First of all, iPod is among the best product released by Apple.inc beside Mac and iPhone product line. Steve Jobs early innovation bring up the creation of small and portable music device’ that anyone can carry around without feeling the burden. Remember Walkman or Discman, you knew how heavy and bulky they were. The idea originated from Steve Jobs, who imagined storing thousands of music inside a small device, supposedly its for his daughter who love listening to music but always carry around a bulky Walkman and complain to him about how Walkman did not have enough space for all her music.
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Today, Apple.inc still releasing new version of the iPod, they even reboot the old classic iPod and release a new modern version of iPod classic with 160gb storage with the capability of crystal clear video and image. However the popular recent release is the iPod Touch 7th Generation which is updated with new 256 GB model, and an upgraded SoC from the A8 to A10 Fusion. It also supports new features such as AR and Group FaceTime. So you might wonder why iPod still popular in 2019, here’s a few reasons why:
Music still part of life
Listening to music is still part of people’s everyday life. Although you can listen to music on smartphone but iPod still the preferred device when comes to listening to music. Why? its small in size and portable, it won’t add burden to your everyday carriage when working outdoor or mountain climbing, its like carrying a small wallet or card holder, a true definition of ‘Music in your pocket”. As long as people preferred portable device for listening to music, iPod still has its value.
Better sound quality
Since its built for the purpose of listening to music, it has better sound quality than smartphone. Some might not think this is important but for those who love listening to crystal clear and live like music, in addition to that the new iPod Touch now support FLAC audio format which has the best audio quality, these features is a must have for audiophile.
Longer battery life
Built for last, that’s the distinct features of iPod. You can listen to your music all day 24 hours without worrying about the battery will run out anytime soon. Imagine listening to music on your smartphone in 1-2 hours and keep staring at the battery life and worry it will run out since smartphone still is your only communication device in case anything happen.
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Cheaper option for mobile/online gaming
New version of iPod such as iPod Touch has built-in Apple’s A10 Fusion chip, it is optimized for mobile gaming which Apple refer to as AR, “immersive augmented reality experiences”. It supports popular games such as Minecraft and PUBG. If you prefer a cheaper device solely for light mobile gaming only, iPod Touch is definitely an alternate and cheaper option than smartphone.
More sweat resistant than smartphones
For those who love to listen to music while exercising understand the troublesome of having sweaty smartphone after the work out if you’re using a smartphone for music instead of iPod. However using iPod, it is more sweat resistant and with its smaller size features, doing work out will feel much lighter, you won’t even feel like you’re carrying anything.
Culture and impact of iPod
iPod initiate the era of portable digital device, the slick design and smooth edges innovate the creation of iPhones and bring forward the idea on design of today smartphones. iPod also initiate the growth of gadget accessories market, product alone is not sufficient for consumer satisfaction, consumer loves upgrade or enhancement, this is where iPod open the market of peripherals or accessories to extend the iPod user experience such as speakers, headphones, cases, skins, in-car kits or battery pack that initial made for iPod.
One of the most revolutionizing impact of iPod would be making storing and listening to music legal. In a time where music mp3 can be downloaded online illegally, music industries face great downfall because of widespread piracy, hence the creation of iTunes back in 2003. Using iTunes platform, record company can license their artist’s work and let people download and listen to it legally, and how people can do that? Yes, using the only device back then, the iPod built-in software for iTunes. Hard-copy CD becoming less popular and less demanding, people prefer a quick digital download and listen to their favorite song or listen to the latest music release just 1 or 2 click away through iTunes. You can say iTunes and iPod literally saved the music industry, we won’t have the opportunity to listen to Eminem, Celine Dion or Ariana Grande song if iPod never existed, imagine that?
The love and reminisce for retro or pop culture, today lots of movies incorporate retro or pop culture into their movie scene, such as Guardian of the Galaxy, Ready Player One and among others. Society crave for forgotten culture is booming and iPod fortunately is one of the iconic representative of music icon back in the day where year of the millennial begins, it is rumored that an old classic first release iPod can fetch up to $20.000, this show a pop culture memorabilia is sought after by retro collector. This might be why Nokia 3310 phone was brought back to production in 2017 after its demise in 2013, another iconic reminisce that represent portable phone back in the old days.
Final Summary
iPod is now 10+ years old, consumer still ecstatic when new version of iPod Touch released, this proof iPod is not a dying product like many people claimed. However with the increase capacity for storage (more storage means more power consumption) and people love doing outdoor activities with their iPod, one main concern that most iPod users worry about is its battery life. According to Apple.inc, if you’re only using iPod for music, you’ll have around 40 hours of battery life, which is sufficient for most users unless you’re doing multitasking such as play games and listen to music at the same time and that will surely drain your iPod’s battery life faster so keep that in mind. You can read this iPod buying guide before purchase a new iPod for yourself.
That’s a wrap, any thought, do leave a comment below.
Photos courtesy of gettyimages.com
