RIP iPod. It has been an incredible journey.
Apple today announced that iPod Touch, the latest iPod for sale, will only be available while supplies last, marking the end of a 20-year era for the portable digital music player.
For many, the iPod was the gateway to digital music. But just as it helped end the CD, the days of the iPod were numbered the moment Steve Jobs took the stage in 2007 to introduce the iPhone, which Apple’s co-founder described as a combination of a “iPod of wide screen with touch controls”, a mobile phone and an internet communicator.
When Jobs first introduced it in 2001, the original iPod was described as a portable hard drive with CD-quality music that lets you buy songs cheaply and store them in your pocket. It’s hard to make that sound revolutionary in today’s world, but it was groundbreaking at a time when people carried around CD players and swapped discs to go from album to album.
“With the iPod, Apple has invented a whole new category of digital music player that lets you put your entire music collection in your pocket and listen to it wherever you go,” Jobs said. “With iPod, listening to music will never be the same again.”
The iPod went through countless iterations, inventing new formats for us to use. in a race or in the gym, but also larger and with a large screen (for the time) to facilitate navigation. A With each passing year, Apple narrowed down its options by eliminating the iPod Nano, iPod Shuffle, and iPod Mini. In the last few years, all that was left was the iPod touch. Now, it too will come to an end.
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One device that I still hold close to my heart is a third generation Nano, a small rectangularmess with a small screen and characteristic white dial. I remember blowing my eardrums listening with those terrible included headphones emo bands like Circa Survive, Death Cab for Cutie or Taking Back Sunday. Still I listen to some of the artists I discovered in iTunes. We all have our favorite iPods. For my colleague Andrew Liszewski, it’s the iPod Shuffle without screenfor its basic design and its simple functionality.
If you like have the latest ipodthe iPod touch is still available for $199 in the Apple’s website. Otherwise, let’s serve some drinks at this wake and chat about our iPod memories.