The iPod classic; loved the world over by folks who have the overwhelming desire to keep their whole music collection in their pockets. But how long is it for this world? iMore community member sdreelin asked himself the same question, to the point where he ended up buying another while he still can:
"I love my iPod classic so much that despite having an 80GB model for years now, and it not being entirely full yet, I purchased a new 160GB version just last month. The reason? I have a feeling that since this is the last of Apple's 30 dock connector devices it's going to go away soon and there just is no other dedicated player on the market with all that storage. I realize that cloud streaming in the way to go nowadays (And I do that on my phone quite often), but there is no substitute for dedicated music player that can hold all your music at once and lasts for 40 hours on on charge. So I future proofed myself for some time."
He hit a pretty solid point there, too. Along with the iPhone 4 and 4S, the iPod classic is the last of the 30-pin devices, Even the iPod touch range has now been completely upgraded to Lightning. The much rumored 'budget' iPhone if a legitimate product could spell the end of the 4S – that's assuming the 4S would have been reduced to the role of 'budget' option as the 4 and 3GS both have been before it. This along with the expected retirement of the iPhone 4 would leave the classic as the last of the dying breed. If it even stayed alive at all.
Also, as much as those who love the classic, love it a lot and for very specific reasons, Apple is moving away from this 'old' way of doing things. With iTunes Match and iTunes in the cloud – even the forthcoming iTunes Radio – we're seeing where the future of Apple's music offerings lie – somewhere the classic can't join in. There's still a lot to be said for having an iPod that just plays music, and lots of it, but the chances of it receiving a Lightning upgrade like the rest of the range are pretty slim at best.
Hopefully we'll see other high capacity options in the future; 128GB iPod touch and iPhone models would be great. But to some, there will be no replacing the old 160GB iPod classic. If you're going to ever want one though, it's maybe not a horrible idea to think about picking one up sooner rather than later.
What do you think about the iPod classic? Think it'll stick around for another term, or be put out to pasture at the next batch of product refreshes?
