In a time where we can instantaneously stream just about any song in the world, it is easy to forget just how different times used to be 20 years ago. When the MP3 format was created in late 1990s, music fans could only listen via their PCs. The Sony Walkman was one of the first advancements, but who really wants to carry around CDs with them?
After a few companies tried their best to create a likeable MP3 player, Apple brought out the iPod. The Apple iPod was revolutionary and reigned for over 15 years. The Silicon Valley company have discontinued all iPod models apart from the iPod Touch (which everyone knows is more like a 4-inch iPad). There have been some awesome iPods, which one was your favourite?
iPod Classic
The first of Apple’s many iPods to hit the market, the iPod Classic truly was a classic. It was released in 2001 to the delight of consumers who had grown accustomed to clunky and impractical MP3 players. It featured a revolutionary Click Wheel and 5GB of memory. The usability and design meant the Classic was around to stay. 5 years later, Apple had released 6 generations of the Classic with features such as video playback, games and a maximum of 160GB of memory. The Classic became iconic, and since its discontinuation people have longed for an MP3 player that excels in simplicity and huge memory storage. Some of the rarest and earliest iPod Classics have been selling for a lot of money on eBay.
iPod Mini
On January 6th 2004 Apple introduced the iPod Mini, announcing it as “the smallest portable music player ever to hold up to 1,000 CD-quality songs”. At the time, the Mini was more of a fashion statement with its bright range of colour options. Coming in blue, green, silver, gold and pink, it was the first time Apple brought colour to their products and since then they haven’t looked back. The Mini soon became redundant upon the release of the iPod Nano in September 2005.
iPod Nano
In September 2005 Steve Jobs, Apple’s late CEO and mastermind, famously introduced the iPod Nano by pointing to his small jeans pocket and asking “ever wonder what this pocket is for?” At 1.6in wide and 3.5in long, weighing just 42 grams, the Nano was as tiny as its name suggests. It became hugely popular amongst children, casual listeners and particularly joggers who favoured lighter devices. The Nano went on to be released in seven different generations, right up until its discontinuation on July 27th 2017 .
iPod Shuffle
The iPod Shuffle was the smallest in the iPod family. Yes, even smaller than the Nano! The Shuffle was different to other models however, as it was a product solely dedicated to performing the ‘shuffle’ function which had become popular with the iPod Classic and Mini. The idea was to upload a bunch of songs onto your Shuffle, and enjoy the songs as they come on at random, for a much lower price than most MP3 players. The Shuffle was a huge hit in the lower-end market, going on to achieve 58% of the flash-based music player market just three months after its January 2005 release.
iPod Touch
Now, the fantastic iPod Touch is the only iPod to not have been discontinued. However, despite it being called an iPod, most would agree that it seems more like an iPhone stripped of its sim card than the MP3 players we are currently reminiscing. It can be used to play music, video and games, whilst being fully functional as a camera and handheld game device. It also has access to the thousands of applications on the App Store. Seems very much like an iPhone, huh?
Which is Your Favourite iPod?
As expected with Apple, the iPod products they have released have been functionally excellent and of course beautiful in design. Which one is your favourite? If you have any collecting dust, sell your iPod to Zapper. It’s such a simple way to earn quick cash.
