Filip Brož It's like meeting after several years. I can already feel the cold piece of metal in my hand from a distance. Although the back side does not shine as much, instead there is visible patina and scratches. I'm looking forward to putting my thumb in and spinning the signature Click Wheel. I'm raving here about repurposing a now "dead" iPod Classic. On the ninth of September, it will be exactly two years since Apple released this legendary player removed from the offer. I'm lucky to have one classic I still have it at home.
The first iPod Classic came into the world on October 23, 2001 and was accompanied by Steve Jobs' slogan "a thousand songs in your pocket". The iPod included a 5GB hard drive and a black and white LCD display. In the United States, it was sold for $399, which wasn't exactly cheap. The Click Wheel button appeared already on the first model, which has undergone enormous development over the years. However, the control principle remained. Since then, a total of six different generations of this device have seen the light of day (see In pictures: From the first iPod to the iPod classic).
The legendary Click Wheel
A minor departure came with the third generation, where instead of the Click Wheel, Apple used an improved version of the Touch Wheel, a fully non-mechanical solution with buttons separated and placed below the main display. In the next generation, however, Apple returned to the good old Click Wheel, which remained on the device until the end of production.
When I recently took to the streets with my iPod Classic, I felt a little out of place. Today, many people compare the iPod to vinyl records, which are back in vogue today, but ten or twenty years ago, when CDs were a hit, it was an outdated technology. You still come across hundreds of people in the streets with the iconic white headphones, but they no longer come from small "music" boxes, but mainly from iPhones. To meet an iPod is far from common these days.
However, there are many advantages to using an iPod Classic. The main one is that I only listen to music and do not engage in other activities. If you pick up your iPhone, turn on Apple Music or Spotify, I firmly believe that you are not just listening to music. After turning on the first song, your mind immediately takes you to news, Twitter, Facebook and you end up just surfing the web. If you don't practice mindfulness, the music becomes an ordinary backdrop. But once I listened to songs from the iPod Classic, I did nothing else.
Many experts also talk about these problems, for example psychologist Barry Schwartz, who also spoke at the TED conference. "This phenomenon is called the paradox of choice. Too many options to choose from can quickly dull us and cause stress, anxiety and even depression. Typical of this situation are music streaming services, where we don't know what to choose," says Schwartz. For that reason, curators work in every company, that is people who create music playlists tailored to users.
The topic of music is also addressed by commentary by Pavel Turk in the current issue of the weekly Respect. "An incredible 21-week reign at the top of the UK charts ended last Friday with Canadian rapper Drake's song One Dance. Because this hit is the most typical hit of the 2014st century due to its inconspicuousness and improbability of success," writes Turek. According to him, the methodology of compiling charts has completely changed. Since XNUMX, not only sales of physical and digital singles are counted, but also the number of plays on streaming services such as Spotify or Apple Music. And this is where Drake reliably defeats all the competition, even if he doesn't "candidate" with a typical hit song.
In previous years, managers, producers and powerful bosses from the music industry decided much more about the hit parade. However, the Internet and streaming music companies changed everything. "Twenty years ago, no one could find out how many times a fan listened to a record at home. Thanks to the streaming statistics, we know exactly this and it brings the realization that the opinions of experts and professionals from the industry can completely diverge from what the public really wants," adds Turek. Drake's song proves that today's most successful song can also be a low-key song, often suitable for listening in the background.
Curate yourself
Back in the iPod era, however, we were all our own curators. We chose the music according to our own discretion and feeling. Literally every song that was stored on our iPod hard drive went through our selective selection. Thus, any paradox of choice has completely disappeared. At the same time, the maximum capacity of the iPod Classic is 160 GB, which, in my opinion, is absolutely optimal storage, in which I can familiarize myself, find the songs I'm looking for, and listen to everything in a while.
Every iPod Classic is also capable of the so-called Mixy Genius function, in which you can find already prepared playlists according to genres or artists. Although the song lists are created on the basis of a computer algorithm, the music had to be supplied by the users themselves. I also always dreamed that if I met another person on the street with an iPod in hand, we would be able to exchange music with each other, but iPods never got that far. Often, however, people gave each other gifts in the form of iPods, which were already filled with a selection of songs. In 2009, US President Barack Obama even presented the British Queen Elizabeth II. iPod full of songs.
I also remember when I first started Spotify, the first thing I searched for in the playlists was "Steve Jobs' iPod". I still have it saved on my iPhone and I always like to be inspired by it.
Music as a backdrop
The singer and guitarist of the English rock band Pulp, Jarvis Cocker, in an interview for the paper The Guardian he said that people want to listen to something all the time, but music is no longer the focus of their attention. "It's something like a scented candle, the music works as an accompaniment, it induces well-being and a pleasant atmosphere. People are listening, but their brains are dealing with completely different concerns," continues Cocker. According to him, it is difficult for new artists to establish themselves in this huge flood. "It's hard to get attention," adds the singer.
By still using the old iPod Classic, I feel like I'm going against the flow of a hectic and demanding life. Every time I turn it on, I'm at least a tiny bit outside the competitive struggles of streaming services and I'm my own curator and DJ. Looking at online bazaars and auctions, I also notice that the price of the iPod Classic continues to rise. I think it may one day have a similar value to the first iPhone models. Maybe one day I'll see it make a full comeback, just like the old vinyl records came back to prominence...
kill the hipster
I also still have a 160GB iPod, first of all it is still enough to backup my iTunes library and then I still use it and will. It's similar to book readers, there's nothing to distract you and you'll read more :)
Well, if the author just wants to listen undisturbed and the iPhone forces him to surf and text, I wonder if he leaves the phone at home or has an iPod for undisturbed listening and an iPhone in the other pocket - and then any reason for the iPod is buried. ;)
Like me, I'm not even surprised that the author praises here :-). Today's embarrassing iPod Shuffle (2GB) and nano (16GB) are completely unusable! I can't even fit the music I bought on iTunes! And I'm not talking about a lot of other music that I bought elsewhere, have on CDs, DVDs, etc. The only iPod Touch, but it's too big for running, even though it's probably smaller and already has a similar capacity as the Classic. And I'm still annoyed by Apple, which sells the 128GB variant only in its store, so it's not possible to expect any kind of discount competition. Phew!
I am very glad that I am from the "old school" and give music the attention it deserves. Now I'm going through the entire Muse discography all the time, so I have a lot to "study".
It is a fact that it shortens my journey when I go somewhere, but I pay attention to the music the whole time. :-) That's also why, if I head back to the iPhone, only the 128GB version is worth it to me (also because of the many photos I want to take).
I had an old 80GB iPod, no bigger than that, which I loved. Then some smart guy decided to steal my car and now he misses me. Whin.