Apple announced that the iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle would be discontinued and were halted from sales last Thursday. The end of an era for some popular gadgets. But have no fear, Apple plans to continue selling its internet-connected iPod Touch. It should be no surprise to anyone since smartphones are mainly used for listening to music, videos, and taking pictures, with an occasional phone call.
The Nano and Shuffle came out in 2005 as less expensive and smaller alternatives to Apple’s standard iPod, but the company stopped updating the Nano and Shuffle several years ago. Knowing that many may be nervous buying a iPod Touch, Apple doubled the storage capacity of its top-of-line model to 128 gigabytes. That version costs $300. An iPod Touch with 32 gigabytes of storage sells for $200. The company’s sales of iPods peaked in its fiscal year 2008 when the devices generated revenue of $9.2 billion. The iPhone at that time accounted for $1.8 billion in revenue that same year.
The current iPod Touch
End of an era for Apple
It truly is the end of an era for Apple, as the iPod was a treasured gadget by Steve Jobs. The iPod introduced by Steve was one of the most innovative gadgets if all time. And not just for the hardware, but he changed the music industry and how we listen to music. For me it seems like yesterday he introduced the iPod in 2001.
Steve knew how to sell Apple products especially when he liked the product, and he believed in this product. By the time he was done on stage, it seemed perfectly natural for Apple to make a music player. Its design blew everything else out of the water. It was beautiful and it was well engineered.
“A thousand songs in your pocket,” he said.
The iPod name isn’t being totally phased out — Apple’s newest audio products are AirPods and HomePod. And the iPod Touch was recently by far the best-selling iPod. One reason Apple may be phasing the iPod Shuffle out is that it doesn’t have Bluetooth, which means it won’t work with Apple’s latest wireless headphones, AirPods. Neither iPod supports Apple Music, Apple’s online streaming service for audio and video.
Why it’s always sad to see a good gadget phased out, it has great replacements and they had a good run. It’s time to move onto the iPhone 8! Another historic Steve Jobs gadget.