I’m not sure how much interest this post will garner, especially knowing that some folks are not too keen on Apple these days. But I’ll write it from my perspective in order for you to understand where I’m coming from. This is my Freedom Friday post about my iPod classic.
First off, this is not an ad campaign for Apple. Nor is it a way for me to gain a following from all the audiophiles out there. Even more so, nor is it a plea for Apple to listen to its customers. I leave that fight to the activists, of which I’m in no way a part of.
Last month, Apple quietly discontinued the iPod classic, the company’s former highest capacity portable media device.
Yes, I did shed a figurative tear, in spite of the fact I saw it coming for a while now.
Let me make one thing clear. I don’t consider myself a die-hard Apple fan. I say this with the knowledge I’ve never stood in line for one of their products or sat in front of the computer waiting for the next iOS release. I’m one of those guys who buys stuff, regardless of company, for what that stuff represents in technological progress. If that stuff works and does what I want it to do, I will raise the praises no matter what anyone says to me.
Okay, now with that out of the way, my big confession is I love my iPod classic. I do. You’re reading those words from a guy who’s been around. I used to listen to music on vinyl, which, by the way, sounds amazing. I progressed to purchasing my very first Sony Walkman with its ability to carry a whole album on cassette tape. I then moved on to my first MP3 player called the RioVolt, a CD-based MP3 player featuring hundreds of songs at my auditory disposal. From there I graduated to an Apple shuffle—the original “white stick” version. I couldn’t believe I could finally carry a few more hundred songs with me.
Then the Apple iPod classic came. In 2007, I’d spent $350. I still can’t believe I’d spend that much for a device. Then again, for my RioVolt I’d spent $200 in the early 2000’s, so it goes without saying that if a device is worth it, I’ll buy it. That player lasted me a couple of years before it became obsolete.
My classic? It’s still going strong.
What do I love about it? Everything. I’m serious about this. Its ability to fit my entire song library, which is extensive, has me carrying my entire music collection with room to boot. That feature alone has me at the word go.
I’m also an avid playlist creator. I have over a hundred playlists for almost every mood I can think of. I even have playlists to remember specific events in my life. I’m a playlist maniac! The sweetest thing about the iPod classic is that it allows Smart Playlists to work as intended with Live Updating.
For all of you who are not familiar of the feature, Live Updating simply allows a playlist to populate dynamically without much interference from me. That means if I have a playlist with the criteria of picking rock songs I haven’t heard in the past two weeks, the playlist will rotate my library to do just that. Once a song finishes, the iPod classic kicks the song off the list and a new one then appears in its place. Live Updating is that amazing. The thing is it doesn’t work on the iPhone or any of the newest iPods. It does work on the iPod classic, and that’s all that matters to me.
The other great feature about my iPod classic is its ability to create Genius playlists on the fly. Let’s say I’m listening to a song I really love, I click on the center button, choose the Genius feature, and the iPod classic quickly creates a playlist with all the songs that work well with the song I’m listening to. The perfect mix. The feature works so well that I sometimes save the generated playlist for later use.
Last but the most important feature the iPod classic has that no other Apple device currently possesses is the click wheel. I suppose Apple thought this archaic functionality belonged in the past and decided music listeners didn’t need it. In reality, it’s the most useful feature for us folks who listen to music non-stop.
How does it work? If I slide my finger on the click wheel left, I’m turning the volume down. Go right, I’m turning it up. If I press the bottom of the wheel, I’m pausing the song. If I press right, it skips to the next song and vice versa when pressing left. The kicker? I can do it all without looking at the device. Try that with an iPhone where you have to look at the screen to perform the simple function of pausing the song.
Like I said, I love my iPod classic. I love it so much I bought two—the original 2007 and the 2009 versions. Both of them are still going strong. The 2007 version I have hooked up to a docking station in our bedroom where I turn on the music before going to bed. Although some may wonder how I can prepare for sleep if I have Blink 182 blasting on the speakers. Trust me—I sleep right through the night without any trouble. The 2009 version is with me all the time, cranking out the tunes.
Anyway, enough of my rambling.
The biggest drawback of the iPod classic is that it has a hard drive to hold its music. However, I wouldn’t be surprised if Apple turns around one day to release another version of the device featuring a big fat solid-state drive.
I wouldn’t be surprised at all.
RANGER MARTIN AND THE ALIEN INVASION, on sale October 21.
What devices do you own? Are you someone who sports an attachment with a device?
Looking to God 
The first episode of season 5 kicked ass so bad that waiting one week for the next episode is like torture. Can’t wait until this Sunday @ 9pm EST, baby!
I bought a refurbished, 80 GB iPod Classic in 2007 and it still works perfectly fine. I love using it more than my phones, streaming services, or even a headset with my computer. It’s just so portable and easy to use. One of the best investments I’ve ever made.
I use it every single day and it has yet to have a problem. Been seven years and it’s still going strong!
Ah, I’ve had a video version of the iPod since…2006. It’s awesome. Still works great.
I still have my Sony Walkman… never did graduate to MP3 players. In fact I’m seriously considering going back to buying vinyl again.
I still have a bunch of VHS tapes left from the last time I moved, and no VHS player ! They still have styluses for people that like vinyl.
Down here vinyl is making a huge comeback. The turntables are pretty cheap, but the records are expensive as hell.
I can only imagine what getting a mint – condition VHS player would be like. I resisted getting a DVD player for the longest time, because you couldn’t record on them back when they 1st came out, not without the proper equipment anyway.
My god, time flies. That is all.
I dropped my iPod so many times it eventually fell apart. But while it was alive it was my favorite material item. My mom gave it to me. It’s not something I would’ve purchased on my own because I’m cheap and there are far too many other options. Now I have an iPhone. I’m not an Apple fan, but it had two rebates, so I bought it. But my iPod was the first time I had portable movies that I could watch at work, & switch to my playlist while driving. I don’t necessarily have fond memories, because it makes me think of a lot of alone time, and my fav times are w/friends. But it was very useful, and kept me from being bored.
My classic is still rolling on and is full of awesomeness. Its a shame they are not going to continue making them.
I hear ya! It’s such a great device!
My husband has an iPod and it’s great to plug into the DVD player so the kids can dance and plug headphones in out and about. I only use it to FaceTime my mum lol.
I loved my classic as well. It died and I was very sorry to see it go. I replaced it with a Nano and still miss it.
It makes a nice coaster whenever I have a glass of whiskey or beer. 🙂 Just kidding, I’m thinking of asking for a Kindle.
Couldn’t be without my classic – have no criticisms of it in part or at all!
I don’t have an ipod….back in the day when I had an IPhone and the this crazy desire to run (at the track) which didn’t last very long, but I did have a list of songs that I listened to just to motivate me.
The only thing that i’m attached to is my NOOK which holds hundreds of books!!
I miss my old click wheel iPod. Got the classic before it was named that. This was 2002 and it lasted until 2012, which was longer than the ones my friends had. It was durable and I loved how easy it was to use the click wheel. Touchscreen seems so flighty and now I realize I’m ranting. I have a blue iPod something or other now. I know it can hold a lot, but I’m too lazy to check it’s name. Wish it came with real instructions.
That was an incredible investment, Charles. Apple products are expensive–yes–but they do last forever, for sure!
They don’t seem to last as long as they used.
I got an iPAD ( Not iPod ) a couple of Christmases ago. The instruction manual was the size of a deck of cards. & Wi – fi in this area where I live is just about non – existent. Not a fan of Apple.
Thickness of a deck of cards?
That was an approximation. I sold it back to my cousin around the next holiday season ( It was a gift from her ) for some extra Christmas money.
I have an acquaintance who keeps her late dad’s Mac, even thought it’s a museum piece by today’s standards. I can remember those clumsy ribbon connectors & RS 232 interfaces, before USB ports !
I think my iPod had a wafer thin manual and it didn’t explain anything. I’m still finding new things on it and I’ve had it for more than a year.
I remember those ribbon connectors too. Hope that Mac lasts a long time because they don’t make technology like they used to.
I remember daisy – wheel & dot – matrix printers. My ink – jet printer has Blue – Tooth capability. There are already paper thin LCD displays in the works. As soon as we create something,it’s practically obsolete.
If human evolution had proceded at this pace, the human race would be radically different by now !
True. Though maybe we’re going too fast with technology. It means things become incompatible so quickly that one doesn’t even want to try to keep up.
I’ve heard several scientists ( Notably Michio Kaku ) say that the next logical step would be to merge with our technology, like in ” Ghost in the Shell “, ” The Six Million Dollar Man / Bionic Woman “, or even ” RoboCop “. The cost might be a factor though. We’d have ” Old ” humans & ” enhanced ” humans.
I can see that going so wrong. Android overlords?
More like Cybermen or Borg. Or a population of organic humans dominated by ” superior ” human – machine hybrid beings, who would be converted themselves ( I think I’ve watched too many episodes of Doctor Who featuring Cybermen ! ).
I’m just going to guess that the wealthy would get the robot bodies while the poor remain flesh. This would cause a huge ‘our world/their world’ mentality made worse by the robotic people breeding slower than the unchanged humans. This could create a fear of the larger group and you’ll see enslavement or flat out war. Another option is that the robotic people create full robots, which backfires by adding a third entity into the social mix. Either way, we should probably look more into putting heads in jars like in Futurama. Seems safer.
A full prosthetic body would be unusual, but I don’t see such a thing happening in the next 10 years. Of course, nowadays there are people with sophisticated, lifelike prostheses, insulin pumps, pacemakers, defibrillators, even a quadreplegic in the U.K. with a chip in his brain that enables him to ” surf the ‘Net “. Some people have even expanded the definition of the term ” cyborg ” to include anyone who uses artificial devices fom computers to electric wheelchairs. I wonder how slippery the slope is…..
What about a world like in the movie ‘Surrogates’? Robotic bodies that we simply control from chairs. It would require getting out for food, shower, and sleep, but it could be a possibility.
Interesting premise. Doctors are already performing surgery using telepresence & robots with surgical instruments.