The Archive: Apple iPod

The iPod was my first Apple device. Actually, first of a couple in the iPod line and then the iPhone line, which I still use as my daily driver today. A lot has changed over the years with the iPod including the “core” iPod (and all of the other models beside the iPod Touch) being discontinued by Apple since the release of the iPhone in 2007. I had three different models of iPod when I was younger: the 1st generation iPod Shuffle, the 1st generation iPod Nano, and the 5.5 generation iPod. I have two of these in my collection today.

The iPod shuffle was not only my first ever Apple device, it was also the first one I bought with my own money. I had no idea I would be getting an iPod Nano for Christmas later that year, so my time using that as a dedicated music device was limited. It was a very useful device for something without a screen. I sadly didn’t like shuffling music like I do today back then, which drove me nuts at the time. It did break me from my coveted Sony CD player and allowed me to carry much more music with me.

My iPod Nano was the first iPod device with a screen. A very tiny screen, in fact. It was also the first device (besides my cell phone) that I began to carry literally everywhere. The battery lasted forever (to me at the time) and my biggest problem was choosing the songs to fill it up with. By this point in time, I had a hefty MP3 library which was much larger than the 8GB Nano that I had. It was, however, more music than I could carry around before. I used my Nano for years until the 5.5 generation iPod came along.

The 5.5G iPod is by far my favorite Apple device. One of the great things about this version was it could also play videos (music videos or movies) as well as music. Being 30GB, it was easy to fill up, especially if you added movies onto it. The battery could easily last you all day, especially if it was just music playing. I used my 5.5G for years (even after I got an iPhone) as I had more storage on that than my first couple of iPhones. I never bothered upgrading as it didn’t break on me and by the time I could, I was more focused on getting an iPhone instead. Soon after, I got into music streaming with Spotify and eventually my usage of it dwindled. I don’t recall what happened to it – if I gave it away or what. 

The iPod 5.5G was also the first device I got in my new collection, followed closely by the iPod Hi-Fi. The 5.5G was one of the last iPods that could use the Hi-Fi since it had higher device voltage requirements (a vestige of the FireWire days). The iPod helped bring daily music into my life much more than any device before it. I still love the feeling of it in my hand and using the click wheel never gets old. I do hope Apple does an “anniversary” model one day.