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Apple Discontinues iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle (macrumors.com)
From a report: Apple today removed the iPod nano and iPod shuffle from its website and online store around the world, suggesting the iconic portable media players may be discontinued. Apple continues to sell the iPod touch. Beyond new colors and storage capacities, Apple had last updated the iPod nano in October 2012 and the iPod shuffle in September 2010. Apple last updated the iPod touch in July 2015 with an 8-megapixel rear camera. Apple introduced the iPod shuffle in January 2005, followed by the iPod nano in September 2005. In total, there were seven generations of the iPod nano, and four generations of the iPod shuffle. The company has confirmed that it has discontinued the devices.
Is that the reason this time?
there's no room for apps, so there's no point in making them without the revenue stream
just use ur phone
I googled for this and apparently "ipods" were things Apple provided for people to keep their music on until Steve Jobs had finished inventing the telephone.
More people would buy them if they removed the headphone jack. Maybe apple should try that.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
There is no respect for the individual. The market collective rules what you can buy. Apple must surrender to the public domain all patents and copyrights on the iPod nano and shuffle for there to be justice.
That's probably the current way to listen to music with Bluetooth headphones and get lots of other functionality. If that's too expensive, there are also Android Wear/Samsung devices with similar functions. Technology moves on and MP3 players without WiFi are pretty clunky in 2017.
I have an old Nano and I still use it and I just love it. It's light, I can operate it without looking at it, have a great fabric case that clips to my shorts when I work out. If it would hold a charge and would always shut down when I tell it to it would be perfect. But Apple is still going to have to pry it from my cold, dead fingers.
People still bought these?
Both of our kids had Shuffles. My son left his in his pocket and it went in the washing machine. Still worked after it came out of the dryer.
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
I use a shuffle and a nano at the gym. Unfortunately, I just ran the nano through the wash. I guess I should order a replacement before their gone.
I have the last three phones I used as daily drivers. One is the living room remote, another is the bedroom remote and yet another is a media player. There are simply too many devices that can do what these devices were purpose built to do. And they have more functionality.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
Modern app appers ONLY app apps, and these LUDDITE iPods can't run apps!
Apps!
Two really groundbreaking products. They pushed the envelope at the time and altered our perception of what was even possible. Like the iPhone, we take them for granted now. But if you lived it, you know -- these shaped the industry and created the micro form factor marketplace that exists today. Well done. RIP Steve Jobs. Your legacy is remembered.
With battery and storage technology improving these devices got small enough to put on a wrist band. Also, cell phones are not the luxury items they used to be and some are more capable than many low end laptops.
The Apple Watch was considered a flop by many, I think Apple learned from that. Anyone remember the Apple Newton? That's just and early prototype of the current iDevices. They'll take their lessons from the Watch and iPod and come out with something new. I'm quite sure of that.
With electronics getting so light and people wanting these augmented reality things then maybe Apple will come out with a computer that has a screen you wear on your head and call it "iGlass". "iPatch"? I'm sure people will call them "iSores" though.
I am armed because I am free. I am free because I am armed.
I'm hopeful, since this would have been the perfect time to discontinue the Mac Mini if they had no intention of updating it.
I have an iPod Nano (fifth generation). I use it almost entirely as a podcast device, and the built in FM tuner is nice when I'm walking somewhere and I want to listen to the radio (I listen to a lot of public radio). The thing holds decent charge and has a decent enough amount of space, allowing me to keep the space open in my phone and not use up charge on the same. It may a little cumbersome sometimes, but not very. I like it, and will continue to like it until it eventually dies an ignominious death.
Then I'll probably replace it with something non-apple. iPods are nice, but expensive. This one was a gift.
You should turn signatures off.
Get the kid a Rasbery Pi and have him make his own Music Player.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
For me a screen is a pretty important thing in a music player but I guess some people don't care.
Anyway, my reasons to still use an "MP3" player in 2017 are that: My smartphone doesn't have an FM radio, using the player I avoid draining the phone's battery, I dare carrying the player in situations/places that I consider too dangerous for the much more expensive phone.
The iPod touch looks and acts like an iPhone, including standard and 3rd party apps, but without the cellular connection, phone or GPS. As much as I love the Pi, it is not a replacement for an iPod touch.
The iPod touch can also be important to iOS developers. A far less expensive device to test on. Also a convenient secondary or tertiary device to leave running past versions of iOS for testing.
Mine last saw heavy use when I was finishing my basement. Nice to have something with physical buttons so I could skip songs randomly without taking attention off of what I was doing. Screens are nice but you have to look at them to accomplish anything, which is only ideal most of the time...
...looked up at me from my desk and said, "Don't worry, I'll keep working forever. Let's go for a run!"
The kids are not the ones who want limited functionality. Some of their parents are!
Pity. I was just thinking about how the iPod Nano could be the entry-level Apple Pay wallet you give your kids. Or made into a small phone for people who like small phones.
These niches were:
1.) I want to do sports without having my phone on me, be as light as possible.
2.) I want an iTunes capable device I can use while driving my car without looking at a screen, only by tactile and muscle memory feedback... (my particular use case)
For these two niches, there was nothing like an iPod Shuffle. There are some chinese knock-offs that offer a similar formfactor, but not similar quality.
Will be sorely missed.
*** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
When I want to listen to the latest and greatest music... I listen to the radio. Aside from that, all I need is my copy of Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side of the Moon' and some LSD.
"You don't have to do this." --various dead, to Anton Chigurh
I would like it if there was a way to connect USB to my car audio system and access FLAC files natively. With my hacked classic 60gb iPod and iFlash i have 256gb of micro-SD ALAC files which my car radio will let me browse by artist, album etc on its touch screen because its apple-native, and digital link-no headphone jack cd-quality is the best audio i have ever heard. I want to see the same thing for lossless audio on my Android so I can purge apple products from my tech inventory. They do sound awesome on the stereo and integrated touchscreen with USB digital audio makes it mandatory until I can do the same thing with Android.
I had a shuffle for many years until I replaced it. It was fantastic, mostly because it was so small and light. I'd just clip it to the back of my shirt collar when going for a run or out to do some gardening, and it was pretty much imperceptible.
By contrast, smartphones tend to be upwards of 100g, or almost a quarter pound. That's enough weight that if you want to secure it to your person, you need to look at a special holder to do so. Pain in the butt.
It may look like I'm doing nothing, but I'm actively waiting for my problems to go away.
--Scott Adams
One big problem with phones (and tablets) is that at least none of the ones I have found so far, have a hard disk. SD Cards are just now getting to where they're nearly big enough (for not too much money) so phones will probably become viable pretty soon. (But I realize this kind of depends on the size of your collection; we all have our own spots and maybe 200 GB is plenty enough for some people, whereas others won't be happy until they can carry 4 TB.)
BTW, if anyone knows of a phone or tablet sized Android device which actually has (roughly) terabyte-magnitude storage, or better yet, can take an internal 2.5" SATA drive, please share. I realize there are external drive options available, which should be ok in the car, but that's always going to be a little awkward and hackish. (And if you've got a battery-operated computer anyway, then it's silly to not have your hard disk on the same UPS. Whoops, I turned off the car before I shut down, we'll need to fsck before music's available again...)
But it's just a matter of time. 256 GB SD cards are pretty widely available and cheap, so in just a couple more years, what I want should be around. Hmm.. anyone know of a current-day tablet that will take 2-4 SD cards? ;-)
"Believe me!" -- Donald Trump
Sure it's a pain to load music - the old school way from your iTunes music collection. But the combination of the Nano and in-ear bluetooth headphones is by far the least intrusive way of listening to music or podcasts when running. I find it odd those who strap on to their arm devices the size of a paperback to go for a run. The audio quality of the Nano is great, the battery life too and it can fit in anywhere. In the winter I just tuck the Nano into my glove negating the need for any sort of arm band. I've gone through pretty much the entire iPod Nano series and multiple bluetooth headphones. For running, the current Nano paired with an excellent set of headphones such as the Jaybirds, the experience cannot not be beat. I knew their evolution would come to an end as it is obvious that Apple has lost interest in this space. Still; its a shame Apple chose not to continue it's evolution. A wireless way of syncing music would have been great.
Sure it's a pain to load music - the old school way from your iTunes music collection. But the combination of the Nano and in-ear bluetooth headphones is by far the least intrusive way of listening to music or podcasts when running. I find it odd those who strap on to their arm devices the size of a paperback to go for a run. The audio quality of the Nano is great, the battery life too and it can fit in anywhere. In the winter I just tuck the Nano into my glove negating the need for any sort of arm band. I've gone through pretty much the entire iPod Nano series and multiple bluetooth headphones. For running, the current Nano paired with an excellent set of headphones such as the Jaybirds, the experience cannot not be beat. I knew their evolution would come to an end as it is obvious that Apple has lost interest in this space. Still; its a shame Apple chose not to continue it's evolution. A wireless way of syncing music would have been great.
Been expecting this for since Steve Jobs died.
iTunes will be next; possibly September.
Still use my 6th gen nano as a wristwatch. And my 2nd gen shuffle still works; listen to it at home (great FM radio).
For places like the gym or any place where your expensive phone could possibly be stolen or, could fall from your pocket and break. The advantages of these small light devices cant be understated as well Oh well I still have my Gen 1 iPod mini its easy to open and easy to service ill keep it going.
Screens are something for a mammoth music collection. The iPod shuffle originally came with 512MB of RAM, barely enough to fit 2-3 albums. You didn't need a screen to select a song.
It also had a pretty niche purpose. I owned one despite generally hating Apple devices (mainly to do with iTunes) and already having an MP3 player. It was DAAAAAMN light, and it was just a little clip. I don't think there was a more perfect device for jogging. I'm still not sure there is.
Not exactly, but teleVision and telePhone both have the 'tele' prefix due to the method of transmission called Telecommunication.
"Telecommunication is the transmission of signs, signals, messages, words, writings, images and sounds or intelligence of any nature by wire, radio, optical or other electromagnetic systems."
Twinstiq, game news
Every time Apple makes a product announcement these days I keep finding myself one step closer to moving off their products. They seem to have a knack for droping all the best things they've come up with. (magsafe, shuffle, a decent Macbook Pro ... )
Why pay a load of money for another device that is pretty much the size of a phone (or evaen smaller), when everybody has phones today that can play music? We don't need no iPod or stupid iWatches. It's good to see Apple fading away. Expensive is not the way to go anymore.