“If you missed the opportunity to buy the original iPod nearly 18 years ago, now is your second chance — but it won’t be cheap,” Joe Rossignol writes for MacRumors.
“A very rare first-generation iPod factory sealed in its ‘unopened original box'” in “unopened original shrink wrap” has surfaced in a new eBay listing with an asking price of $19,995, over 50 times more than the $399 it cost when it was first unveiled by the late Steve Jobs in October 2001,” Rossignol writes. “Its 0.75-inch thickness was slim at the time.”
Rossignol writes, “It’s hard to say exactly how many factory-sealed original iPods are still in existence, but there are likely not many, and they rarely go on sale.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: The eBay original iPod listing is here.
Every time these auctions happen, we flash back to opening boxes of original Apple products from years gone by: original iPod (same as above), original iPhone, original Apple Watch… Ugh!
Buy two, keep one unopened for a few decades, and pay for many of your Apple products that you purchased during that time!
Beyond the plump Steve, note the audience for Jobs’ 2001 presentation: No laptops, no live blogging, no cellphones, one camera; they’re just sitting there watching and listening (plus a young Tim Cook along with other Apple execs in the front row):
Sealed in what factory. Bob’s basement sealing factory. Probably betting you aren’t going to open is to find out is was used till it died and then but back in the box and “Factory Sealed” for your enjoyment. You could maybe trust it if Apple a special seal with holographic logo or other security method.
Eh, way too much. I sell my original iPod 5GB, bit of orange juice inside, for a measly $2,999.00.
Hmmm…. I’ve got mine sitting on my desk, plugged in. It’s got a few scratches on the face, but the metal back is pristine, because I wrapped it, when I originally bought it. Still works great. Last time, it ran like 6+hrs. I know I even have a replacement battery for it, somewhere, but never installed it, because it was going strong. I even have the box, but it’s been ripped, when my brother opened it. Yes, I gave it to him as a gift, and he gave it right back, since he didn’t have a use for it all those years ago.
While it seems quite sad that if I had kept it in its original box, it might be worth 50x, I did get a lot of use out of it, and it did convince me to buy Apple stock that year!!! So, not all bad…
The iPod was a great music player.
Ironically, the current Music app sucks the camel’s winkie.