5 ms·

Urban Outfitters is selling 'vintage retro' iPods

23 points by rmason 3y ago

mrandish 3y ago
Cool... but not as cool as my vintage retro Zune!
- hyggetrold 3y ago
  You took me back: https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/01/03/your-heart-is-my-sky https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/01/03/your-heart-is-...
- flashback2199 3y ago
  Mmm, no.
- apricot13 3y ago
  In my mind the zune only came out a few years ago and I'm ready to buy mine but I just haven't gotten around to it. I have a 'to find' list which is currently a brown zune, a very specific Mickey mouse shaped MP3 player sold in disney, a purple hong Kong edition Gameboy advance and a type of tamagotchi called a nekotcha in green which I actually recently found by accident on a Japanese gaming store!
LeoPanthera 3y ago
Refurbished with new batteries. No matter what you think about "trends" - this is better than them ending up in landfill.
- JohnFen 3y ago
  Oh, it's an unambiguous good. It's just really weird to call them "vintage".
  - fragmede 3y ago
    It's not, we just got old.
    - JohnFen 3y ago
      True enough. I wasn't really saying the characterization is wrong. It's just weird to me to see things like this characterized as "vintage", even if it's just because I've aged.
knodi123 3y ago
Well, it IS 20 years old.... A walkman would have been retro in 2001, and it would have been the same age as the ipod is now....
- epcoa 3y ago
  No it wouldn’t have. They sold walkmans new in the US until 2004 and Japan 2010. Cassettes were not retro tech in the early 2000s, especially among the poor. And for recording, cassettes and microcasettes were still common then, digital voice recorders were just starting to supplant them. Walkmans and discmans had longer lives.
SuperNinKenDo 3y ago
This seems great. I Was thinking about pulling mine out and seeing if I could get the battery refurbished. The experience of syncing these with iTunes was fantastic for podcasts. Unfortunately I remembered that iTunes syncing doesn't work when it's running on Wine, and given how old the product is, I doubt it ever will now. So, that's a shame. Maybe ReactOS one day.
- skykooler 3y ago
  I wonder if Floola still works? It was great for managing iPods on Linux back in the day.
- windowsrookie 3y ago
  Apple is still updating iTunes for Windows. You could certainly run it in a VM if you wanted to. iPod batteries are readily available on ebay and AliExpress. You can also replace the Hard drive with MicroSD cards using this adapter. https://www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-quad/ https://www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-quad/
  - nullwarp 3y ago
    Have you actually tried to run iTunes on windows? It's like a nightmare that never stops.
    - jwells89 3y ago
      I see people saying this a lot but in my limited experience, while iTunes for Windows is less than great it’s never been that much trouble.
    - windowsrookie 3y ago
      Yes I am running iTunes on Windows and it works just fine. What issues do you have?
- iszomer 3y ago
  Have you tried Rockbox? - rockbox.org
MDWolinski 3y ago
I didn’t think the current OSs supported these to enable song loading.
- windowsrookie 3y ago
  Apple is still updating iTunes for Windows. And iPod syncing is built into Finder now on MacOS. https://badcoffee.club/using-an-ipod-classic-in-2023/ https://badcoffee.club/using-an-ipod-classic-in-2023/
masswerk 3y ago
I found this rather ironic: > Market research shows younger generations are pivoting to analog devices, like wired headphones and CDs. (Well, an iPod is as analog as a CD and it does feature wired headphones, as well. So all marks checked?)
morninglight 3y ago
Several years ago, new KitKat phones were being dumped at the nearby dollar store for $9 each. I bought 3 - One for me and 2 for the kids. We have never used them as phones, but they are great as mp3 players. I run with mine about an hour each day. Since it's in airplane mode, the original battery is like new.
SomeRndName11 3y ago
Still using my Sansa. Love the Cobblestoned Walts.
glimshe 3y ago
Well, finally people are going back to wired headphones. And I believe most will remain there, because they are better.
windows2020 3y ago
Devices like this, before they became all screen, remind me of grand old buildings, before they became glass boxes.
nunez 3y ago
Honestly, I miss having a dedicated music player some days. They were so simple. They had one job, and most of them did it very well. I love the streaming era and Apple Music, so no way I'm going back to that, but the thought comes up sometimes.
AdmiralAsshat 3y ago
Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38043173 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38043173

23 points by rmason 3y ago

mrandish 3y ago

Cool... but not as cool as my vintage retro Zune!

hyggetrold 3y ago
You took me back: https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/01/03/your-heart-is-my-sky https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/01/03/your-heart-is-...
flashback2199 3y ago
Mmm, no.
apricot13 3y ago
In my mind the zune only came out a few years ago and I'm ready to buy mine but I just haven't gotten around to it. I have a 'to find' list which is currently a brown zune, a very specific Mickey mouse shaped MP3 player sold in disney, a purple hong Kong edition Gameboy advance and a type of tamagotchi called a nekotcha in green which I actually recently found by accident on a Japanese gaming store!

LeoPanthera 3y ago

Refurbished with new batteries. No matter what you think about "trends" - this is better than them ending up in landfill.

JohnFen 3y ago
Oh, it's an unambiguous good. It's just really weird to call them "vintage".
- fragmede 3y ago
  It's not, we just got old.
  - JohnFen 3y ago
    True enough. I wasn't really saying the characterization is wrong. It's just weird to me to see things like this characterized as "vintage", even if it's just because I've aged.

knodi123 3y ago

Well, it IS 20 years old.... A walkman would have been retro in 2001, and it would have been the same age as the ipod is now....

epcoa 3y ago
No it wouldn’t have. They sold walkmans new in the US until 2004 and Japan 2010. Cassettes were not retro tech in the early 2000s, especially among the poor. And for recording, cassettes and microcasettes were still common then, digital voice recorders were just starting to supplant them. Walkmans and discmans had longer lives.

SuperNinKenDo 3y ago

This seems great. I Was thinking about pulling mine out and seeing if I could get the battery refurbished. The experience of syncing these with iTunes was fantastic for podcasts. Unfortunately I remembered that iTunes syncing doesn't work when it's running on Wine, and given how old the product is, I doubt it ever will now. So, that's a shame. Maybe ReactOS one day.

skykooler 3y ago
I wonder if Floola still works? It was great for managing iPods on Linux back in the day.
windowsrookie 3y ago
Apple is still updating iTunes for Windows. You could certainly run it in a VM if you wanted to. iPod batteries are readily available on ebay and AliExpress. You can also replace the Hard drive with MicroSD cards using this adapter. https://www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-quad/ https://www.iflash.xyz/store/iflash-quad/
- nullwarp 3y ago
  Have you actually tried to run iTunes on windows? It's like a nightmare that never stops.
  - jwells89 3y ago
    I see people saying this a lot but in my limited experience, while iTunes for Windows is less than great it’s never been that much trouble.
  - windowsrookie 3y ago
    Yes I am running iTunes on Windows and it works just fine. What issues do you have?
iszomer 3y ago
Have you tried Rockbox? - rockbox.org

MDWolinski 3y ago

I didn’t think the current OSs supported these to enable song loading.

windowsrookie 3y ago
Apple is still updating iTunes for Windows. And iPod syncing is built into Finder now on MacOS. https://badcoffee.club/using-an-ipod-classic-in-2023/ https://badcoffee.club/using-an-ipod-classic-in-2023/

masswerk 3y ago

I found this rather ironic: > Market research shows younger generations are pivoting to analog devices, like wired headphones and CDs. (Well, an iPod is as analog as a CD and it does feature wired headphones, as well. So all marks checked?)

morninglight 3y ago

Several years ago, new KitKat phones were being dumped at the nearby dollar store for $9 each. I bought 3 - One for me and 2 for the kids. We have never used them as phones, but they are great as mp3 players. I run with mine about an hour each day. Since it's in airplane mode, the original battery is like new.

SomeRndName11 3y ago

Still using my Sansa. Love the Cobblestoned Walts.

glimshe 3y ago

Well, finally people are going back to wired headphones. And I believe most will remain there, because they are better.

windows2020 3y ago

Devices like this, before they became all screen, remind me of grand old buildings, before they became glass boxes.

nunez 3y ago

Honestly, I miss having a dedicated music player some days. They were so simple. They had one job, and most of them did it very well. I love the streaming era and Apple Music, so no way I'm going back to that, but the thought comes up sometimes.

AdmiralAsshat 3y ago

Previous discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38043173 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=38043173