Apple stopped making the iPod: you can buy it until the units run out

last October the iPod has become 20 years old. The music player that revolutionized the industry, however, is coming to an end: Apple has announced that it will stop doing so. As reported, It will be sold until the units are exhausted.

The first iPod debuted on stage with Steve Jobs on October 23, 2001. “With the iPod, Apple has invented a completely new category of digital music player that lets you put your entire music collection in your pocket and listen to it wherever you go ”, said the company founder. “On the iPod, listening to music will never be the same.”

The iconic model with a button wheel, which later spawned the Classic, was discontinued in 2014. Meanwhile, the Shuffle and Nano were dropped three years later. To this day, the seventh -generation iPod Touch is still on sale, three years after its debut.

The first iPod touch was introduced in 2007 and then an instant hit to consumers who want the iPhone form factor without cellular functionality. The device has seen regular updates over the years, but as the iPhone has become more mainstream, Apple’s approach has changed.

The problem is that with the advancement of the iPhone, fewer and fewer users are attracted to this device.

So, in the age of all smartphones and Spotify, it’s hard to convince people how revolutionary you are with the promise of “1000 songs in your pocket.” All of that is “crammed” into a small 5GB Toshiba hard drive and connected to a Mac via a FireWire cable.

When the iPhone arrived six years later, it removed the click wheel for a touch screen, though the company’s connectivity was still enough to keep that iconic input device alive via the iPod Classic. 2007 also saw the debut of the iPod Touch, based on the iPhone’s touchscreen design. In the same year, the company announced that it had sold hundreds of millions of its devices.

“Music has always been part of our core at Apple, and it’s bringing it to hundreds of millions of users in a way that the iPod has impacted more than the music industry-it redefines how music is discovered, listened to and shared.” Greg’s Apple Joswiak said in a statement.

“Today, the spirit of the iPod lives on. We’ve created an amazing music experience across all of our products, from the iPhone to Apple Watch to HomePod mini, and on Mac, iPad and Apple TV. And Apple Music offers top quality sound in an industry with support for spatial audio-there is no better way to enjoy, discover and experience music. ”

Although the iPod will soon disappear from store shelves, it’s hard to completely remove something very iconic. We will likely continue to see iPod modding projects from “modders” – enthusiasts who are committed to modifying products.

Even web experiences designed to evoke nostalgia for the era of dedicated music players. Apple didn’t invent the market for them, but rise to fame; now the torch has been passed on to companies like Sony and Fiio to keep alive the legacy for hardcore music lovers.

The first iPod commercial