Twenty years ago, Apple launched a portable music player that still evokes warm feelings for many: the iPod. Indirectly, the device changed the music landscape.
The very first Apple iPod dates back to an era when the Internet was still brand new to many and streaming hardly existed, if at all. Certainly not in high quality. No, in those days you had two choices to get your music: either you bought a decent – legal – CD in the store or you went for a less legal route in the form of an mp3 download. Playback on the go was done on a laptop or on a simple mobile player of which many were of questionable quality.
With its well thought out mobile player, Apple served both types of consumers – buyers and illegal downloaders – and eventually added its own music store. And from that moment on, the gates were open, because that digital music turned out to be a lot more affordable than those CDs. Moreover, owners of (basically…) legally purchased CDs could also rip these sources to iPod-playable tracks.
Fast forward to the year 2021. By now streaming is commonplace and we’re all paying loads of money in subscriptions. The iPod in its original form no longer exists. And the only music player that Apple still has in its range seems to be a niche item. Not entirely surprising if you consider that an iPhone can now do much more than the original Touch.
Anniversary Edition on the way?
Nevertheless, there is still a large group of fans of the iPod, which is now called the iPod Touch. In fact, it is an iPhone without a phone and mobile modem on board. This makes the Touch a lot cheaper than the smartphone. The most recent version dates from 2019 already, so we have to wait and see whether Apple will release some kind of anniversary edition of the iPod on June 7, when another big Apple event is scheduled.
According to the rumor mill, there is a good chance that this will happen, possibly using an OLED screen and facial recognition. If you happen to be looking for a music player, then the iPod Touch is not a bad idea. With it, you get to know the iOS ecosystem in a fairly inexpensive way. Including the option to install all the apps that are available for Apple’s mobile OS. In short: check out what Apple releases on the date mentioned.