years. Indeed, even when Id switched to
listening to music on my iPhone the convenience of a single device with
easy(ish) music swapping finally outweighing the joy of having all my music
all the time I still kept it. It became instead my car music player,
permanently wired into power and car stereo AUX port. I then had all my
music in the car.
I did eventually sell it, when Spotify took over as my primary music source,
and I could then once more listen to anything, any time, anywhere. Part of
me still wishes I hadnt, though!
Today
Today my HomePods are my primary music device at home, simply asking Siri to
play what I want, while my iPhone is my mobile music player. I actually
subscribed to both Spotify and Apple Music; the former for tango, the latter
for everything else. That arrangement means that both services are able to
recommend appropriate genre music to me Ive been too scared to mix the
two, for fear that the recommendation engines would explode in confusion.
Those are my iPod memories limited exclusively to the Classic!
Now obsolete, the iPod touch was once the gateway to the iOS ecosystem
Filipe Espósito
Just a few days ago, I wrote an article asking why Apple is still selling
the iPod touch in 2022.
Coincidentally or not, the company announced on Tuesday that the iPod touch
and the iPod brand have reached the end of their lives.
Whats interesting to think about is that, now obsolete, the iPod touch was
once the gateway to the iOS ecosystem.
An iPhone without the phone
The iPhone was certainly revolutionary, and there were many people
interested in buying one. However, since it was Apples first phone, the
original iPhone was only available in six countries. And for $499 with a
two-year contract, not everyone was able to get their hands on the iPhone.
Luckily, Apple came up with a solution.
The entire iPod lineup was still there for those who still preferred to have
dedicated device to play songs on. And in September 2007, Steve Jobs
announced that Apple was bringing iPhone technology to the iPod with the
first generation iPod touch.
Unlike the other iPods, which all had Click Wheel and ran what Apple called
iPod Software, the iPod touch was basically an iPhone without the phone.
It had the same 3.5-inch multi-touch display and the same iPhone OS,
although with some limitations compared to the iPhone. And since the iPod
touch had no phone, it was priced cheaper and was launched in many more
markets than the iPhone.
It sounded like the recipe for a successful product and indeed it was.
Here in Brazil, Apple never released the first iPhone, and buying one in
another country was not an option due to carrier lock-in. However, thanks to
the iPod touch, I and many other people were able to experience part of the
iPhone.
A gateway to the iOS ecosystem
Dont think that Apple restricting features to more expensive devices is
something new. In fact, the company knew exactly what it was doing with the
iPod touch. Even though the device runs iPhone OS, some of the features were
only available to iPhone users.
For instance, the first iPod touch only had Safari, YouTube, Calendar,
Contacts, Clock, Calculator, Music, Videos, Photos, and iTunes Store apps.
Utility apps like Stocks, Weather, Notes, and Mail werent available on the
iPod touch at first. This, of course, was a way to convince iPod users to
buy an iPhone at some point almost as if the iPod touch was a lite version
of the iPhone.
First-generation iPod touch.
Honestly, that worked out very well. The iPod touch had key features of the
iPhone to convince people that they needed one. I remember zooming in on a
photo with the pinch gesture, opening a webpage in Safari, or seeing the
accelerometer in action for the first time on my iPod. At that moment, I was
sure I wanted all of that on my phone.
A few months later, Apple released a software update that enabled the
missing apps on the iPod touch, but it cost $19.99. And for years to follow,
Apple charged for iPod touch software updates, while they were free for
iPhone users.
A companion for the iPhone
Even after the iPhone became more popular, people still bought iPod touch as
a companion device. Since it was cheaper, you could fill an iPod up with
music and keep your iPhone storage free for apps and photos. (Did you know
there was an iPhone with only 4GB of storage?) Months after Apple introduced
the iPhone 3G in June 2008, the company announced the second-generation iPod
touch. This time, besides a new design, it had more storage options, a
built-in speaker, Bluetooth support, bigger battery, and most importantly,
the iPhone OS 2.0 pre-installed with the brand new App Store.
Every year when Apple announced a new iPhone, a new iPod touch was announced
a few months later with similar hardware and features. The third-generation
iPod touch had the same faster CPU and GPU as the iPhone 3GS, while the
fourth generation brought the Retina display, A4 chip, and the FaceTime
cameras of the iPhone 4.
Third-generation iPod touch.
After all, the iPod touch was still a way to let people experience the
iPhone features for a lower, more affordable price.
The end of an era
2011 was the first year that Apple didnt introduce any new iPods. Instead,
it only announced software updates for the iPod touch and iPod nano. 2012
was the last time Apple released a new iPod nano and iPod shuffle. The iPod
touch had also been updated for its fifth generation, this time with a
similar design to the iPhone 5, but with the A5 chip instead of the A6.
But then things started to get bad for iPod fans. In 2014, Apple
discontinued the iPod classic, the last model with a Click Wheel. A year
later, the sixth-generation iPod touch was quietly released with the A8
chip, and thats it. Then, in 2017, Apple officially stopped selling iPod
shuffle and iPod nano, as these models lack Apple Music support.
2019 was the last time the company introduced a new iPod. However, the
seventh-generation iPod was another boring update that had the A10 Fusion
chip as the only change. Other than that, the iPod still had the same small
4-inch screen as the iPhone 5 and a Home button without Touch ID.
iPod touch, iPod shuffle, and AirPods.
Now the iPod has become irrelevant, perhaps a result of the streaming era
combined with powerful smartphones. I wont miss it, but I will definitely
always remember what an important product it was for Apple and for the whole
industry.
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