I have a 128gb iphone 6 with 90 gigs worth of music loaded. I'll manage without the Classic and certainly won't pay $500 for one. Besides, the Classic's fidelity leaves much to be desired, the iphone actually sounds better. The Classic's price will stabilize once everyone (the herd) realizes it was an obsolete transport and there are better options available to power your JH13fp's
Looking on the Archos website, they have 8 different mp3 players listed, but NONE are available. I guess they must have quit making them. And FYI, none of the ones they list hold more than 8GB of content. They also (if they actually existed) would not play AAC audio.
I have a Pono Player on order - it's too early to see how that will work out. It'll play many formats, including Apple Lossless, AAC, mp3 and FLAC, and I believe they hold 64GB internally, with a card slot for another 64 GB. They're more expensive ($399), with audiophile-quality components, so it's a more serious product. They're also developing a music store (in beta now, with 2 million tracks) - all tracks at least CD quality.
Looking on the Archos website, they have 8 different mp3 players listed, but NONE are available. I guess they must have quit making them. And FYI, none of the ones they list hold more than 8GB of content. They also (if they actually existed) would not play AAC audio.
I have a Pono Player on order - it's too early to see how that will work out. It'll play many formats, including Apple Lossless, AAC, mp3 and FLAC, and I believe they hold 64GB internally, with a card slot for another 64 GB. They're more expensive ($399), with audiophile-quality components, so it's a more serious product. They're also developing a music store (in beta now, with 2 million tracks) - all tracks at least CD quality.
Apologies then, I haven't been following them lately. The Pono sounds decent. Good luck.
I don't get it. You're basically calling Tim Cook a liar if you say he's spouting nonsense. He could easily say it's not worth it for Apple to redesign it and that would be that.
Yes, I am basically calling Tim Cook a liar. It's not that hard to "get." Apple designs computers, phones, tablets, peripherals, TV streamers etc. Many of them employ non-standard interfaces internally if not externally but they deal with it. They develop at least two operating systems, fingerprint sensors, their own line of 64-bit mobile CPUs, a programming language, and God knows what else. Apple is the one of the most profitable companies with about the largest market cap (if they're not #1 on both counts.) So we should believe that a company capable of all that can't figure out how to buy or build flash storage that uses the same standard interface as the 1.8" drives they were using? Do you think for such a company that this is a "significant engineering challenge?" Making a 500 pound sapphire crystal might be a significant engineering challenge. This one isn't.
Google is making driverless cars, virtual reality glasses for glassholes, mapping the planet, digitizing every book on the planet, making a fantastically insecure operating system by stealing the most intellectual property, etc. I don't like Google and as an Apple investor, I'm glad Apple doesn't do those things. Apple could do those things if they choose. But don't you think they sound more challenging than designing a board for flash memory to connect to a standard 1.8" ATA interface?
Cook could easily say "it's not worth it for Apple to redesign it" and perhaps "that would be that." I suppose he is just trying to avoid telling some small number of vocal customers that the archaic device they seem to covet no longer fits into Apple's plans. He could tell them that it sickens his engineers to be assigned to work on a device they might have used when they were children. I don't give a rat's poop for the old iPod. I'm sure it's great just like CDs and tapes before them were great.
There's also the fact that they'd have to re-engineer it to support a Lightning connector, and there were other parts like the Click Wheel that were exclusive to the Classic. Actually, pretty much all the parts were exclusive to that model. Not a good recipe for longevity.
You seem to be making this into a bigger problem than it really is. The hard drive was discontinued. They need a replacement for that part. They don't have to re-engineer to support a lightning connector. They don't have to reinvent the click wheel. What fans of the original iPod want is more of the same.
I'm not one of those fans. Apple doesn't need any reason to discontinue it. The fact that sales volume is small is a perfectly excellent reason.
Try going to Head-fi.org and you will find a multitude of DAP (digital audio players) available. The FIIO X1, X3, X5 are reasonable and play almost all available hi-rez and standard MP3 formats. There are many, many quality DAPs available.
I still use my 160GB iPod Classic almost every day. The capacity is too important of a function for me to set it aside, AND it's a welcome return to proper functionality when it comes to podcast syncing.
I'm not second guessing Apple's decision (much), but to say
"We would have to make a whole new product," Cook said. "The engineering work to do that would be massive. The number of people who wanted it is very small."
is disingenious at best. Massive? There are Kickstarter projects more complicated than this. The real answer is that this is a niche product with a limited life (iPhones will have this much capacity soon), so Apple doesn't want to "lose focus" by devoting any resources to it.
Disclaimer: I have an 80 gig iPod classic sitting in a drawer than I haven't touched in years.
The Classic has been surpassed by the iPod Shuffle If they want to put a classic back out all they have to do is use the parts from the Shuffle with a SD card. As it is, SSD's are starting to near the point that they aren't cheaper than a mechanical drive but they're close enough that it doesn't justify making the 1.8" hard drives anymore. That's why Apple discontinued it. They can fill the rest of that space with more battery.
I think all my thoughts have already been said here.
I use mine all the time. In the Car, on my commute on the subway, at work.
I like to carry my entire collection. I tried an iPod Nano 6th-gen for about 2 weeks before realizing i never had the songs I wanted and the tiny watch-like screen sucked and the OS sucked and was too slow.
That all being said, 5k iPod Classics being sold on eBay doesn't equate to a large demand IMO.
As For TC'c comments about re-tooling the iPod Classic? I call BS. They just didn't want to do it. They want everyone to use an iOS device, and i think it's working on me. I think the logic there is that they need to quit supporting the OS for non-iOS devices. Now the Nano and the Shuffle are currently the only models left on non-iOS. And I do agree that coming up with a new device is a lot of effort for such little gain.
Despite the fact that I use my 160gb Classic all the time...The interface and the form-factor (bulk and weight) is getting a little long in the tooth, no doubt (however, I will say i like the physical size of the device). And the fact that I have to carry multiple devices around is getting a bit tiring. On my commute to work, I carry my Classic, iPhone and iPad every day. Not to mention a quality Digital Camera at times when i'm out and need to shoot photos that I want to archive (my 8 year old Nikon Advanced P&S still kicks the crap out of the iPhone camera).
I agree that most say the 128 GB iPhone is probably not enough space (since apps take up a lot of space); but for me, I still sport a 16gb iPhone and that's all I need for Apps and Podcasts. I have roughly 850 full-length CD's in my iTunes folder on the Mac (roughly 50GB of music), and about 5-6 GB in Podcasts on average. So for me, 128GB is plenty of space. And I'm really liking the interface of the Music App over my Classic. With that much music, a Touch interface is just more efficient IMO. In the past I argued that "eyes-free" operation is superior IMO since you can just feel your way around it in the car or on the go. However, since I use headphones a lot, the headphone remote/mic serves all the needs I have. And now Siri just adds to that. I have also argued in the past that a dedicated "Music Device" was a necessary part of the Ecosystem. Sometimes you just want a music/audio device around and really Apple just needed to update the Classic to include Bluetooth streaming and Wifi Sync from the iTunes Store, my computer or another iOS device for podcasts or iTunes Match. That I still hold true. But, going back to the idea of carrying multiple devices, it would be really nice to just have the All-in-One.
If they ever decide to bring back large-capacity Music/Audio Device, I will definitely buy one. But for now I'm going to try the 128GB iPhone 6 and see how well that fares.
I have a Fiio X5 music player as the iPod classic no longer fits my music collection. The Fiio X5 will take two 128GB SD cards with promises to support 256GB and 512GB card when available. It has the same scroll wheel as the original iPod and the OS is not as good but the music playback is first class and it can connect to your computer as an off board DAC.
The music is quickly downloaded and as good as CD at a minimum. I do not buy lossy music. I do wish the iTunes store would sell ALAC tracks, that is their loss.
Comments
So, can someone suggest an alternative mp3 player? Maybe I can buy a larger hard drive for one of my old 30Gig iPods...
Check out Archos.
Check out Archos.
Looking on the Archos website, they have 8 different mp3 players listed, but NONE are available. I guess they must have quit making them. And FYI, none of the ones they list hold more than 8GB of content. They also (if they actually existed) would not play AAC audio.
I have a Pono Player on order - it's too early to see how that will work out. It'll play many formats, including Apple Lossless, AAC, mp3 and FLAC, and I believe they hold 64GB internally, with a card slot for another 64 GB. They're more expensive ($399), with audiophile-quality components, so it's a more serious product. They're also developing a music store (in beta now, with 2 million tracks) - all tracks at least CD quality.
Apologies then, I haven't been following them lately. The Pono sounds decent. Good luck.
I don't get it. You're basically calling Tim Cook a liar if you say he's spouting nonsense. He could easily say it's not worth it for Apple to redesign it and that would be that.
Yes, I am basically calling Tim Cook a liar. It's not that hard to "get." Apple designs computers, phones, tablets, peripherals, TV streamers etc. Many of them employ non-standard interfaces internally if not externally but they deal with it. They develop at least two operating systems, fingerprint sensors, their own line of 64-bit mobile CPUs, a programming language, and God knows what else. Apple is the one of the most profitable companies with about the largest market cap (if they're not #1 on both counts.) So we should believe that a company capable of all that can't figure out how to buy or build flash storage that uses the same standard interface as the 1.8" drives they were using? Do you think for such a company that this is a "significant engineering challenge?" Making a 500 pound sapphire crystal might be a significant engineering challenge. This one isn't.
Google is making driverless cars, virtual reality glasses for glassholes, mapping the planet, digitizing every book on the planet, making a fantastically insecure operating system by stealing the most intellectual property, etc. I don't like Google and as an Apple investor, I'm glad Apple doesn't do those things. Apple could do those things if they choose. But don't you think they sound more challenging than designing a board for flash memory to connect to a standard 1.8" ATA interface?
Cook could easily say "it's not worth it for Apple to redesign it" and perhaps "that would be that." I suppose he is just trying to avoid telling some small number of vocal customers that the archaic device they seem to covet no longer fits into Apple's plans. He could tell them that it sickens his engineers to be assigned to work on a device they might have used when they were children. I don't give a rat's poop for the old iPod. I'm sure it's great just like CDs and tapes before them were great.
There's also the fact that they'd have to re-engineer it to support a Lightning connector, and there were other parts like the Click Wheel that were exclusive to the Classic. Actually, pretty much all the parts were exclusive to that model. Not a good recipe for longevity.
You seem to be making this into a bigger problem than it really is. The hard drive was discontinued. They need a replacement for that part. They don't have to re-engineer to support a lightning connector. They don't have to reinvent the click wheel. What fans of the original iPod want is more of the same.
I'm not one of those fans. Apple doesn't need any reason to discontinue it. The fact that sales volume is small is a perfectly excellent reason.
The Classic has been surpassed by the iPod Shuffle If they want to put a classic back out all they have to do is use the parts from the Shuffle with a SD card. As it is, SSD's are starting to near the point that they aren't cheaper than a mechanical drive but they're close enough that it doesn't justify making the 1.8" hard drives anymore. That's why Apple discontinued it. They can fill the rest of that space with more battery.
I think all my thoughts have already been said here.
I use mine all the time. In the Car, on my commute on the subway, at work.
I like to carry my entire collection. I tried an iPod Nano 6th-gen for about 2 weeks before realizing i never had the songs I wanted and the tiny watch-like screen sucked and the OS sucked and was too slow.
That all being said, 5k iPod Classics being sold on eBay doesn't equate to a large demand IMO.
As For TC'c comments about re-tooling the iPod Classic? I call BS. They just didn't want to do it. They want everyone to use an iOS device, and i think it's working on me. I think the logic there is that they need to quit supporting the OS for non-iOS devices. Now the Nano and the Shuffle are currently the only models left on non-iOS. And I do agree that coming up with a new device is a lot of effort for such little gain.
Despite the fact that I use my 160gb Classic all the time...The interface and the form-factor (bulk and weight) is getting a little long in the tooth, no doubt (however, I will say i like the physical size of the device). And the fact that I have to carry multiple devices around is getting a bit tiring. On my commute to work, I carry my Classic, iPhone and iPad every day. Not to mention a quality Digital Camera at times when i'm out and need to shoot photos that I want to archive (my 8 year old Nikon Advanced P&S still kicks the crap out of the iPhone camera).
I agree that most say the 128 GB iPhone is probably not enough space (since apps take up a lot of space); but for me, I still sport a 16gb iPhone and that's all I need for Apps and Podcasts. I have roughly 850 full-length CD's in my iTunes folder on the Mac (roughly 50GB of music), and about 5-6 GB in Podcasts on average. So for me, 128GB is plenty of space. And I'm really liking the interface of the Music App over my Classic. With that much music, a Touch interface is just more efficient IMO. In the past I argued that "eyes-free" operation is superior IMO since you can just feel your way around it in the car or on the go. However, since I use headphones a lot, the headphone remote/mic serves all the needs I have. And now Siri just adds to that. I have also argued in the past that a dedicated "Music Device" was a necessary part of the Ecosystem. Sometimes you just want a music/audio device around and really Apple just needed to update the Classic to include Bluetooth streaming and Wifi Sync from the iTunes Store, my computer or another iOS device for podcasts or iTunes Match. That I still hold true. But, going back to the idea of carrying multiple devices, it would be really nice to just have the All-in-One.
If they ever decide to bring back large-capacity Music/Audio Device, I will definitely buy one. But for now I'm going to try the 128GB iPhone 6 and see how well that fares.
http://www.fiio.net/en/products/2
TC is full of shit. Parts could be available if Apple really wanted them. The iPod touch is a piece of crap (I own one and still prefer the classic).
Make a "classic" with 128GB of flash and a click wheel. Done.
Even better, IMO, would be using the form factor of the 5th gen Nano (the last click wheel one) with a 128GB or larger flash drive inside that.
I have a Fiio X5 music player as the iPod classic no longer fits my music collection. The Fiio X5 will take two 128GB SD cards with promises to support 256GB and 512GB card when available. It has the same scroll wheel as the original iPod and the OS is not as good but the music playback is first class and it can connect to your computer as an off board DAC.
http://www.fiio.net/en/products/2
I store all my music in Apple lossless and it plays flawlessly. I have also been buying digital downloads from HDTracks.
http://www.hdtracks.com
The music is quickly downloaded and as good as CD at a minimum. I do not buy lossy music. I do wish the iTunes store would sell ALAC tracks, that is their loss.
Mr Cook: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Description=1.8" SSD&Submit=ENE