So long, old friends: After many redesigns and colors, Apple has dropped the iPod Nano and iPod Shuffle from its lineup. Why drop the teeny devices now? Their ancestor the iPod Classic is now gone, and the two devices were the only music players left that don’t use iOS. Worse, the iPod Shuffle doesn’t have Bluetooth. [More]
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Raiders Of The Lost Walmart Find Ancient iPod Case, Rare Full-Price MobiBLU
By 4.18.16
It was almost three years ago that one of the Raiders of the Lost Walmart excavated their first MobiBLU, a mini MP3 player that was the hottest entertainment technology available from Walmart in 2005. Somehow, the devices are still on the shelves at Walmart, sometimes at the original full price, never drawing any interest from paying customers: only from the camera lenses of our brave retail archaeologists. [More]
Apple Keeps Demoting iPods, Moves Them To Accessory Racks In Stores
By 8.19.15
While the iPod was a revolutionary gadget when it first hit the market in 2001, now the ability to play music files or stream them from the Internet on a portable device is something that we take for granted. Apple is continuing the slow, graceful retirement of the iPod by moving the devices to the “accessory” racks in its stores, freeing up display counter and table space for more current gadgets. [More]
Is The iPod’s Disappearance From The Top Of Apple Website A Sign Of Its Impending Doom?
By 6.12.15
Well, that was quick: Only a few days after Apple announced its new subscription music service, Apple Music has replaced the iPod at the top of the company’s site. Here’s where everyone starts checking the deathwatch clock. [More]
Jury: Apple iTunes, iPod Restrictions Don’t Constitute Monopoly
By 12.16.14
A long-running court battle over alleged antitrust issues involving Apple’s iPod and iTunes store came to an end today after a jury determined that the company did not act improperly when it restricted music purchases starting in 2006. [More]
Former Apple Exec Behind The iPod On Gadget Nostalgia: “Time Marches On”
By 9.23.14
Do you whisper goodnight to your iPod classic before tucking it into its bed each night? Are you the kind of person who still pines for the first Nintendo you ever had, eschewing all other gaming consoles ever since? Get over it, says the former Apple executive who oversaw the iPod until leaving the company in 2008. All technology is born to die, and be replaced. [More]
Today, Apple Debuted A Watch And Killed The iPod Classic
By 9.9.14
Earlier today, Apple somehow took almost two hours to announce some slightly bigger smartphones and a pricey phone accessory, then throw a surprise U2 concert. There was something that they didn’t announce during that presentation, though: the end of the original click-wheel iPod. [More]
Man Suspected Of Swapping iPods For Erasers At Target Caught, Arrested, Pleads Not Guilty
By 1.17.14
Remember the guy in California who gave his wife an iPod box filled with erasers for Christmas, but not intentionally? When he tried to exchange it for a box with a real iPod in it, the new box contained erasers, too. We publish a lot of stories like this, but here’s something unusual: a follow-up story with the arrest of the person behind the alleged eraser-swap. [More]
Christmas Gift Of iPod Was Actually A Box Filled With Erasers
By 12.27.13
One San Diego man obviously isn’t a regular Consumerist reader. He bought his wife an iPod for Christmas, and she opened it up to find…four erasers and some specially-cut index cards filling up the spot that’s supposed to cradle the iPod. They’re probably very nice erasers, but you can’t play music on them. Light percussion, maybe. [More]
FAA Panel To Recommend Allowing Use Of Electronic Devices During Takeoff & Landing
By 9.24.13
Since last June, a Federal Aviation Administration Panel advisory panel has been gearing up to finalize its recommendation on how the agency could maybe perhaps allow the use of personal electronic devices during flights. That means you could be listening to music, texting, emailing and otherwise tapping away on your whathaveyou during landing and takeoff instead of gripping the armrests like your life depends on it. If that’s your thing, that is. [More]
Apple Offering $10 Discount To Customers Trading In Third-Party USB Adapters
By 8.6.13
After reports surfaced that iPhone chargers have been shocking, and in one case, killing a customer who answered her phone while it was charging, Apple is offering a discount to customers who trade in third-party chargers. In an announcement on the company site, Apple says third-party adpaters and counterfeit versions might not be designed correctly, so in the interest of customer safety, it’ll dispose of those adapters and set you up with an authentic one. [More]
Zagg Full-Body Protection Left My iPod Coated With Perma-Goo
By 8.1.12
Sure, those clear adhesive protective covers for small gadgets are supposed to last for a long time, but what happens when the film starts to peel and your iPod has plenty of useful life left? Then you do what reader Rob did and peel it off, discovering an unmovable coating of perma-goo on the outside of the device. No solvent can remove it. [More]
Dear Target Employees: Lying Is Not A Valid Extended Warranty Sales Tactic
By 6.19.12
It’s one thing to repeatedly push extended warranties on customers. We’re not fans of this particular revenue-drivng tactic (or of most extended warranties in general) but there’s nothing fundamentally dishonest about it. What is dishonest is what David says that an employee at a midwestern Target store did. While selling him an iPod Touch, the employee told David that Target’s extended warranty covers accidental damage. It doesn’t. [More]
Apple Will Replace First-Gen iPod Nanos For Overheating Risks
By 11.14.11
If you have an iPod nano sold between Sep ’05 and Dec ’06, you could be eligible for a replacement under a new worldwide recall issued by Apple to deal with battery heating issues. [More]
Report: Apple May Phase Out Older iPods
By 9.29.11
As Apple prepares to unveil the iPhone 5 next week, it also may soon bring down the hammer on the long-beloved but now largely obsolete iPod Shuffle and iPod Classic. [More]
The iPad Vending Machine At Macy's
By 9.21.11
I know iPad and iPod and gizmo-disgorging vending machines are nothing new, but it was still unnerving to see one as I passed through a Macy’s men’s department this weekend. I kind of hate it, and I kind of love it. [More]
Don't Bend Your iPod Back And Forth Until The Battery Explodes
By 6.22.11
Adolescence is a time for people to learn by doing, but here’s one bit of advice we’d like share with the future of America now: As tempting as it may be, don’t go bending your iPod — or really any electronic device — back and forth until it breaks, the battery explodes and the ambulances come. [More]
Google Shopper App Recognizes Products By Their Cover
By 2.7.11
Google has jumped into the shopping app fray with “Google Shopper,” which stands out from the crowd by being able to id products by their cover art. The feature works on book, CD, DVD, and video game covers. You can also search by voice, along with the usual barcode scanning, local pricematching and the ability to save items. If you’re a RedLaser fan, this could be a serious contender to replace it on your home screen. The app is free and available on both Android and iOS. [More]
