“[A] MacRumors reader let us know that he had emailed Apple CEO Steve Jobs back in September after the [iPod classic] failed to receive an update alongside the rest of the iPod line, inquiring about the fate of the high-capacity music player,” Eric Slivka reports for MacRumors.
“Jobs responded, indicating that the company has ‘no plans’ to discontinue the iPod classic,” Slivka reports. “The claimed email from Jobs does appear to be legitimate, and while Apple’s plans may certainly have changed in the six months since the exchange, it does appear that the company has been intending to keep the iPod classic line alive despite the absence of an update in over 18 months.”
Read more in the full article here.
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “Edward W.” for the heads up.]
As evidenced by the lack of comments, I don’t think anyone would care if they did…
How do you update a classic?
They can update the OS. The audiobooks section is terrible as you can’t sort by author or book, only by file. If you have an audiobook that has lots of files it makes a mess. I have to create a playlist for each book which I didn’t have to do on my old iPod w/ Video as you could sort the authors on that older OS.
You update a classic in the same way GM used design elements from the original Camero in the design of the new Camero
Great! I want one in yellow with the Autobots logo.
As the SSD options continue to grow in capacity and shrink in price, the iPod classic will fade away to oblivion.
OR Apple could release an all solid state version of the Classic.
I’ll take 256GB, thank you.
maybe, but… it does serve a niche (high capacity, low cost) and as such the product seems to have running room: imagine a 1tb iPod classic for $149 that had hdmi out… effectively a portable media server.
Toshiba now has a 220GB 1.8-inch hard drive in the same physical size as the current 160GB hard drive, so that will be the update.
I think Apple will keep one iPod around that still has the “wheel” interface.
The Classic is great for people who rip music with Apple Lossless. I could fill at least 15 of them if I ripped my entire music library.
I just bought a 160GB Classic. My 80GB was full. Had Apple decided to release a 128GB iPod touch, I might have bitten, but all I really wanted was more capacity.
I gotta ask. How long does it take to listen to 160 GB of Apple Lossless ripped music?
I dunno.
Miles or Mahler?
Turkish or Talking Heads?
Bartók or Bluegrass?
Shakuhachi or Shostakovich?
I have two and want another. Put them in my car and iPod hifi’s. Very convenient!
My classic pretty much lives in the glove compartment here in the sunny south. No reason for a giant screen for a dedicated music player.
I have to maintain two libraries: lossless for the home and compressed for the car. 500 Gb to 1 Tb of storage would be nice. I’d like to go all lossless – that would make life a bit simpler.
Can’t you compress on the fly as you transfer songs to the device?
Maybe Apple could license its click-wheel technology now that it’s not so reliant on it to lead the industry.
Also, if the classic went away the only thing resembling the original iPod would be the icon on the iPhone/iPod touch home screen!
I had a 5th generation Classic (which worked great until it was destroyed in a hurricane) and carried around my entire library with me… Now I just keep about 1000 songs on my iPhone. I’ve realized that having my entire library with me was more of a curse than a blessing. With a smaller selection of songs that I like better, I’m hitting the skip button FAR less when I have my device on shuffle.
PS: Smart Playlists are a godsend. They should really be advertised more. Those 1000 songs are mostly determined by recently added, most often played & highest rated.
@althegeo
It takes about 19.7 days (or 473 hours) to listen to 160 GB of Apple Lossless music. YMMV.
I love my iPod classic. I got the recent model, worked great for me.
We’ve got the 10th anniversary of the iPod coming up next fall… perhaps there’s something interesting in the works.
I have bought half a dozen classics over the years. I want a new one, but am waiting for a capacity upgrade. Why? Because I love it in my car, with both music and spoken word. But I don’t want to be taking it out every few weeks to load new documentaries etc. If I can have a 256G I’d be thrilled.
The iPod Classic is iconic. It represents the evolution of how we listen to music today. It doesn’t matter if most are buying the iPod touch or nano those products try to be everything to everyone and in fact the classic is the perfect device for the car for those who have a large collection. Its roots is hard core music and it needs not to be anything more.
This may end up being one of those “glossy screen”-type issues. If the numbers for the old iPad continue to decline, as they have recently, there will come a point (and I think quite soon) where it will just not be worth making and selling them anymore. With vast majorities of people quite happy with the choice of the shuffle, nano and touch, the number of those who can’t fit the music they need to bring with them on 64GB has become so small that it is probably only out of respect for the classic shape that the model is still on sale. Now, Steve is well known for not having much sentiment for history when it comes to tech and devices (he dumped all the old models from Apple’s storage), so I wouldn’t expect if this 9-month old message is no longer relevant today. We’ll see in September or October (the usual iPod refresh event) what happens, but I will not be surprised if the classic is put to pasture on the tenth anniversary of its first appearance.
Nothing beats the click-wheel interface for safe driving. You can use it without ever taking your eyes off the road!
I love the Classic!
Based on the capacity, the Classic is important.
I fill mine with music, put it in my car’s glove box (I have an Alpine in-car system) and I have my collection everywhere I go.
I think embedded high-capacity iPods ought to come standard in every automobile.