“The original iPod music player debuted 13 years ago, in October 2001. It remained one of Apple’s core product categories over the years, despite declining sales and a world of listeners increasingly more reliant on streaming subscription services,” Nick Statt and Shara Tibken report for CNET. “Now, as Apple moves into larger-screen smartphones and wearable devices for our wrists with the unveiling of the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch Tuesday, a standalone MP3 player has become too antiquated to keep alive.”
“When Apple’s online store came back online this afternoon at around 12:00 p.m. PT, the iPod classic — the company’s last touchscreen-less music player that first debuted in 2007 — was gone,” Statt and Tibken report. “It seems that even nostalgia cannot keep the once-flagship Apple product from a world of larger screens, diminishing storage needs, and music we subscribe to access instead of pay for. You will be missed, iPod classic, yet not forgotten.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: R.I.P. iPod classic and venerable Click Wheel. You served Apple very, very well!
[Thanks to MacDailyNews readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
While listing to last U2 album.
So this means you are a fan of the infamous 1991 album “U2”, by the indie band Negativland? I thought I was the only one who liked that! Seems odd that Apple would be using an obscure, copyright-infringing song to promote the new iPhone. Trying to appeal to anarchists, perhaps?
Album? It was an EP, withdrawn because of unauthorised samples and the use of copyright infringing a/w.
Can you point to what copyright infringing song Apple used for promotion?
But they were simply sampling U2’s stuff. Besides, U2 admitted to using samples in their music. Which is why The Edge felt a little embarrassed after finding out about the lawsuit.
Oh wow, that IS sad. I have two that are still in use. A third I bought in 2002 I gave to a friend and even it still works. All things must pass…
All this talk of diminished storage needs. My old 80gb iPod Classic is with me at all times. I need MORE storage space. I want my entire library with me. I have been holding out for years for iPod touch with 128gb.
I think the next Touch will be introduced at a later date, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if, like the current Touch, the capacity doubles the phone’s maximum to 256Gb.
Which would contain my current iTunes library…
I miss the original iPod. It was one of the best part of the 90s for me, along with the candy iMacs, and the Sega Dreamcast. Another thing this generation of kids will never experience. 🙁
It was released in 2001.
Wow, you really are autistic, and stupid too.
It’s just another dumb Millenial. They always mix up the 90s with the 00s. Like how most people his age think the Americans illegally took over Hawaii in the 1900s when it really happened in 1898. Ignore him, is autism will heal itself, but the pain my people felt will never go away…
Hey, it’s not my fault that the late 90s and the early 00s look EXACTLY THE SAME! It’s like its own era!
I was personally hoping that Apple would update their iPod line especially their iPod touch today… Oh well… hopefully they will have a silent update from them soon.
Same here. iPods are clearly not a priority any longer.
Just curious as to why I can’t seem to locate the “free” U2 album. It shows up on my iTtunes store as “purchased,” but it’s nowhere to be found in the library on any of my Macs, iPhone, or iPad. Help?
If it is under “Purchased”, then you don’t need to do anything about it. Just click on any of the songs to play it. If you need to actually download it to your device, enable the “Show ‘iTunes in the Cloud’ purchases” in the preferences. If it is enabled and you still can’t see the new U2 album, disable it and re-enable it again.
I read somewhere that the album doesn’t get officially released for download until 11:59pm PST this evening.
Nope, it’s out. You just have to go to “quick links” on the iTunes music store page and click “purchased”.
“the company’s last touchscreen-less music player”
The iPod Shuffle is still for sale.
It may not be a click wheel, but the controls are round. And no touch screen.
Does this mean Samsung can copy it now?
Drat! I guess I need to go buy another one somewhere as a backup. I have 72 GB of music and rising, and I much prefer the Classic user interface. I can move through my library and individual songs, adjust volume, and so forth by touch while walking without having to take the thing out of my pocket, and while driving without taking my eyes off the road. The Classic allows me to put the same song twice on the same playlist, while my iPhone sometimes gets confused.
Having all my music on one device means I don’t have to anticipate my mood and make choices before a trip. They don’t have REAL clouds in West Texas, much less access to iCloud.
I still have a couple of 160GB and a 120GB iPods but with the 128GB iPhone I won’t have the same need for those any more.
Use all of mine with my iPod HiFi’s in several rooms. Simple Remote, ease of use, shuffle and sound can’t be beat!
Blood on the touchscreen.
Did anyone else notice that two new products, Pay and Watch, were missing something?
Yes, you guessed right: The “i”.
Times are indeed changing.
Shout out to Click Wheel. God Bless you i love you dearly
I have a 4th gen iPod “classic,” with a monochrome screen (the FIRST iPod with a click wheel). I bought it used (and broken) on eBay, and replaced its 20GB hard drive with 64GB compact flash card (on an adapter), about 58GB is recognized. It’s better than when it was new, and a “pure” audio media player.
It holds my complete iTunes music library without compromise, no Internet or streaming required. Its design is focused on being a great audio media player. It does not play videos, show photos, run apps, do fitness, etc. It just plays songs (and other audio), and does that one task REALLY well. It sounds better than ANY other Apple device I own (except maybe my even older 3rd gen iPod).
Sad to see the last click wheel hard drive iPod retire from the lineup. But it was passed time; I wasn’t going to buy one new for $200+. For those who may want one going forward, do what I did. Get a broken one with bad hard drive for cheap, and upgrade it with modern storage tech (and new battery)… 😉