On Tuesday, Tech giant Apple announced that it was discontinuing its music player, the iPod.
Apple launched the iPod device in 2001 which could store up to 1,000 tracks and it was hailed as a device that revolutionised the way people listened to music.
With the slogan “1,000 songs in your pocket,” the first-generation iPod was quick to capture the public’s attention and was the companion to the newly unveiled iTunes, the digital music software that ushered in a new era of how people listen to music. Apple went on to sell more than 400 million iPods, according to The New York Times.
Over the years, there has been different models of the iPod including the Nano and the shuffle.
Its present iteration of the iPod series, the iPod Touch was introduced in 2007, last updated in 2019 and now comes with an Apple-designed A10 Fusion chip, immersive augmented reality (AR) experiences, Group FaceTime, a new 256GB capacity, giving plenty of space to download music for offline listening through Apple Music or the iTunes Store.
“Music has always been part of our core at Apple, and bringing it to hundreds of millions of users in the way iPod did impacted more than just the music industry — it also redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Today, the spirit of iPod lives on. We’ve integrated an incredible music experience across all of our products, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to HomePod mini, and across Mac, iPad, and Apple TV. And Apple Music delivers industry-leading sound quality with support for spatial audio — there’s no better way to enjoy, discover, and experience music.”
Truth be told, the integration of the music experience across all of the other products has reduced the need for an iPod and sooner or later, its sunset was imminent.
Customers can purchase iPod touch through apple.com, Apple Store locations, and Apple Authorized Resellers while supplies last.
