iPod Anniversary

Hardware
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Lots of stories lately written about the 20th anniversary of the iPod. Jason Snell’s, in particular, got me thinking of an analogy I’d like to think both Jason and @ismh would probably appreciate: In a lot of ways, the iPod was like the first stage of a rocket, getting things off the ground, burning hard for a while, then falling away while the second stage (the iPhone) continues skyward.

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Absolutely! Fully agree…
It started with the iPod. I remember the iPhone 2G (the first iPhone), was basically an iPod Touch with GSM capability. At this time, the GSM capabilities were poorly implemented, and it was lagging behind the competition. But Apple continued to enhance their phones to get us where we are.

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I still have my original first-edition iPod somewhere in (hate to say it) a junk drawer. Years and years after I bought it, and several Nanos along the way, I’m walking around today with AirPods listening to Apple Music streaming from my Watch. Some of the local tracks stored on my Watch probably were on that iPad 20 years ago – albeit today with updated quality.

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An iPod Shuffle 2nd gen was my gateway drug.

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And availability of iTunes on Windows so I could cross over.

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I have a little (rather old) iPod which sits patiently in my purse. I love it. The size is perfect. I wish my iPhone was that size. It’s still kicking. It is running 9.6.1 I believe.

And Siri is just charming, funny.

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The iPod Touch came AFTER the first iPhone.

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I would still buy a brand new iPod if it had USB-C, 2Tb SSD, Wifi for streaming, 24bit capable DAC, a decent headphone amp and Siri support.

Still have a few 160Gb Classics lying around

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I remember clearly how Steve Jobs pulled the iPod nano from the small pocket in his jeans and was mesmerised by how small the iPod is. That was my first iPod.

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Same here.

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My first intro into Apple was the iPod and I remember loading up tracks on it for my walk across campus in college. It really was a magical device for it’s time and I loved spending so much time curating my iTunes collection. My roommate and I would spend hours making playlists and sitting around listening to music with the iPod plugged into speakers. Great memories

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iPod nano jeans pocket

Right up there with pulling the MacBook Air out of an envelope.

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