iPods

One of my favourite gadgets has got to be my iPod! I listen to music a lot, and I certainly have a lot of it---my iTunes has over 2,000 songs and counting! So I get quite a lot of mileage out of nmy iPod from music alone, not to mention podcasts, the occasional game of solitaire and the YouTube videos and Vine compilations I sometimes keep on there. I personally like how easy iPods are to use and how much of a community there is around them, as well as the variety of models and the fact that they still sync with moden software and have the best software around them. They're also cheap for very high-quality devices these days, although the collector scene has diminished that somewhat.

I am interested in getting a Zune or two someday---they have very good software design on the players, although the PC software seems to have been bad---and I'd also be interested in trying (and probably failing) to mod an iPod classic someday! Even if only to replace the hard drive or something.

I also want to add a few other iPods to my collection someday: firstly, I'd love both a fourth- and a seventh-generation classic, since I think they're the best black-and-white and colour full-sized iPods respectively, although the 5th gen is also very well-designed. I'd also like to add a 7th gen nano---I would like, after all, to find every purple iPod---and a 4th gen shuffle in purple as well as one in mint green, and one in blue while we're at it.

Scroll down to learn more about my collection, and the iPods I want to add to it someday!

iPods I Own

The first iPod that I own is the iPod nano 5th generation, which was released in 2009. I actually own two of these, though the first one doesn't actually work at all. The first one I got as a gift for my birthday in May 2020, and it was my daily iPod until March 2022, when the screen crapped out. It was a purple 8GB model, and my first non-touch iPod ever. I got a replacement a couple of weeks after, which, like the first one, is a purple model that came with a new battery and screen, but unlike the first one, has 16 gigabytes of storage.

This is my main iPod, and as of December 18, 2023, it has 2,156 songs on it, as well as some podcasts, (including my favourite podcasts, Office Ladies and Ask Me About K-Pop) music videos, other videos and all that jazz. (pun not intended!) I really love using it to lay back and listen to music, and it's really light, so I barely notice it's there! Okay, now I sound like an Apple shill. But the 16GB of storage is getting pretty restrictive, since my music collection is rapidly expanding, so either I have to put the songs at a lower bit rate (my ears will not thank me) or buy an iPod classic with enough storage to grow into (my wallet will not thank me). But for now I think I'll stick with this iPod and try to get by.

Anyways, the second one that I own is the 5th generation iPod touch, which was released in 2012. I received it as a gift in 2015 for my birthday, and used it for almost five years before it had to be retired, as it was stuck on iOS 9 with an A5, so it was very slow, and the battery was very degraded due to age. It has an Otterbox case on it, and a cheap popsocket I got at the mall when those were first trending. It's a 64GB model in a sort of salmony pinkish colour. These days it's sitting in its final resting place (a cabinet that's part of my desk where I keep boxes, old tech and random crap), though I take it out every once in a while to look at all the old stuff on it, which is mostly random games and whatever the heck 13-year-old me read on Wattpad. Yeah, I was one of those middle schoolers.

The third I own is a 6th gen nano! I found this one at another estate sale, and it already had someone else's music on it, which I think was quite interesting to see. It's my backup iPod, for one, in case my main iPod ever goes on the fritz, and I keep some favourite songs on it. It now sits on the iPod speaker in my room in lieu of the 2nd generation nano below, since that no longer works, and I listen to it when I do chores, etc. And also, of course I had to have the Kermit watch face.

The fourth I own is a 2nd gen nano! I found this one at an estate sale and picked it up for a whopping $10 in-box! The box wasn't closed, more propped open, because the cables, etc., were just kind of crammed in, not all nice like they would've come in a new box, but the box and all its inclusions were still really cool. It's a silver, four-gigabyte model, and it's in really good physical shape!

Sadly, though, it doesn't hold any charge when you unplug it. When it still worked, it could hold a few hundred songs, with a few of my favourite playlists and stuff, and so I put it permanently on the iPod dock in my room, where I listened when I did chores, etc. Unfortunately, however, eventually the battery crapped out entirely, probably from being on the charger 24/7, and it no longer syncs with my computer or has any music whatsoever on it. It's basically just an ornament to my equally nonfunctional iMac G3 these days.

iPods I want

My most wanted iPod is probably the final iPod classic in silver. This model was sold from 2007 to 2014. It started out with 80 and 160 GB, then was revamped in 2008 to be thinner with 120 GB as the only option, then finally, the 120GB was upgraded to 160GB in 2009. It was the last "big" or "classic" iPod, with the closest form factor to the original iPod. This is probably one of the most popular iPods, and I've seen them go for rather large prices on eBay (around $100 USD at minimum, compared to the $50-75 USD I've seen most nanos except the 7th gen go for), but given that they were produced for so long, there seems to be a reasonable supply. There are also ones you can buy online refurbished with fresh batteries, and even modded to have flash storage, better batteries, different colours, and stuff like that! Personally, I'll probably just go for a refurbished one, since getting into the custom modded ones is a little expensive for me at the moment.

Anyways, I partially want this iPod because my iTunes music library alone is soon going to outgrow my nano, (I think right now it's sitting at 13 GB, and is growing at a rate of a few hundred songs per year!) not to mention the rest of my iTunes library (mainly TV episodes), which is already too much to fit on the nano. (Also, I mean, they called the classic "The Take-Everything-Everywhere iPod" for a reason!) A bigger screen would also be nice, though I do like how compact and light the nano is, and I wouldn't eschew it completely, of course, and would probably still use it on runs and all.

My second most wanted iPod, close behind the classic, is the 7th gen nano in purple. It came out at the same time as the 5th generation touch that I have, and in the same colours as the 5th gen touch, as well as a really pretty mint green and a really pretty lavender, which is the one that I want (pictured below). I also really love the slate colour, which was also on the iPhone 5, the iPod touch 5th generation, 2012 refresh of the 4th gen iPod shuffle, and the 1st generation iPad mini, before being discontinued the next year and replaced with space grey because slate paint chipped too easily.

Anyways, they sold this round of colours on the nano (and shuffle) from 2012 to 2015, when they refreshed the colours of the iPod nano and shuffle to match the 6th generation iPod touch after its release. This release got rid of the 8 GB option, making 16 GB the only storage tier. It's the only iPod besides the touch line to natively support Bluetooth, so if I ever find any passable Bluetooth headphones, this would be really nice to use on walks/runs! It's also the only iPod besides the touch line to use the Lightning cable, which is part of the reason it can be so thin. This one is really cool!

My third most wanted iPod is the 3rd generation nano. It was released in 2007 at the same time as the final iPod classic, and it's basically like that iPod's baby pictures came to life. While the iPod classic had been able to play video since the 5th generation in 2005, the 3rd gen nano was the first nano to play video. It came in five colours at launch (mint green, sky blue, silver, dark grey and a reddish colour), and a sixth colour, pink (pictured below), was added for Valentine's Day 2008, which is the one that I want. It was available in 4 GB and 8 GB, but the 4 GB model was only available in silver, leaving the rest of the colours to the 8GB tier.

The interface was mostly the same as the 2007 classic, much like the 1st and 2nd gen nanos had a very similar interface to the 5th gen classic, something which the 4th gen nano would change. This was originally the iPod I wanted most before I decided that I'd rather have a 5th gen nano, which I ended up getting. I might get a little speaker and keep this in my room or something, but I don't know if I'll even get this one.

My final most wanted iPod is the 4th generation iPod Shuffle. I think the purple and green on the 2012 refresh of this (same as the original colours of the 7th gen nano, both of which were sold from 2012-2015) are so pretty, as well as the slate that was sold from 2012-2013. I also like the hot pink (pictured below) and the dark-ish blue of the refresh which was sold from 2015-2017, and I'd rather like one of each, though I don't know what I'd do with all of those iPod Shuffles. Perhaps I could switch them out to match my outfits. Luckily, Shuffles don't seem to be going for that much money nowadays, so even I could afford them! I'd probably just use them on runs or something, but to be fair I already have a nano to use on runs. So I guess I'd just get it for the novelty. Or I might keep it connected to an AUX cable in my car. Who knows? Again, I likely won't get it anyways.

iPod accessories

Back in the day, there were a crap tonne of iPod accessories! The top one was probably the iDog, a cute little dog-esque, robot-esque thing that dances to your music. I kinda want one of those, if only for the sake of a stupid novelty, but the only iPod accessory I have for a moment is an iPod dock from the brand iLuv. (Photo maybe coming eventually.) Basically, you plug it into the wall and connect your iPod to it, and it plays your music over a speaker! I know iHome made one of these with an alarm clock, which seems kind of pointless since I already have an alarm clock, but maybe I'll get one one day. We'll see!

I also want an iDog! Not for any specific reason, it's just a cute little novelty and Heaven knows I'm fond of buying random crap just because.