The only reason I stopped using my iPod was because I lost it. 🥲
It was my companion for many many years, I think I lost it in 2016 or something. I recently started considering getting another one, but I honestly wouldn’t like having to install iTunes just for it.
There are a lot of non-Apple options for a very similar experience. I have a Fiio X1 Gen 2 that I like. They’re not widely available new anymore but they are still about the same price as when I got it.
You don’t need iTunes to manage an iPod. There are tons of alternative apps, as well as plugins for music players like foobar2000 and Winamp.
iPods are still great. You can even replace their hard drives with modern flash storage and they work. It’s actually really impressive, i built a 256GB iPod Mini and iTunes has no problem with it. For the Mini, any compact flash card works as a drop-in replacement for the hard drive. Other models require a cheap adapter.
I completely forgot about that! I used foobar2000 a lot back in the day, but never managed how to manage my iPod through it, it was just my main music player.
Is there a market for modified iPods? I’d love to get one already modified with the flash storage you mentioned
I’ve been using a gen 5.5 for about 10 months and am quite enjoying it. I bought a refurb with a fresh battery and SD card replacement. Sounds great, nostalgia moments on point, and can enjoy music without my phone.
On Linux it’s been a bit cumbersome to get content on, and the podcast experience is subpar by modern expectations, but I still appreciate the tactile interface. It’s nice to interact with things that aren’t all glass touch surfaces.
Put Rockbox on it and drag and drop any audio file onto the iPod like you would any removable media. You can also play flac, ogg, and many other formats not supported by the og OS.
I had considered this. I still may at some point. I wanted to play with the original interface and experience that. Plus my car connects well to iPods (it’s an older car) and that’s pretty handy. I’m pretty sure it’ll get the audio from rockbox but less confident playlists and such will work.
Rockbox has pretty great playlist support. You can use m3u playlist you generate and drag those over or rockbox can create them. The original iPod interface is much nicer. Rockbox can be a bit cumbersome but you can find some nice themes to pretty faithfully recreate the look and feel.
I never stopped using my iPod Nano 6G. Instead of switching to streaming, I continued to grow my collection of music from purchasing or renting and ripping CDs. I still have yet to listen to every song in my library (although everything fits on my iPod after compressing), so it is hard to justify paying for streaming
For me the reason I like to use streaming services is as a way to find new music that I otherwise would never be exposed to.
As an alternative, I suggest ListenBrainz. It is like last.fm, where you install a “scrobbler” to monitor your listening, and then it provides platform-agnostic recommendations.
The issue is keeping them working. My wife has iPods (gen 3?). We’ve backed Tangara in the hope that it will replicate the experience and let us finally replace them. It’s surprisingly difficult (read: impossible) to get something that plays music, has a wakeup alarm, and has a sleep timer.
For anyone else interested: check out Tangara here! https://cooltech.zone/tangara/
I backed it and I’ve been following the development; it’s very exciting.
I’m sorry if I sound naive but what’s wrong with using a mobile?
I thought people use traditional music players like iPod and Tangara only because of their retro feel, is there something else to it?
- Touchscreen. Needs physical buttons.
- Has too much functionality. Not good for sleep hygiene.
For me it’s also about reducing my reliance on my mobile. Teaching my kids by example that life isn’t only on my phone is easier when I can more clearly demonstrate what I’m doing. To listen to music I get my music device. When I want to take pictures, I grab my camera.
Basically this, for me. I want my devices to be more dedicated to a singular purpose, so I’m not tethered to my phone all day. Having a camera, an MP3 player, and a handheld makes my actions feel more purposeful. Building off that, having a “one-stop-shop” type of device or service or anything really imo makes the overall experience worse. Think Wal-mart versus a dedicated electronics store or something.
Darmok and Jalad …
Tangara, when the walls fell.
