Why I Still Use An iPod

Using a dedicated music device like an iPod has it's perks.

My 2004 click-wheel iPod.

This is my trusty iPod with click wheel.

I’ve had it since I was in high school, around 2004. In the post-iTunes era, I stream from Apple Music from my phone while on the go and listen to vinyl records at home.

But I still use my iPod for long trips so I can carry all my favorite music without relying on my phone. I like using the iPod while travelling because it doesn’t connect to the internet and has a decent battery life. You never know when you need to conserve your phone’s battery or will be without internet access and unable to listen to music.

Some of my favorite musical memories were made with this iPod:

Listening to Green Day’s American Idiot while on high school trips.

Burning my friends CD collections onto my iPod.

Listening to Superunknown by Soundgarden on repeat while in the back of tour vans travelling through the Moroccan mountains in 2018.

Hearing King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard’s Polygondwanaland for the first time while on an overnight flight, being in and out of sleep only adding to the psychedelic album themes.

Recently I’d been thinking a lot about my old iPod when I saw Emily White post a survey for iPod users. It seems more people are moving back to the iPod and away from streaming, from algorithms and the constant distraction of social media. Emily included a few of my comments in her article which you can read below:

Why are iPods Making a Comeback?

When I first got the iPod I remember thinking I wouldn’t have to carry my CDs around anymore!

I never thought I’d stop buying physical music in favor of downloading music. But that’s exactly what happened.

I bought iTunes music for years before I moved to streaming, first with Spotify then Apple Music. Now, having instantaneous access to almost any album on my iPhone seems like the ultimate conclusion of the relationship to music I began with the iPod nearly 20 years ago.

I’ve always favored listening to albums over individual songs and never relied on shuffle or curated playlists but I understand why music lovers are moving back to iPods. It’s the same reason why vinyl sales are rising each year: the music quality and listening experience is better without streaming, without an algorithm.

What’s next after streaming?

When we look back at the history of the iPod and iTunes, we see the playbook for how Apple dominated the music device industry, spent far more on advertising than record labels, and created a music ecosystem that ‘benefited Apple more than the record business’.

In his article How Music Created Silicon Valley Ted Goia writes about how tech companies routinely use music to amass fortunes while simultaneously devaluing the entire music industry.

Recently several bands left Spotify to protest CEO Daniel Ek’s investment in an autonomous weapons company.

AI bands are emerging making it harder for real bands to cut through the noise.

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Streaming doesn’t support the musicians. And music lovers want a better listening experience without algorithms. So we’ve turned back to music devices we can control and upload our own music libraries.

The promise of that early iPod era was that it offered a new way for fans to get the music they loved and for musicians to reach their fans directly.

Perhaps the next few years will be a slight return to the analog days of sharing homemade tapes but online, with fans and bands interacting directly without the need for a big tech company standing between them.

I love music so I’ll listen however I can while supporting my favorite bands and artists. In addition to streaming, I also buy albums on Bandcamp to add to my iPod and iPhone, I purchase vinyl from band’s websites, and of course, seeing plenty of live music.

And I’ll continue to use my trusty iPod because what’s better than having all your favorite music in your pocket?

“The songs and albums I can’t live without should fit on this iPod.”

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Until next time,

Keith.