Photo: @barefootchica via Twenty20
Fans poured their hearts out on social media upon hearing the news that Apple planned to discontinue its last remaining iPod, the iPod Touch.
“This lingering devotion makes sense,” wrote Joanna Stern, the Wall Street Journal’s personal technology columnist, in a column. “The iPod and the iTunes music store may have given way to all the smartphones and streaming services so many of us are now stuck on, but that doesn’t mean the newer arrivals are better.”
She noted many fans still use iPods in their cars and homes and on their runs partly because most versions offered “no distractions.” With most disconnected from the internet, the iPod experience comes free of notifications or temptations to check social media, leaving the focus on music.
Another reason for iPods’ continued appeal is that they’re compact and durable. With some versions as small as the Shuffle at 0.44 ounces, iPods are more portable than the iPhone, and most don’t have a screen to break.
Their affordability further meant an iPod was often a person’s first Apple device, with prices starting as low as $59 for the Shuffle (2GB of storage) and multiple versions all the way up to the current Touch (32GB, $199.99; 128GB, $299.99) that includes online access. Wrote Craig Grannell for Stuff, the British consumer electronics magazine, about Touch, “It remained the obvious choice if you wanted an iPhone experience, but couldn’t afford — or didn’t need — an actual iPhone.”
Tributes detailed how the iPod, which first arrived in 2001, had upended the consumer electronics and music industry and put Apple on map. It also inspired the iPhone, which along with the arrival of Spotify made the iPod increasingly irrelevant.
On social media, fans reminisced about their first or favorite iPods, which included the Classic, Nano and Mini, as well as favorite colors.
“Today, the spirit of iPod lives on,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s SVP of Worldwide Marketing, in a press release, pointing to Apple Music and iPod’s technology being integrated in devices from the iPhone to Apple Watch and HomePod mini. He said, “There’s no better way to enjoy, discover, and experience music.”
- The music lives on – Apple
- Apple Killed the iPod. Here’s Why It Should Live On. – Wall Street Journal
- Farewell to the iPod – New York Times
- The iPod created the two-headed monster that finally killed it – Engadget
- Apple discontinues the iPod after 20 years – The Verge
- 'What a Shame': A Generation Mourns as Apple Announces It Will Discontinue Beloved Device – Entrepreneur
- 5 reasons we’re sad Apple killed the iPod Touch – and 5 reasons we’re not – Stuff
- Death Of The iPod: The Real Reason Apple Killed Off The iPod – Forbes