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Comment by wwweston | Hacker News Reader

Here's a question: will the iPod have a retro comeback moment, as electro-mechanical media like vinyl records and even cassettes have had?

Or maybe once you cross into the digital divide, does the experience and associated nostalgia perhaps not work the same way?

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Man, the iPod had a great interface for quickly browsing a hierarchy of organized music. I know that people hate organizing music into hierarchies. I know that search is faster than browsing (usually). I know that curation is hard generally.

But... I listed to a wider variety of music when I could start at an entry point and browse my way in, possibly tripping on a long un-listened album along the way. Now with most search driven music subscription apps, I feel like

1. Browsing functionality is crap. I typically can't go in looking for a genre and find anything I want to listen to.

2. The search feature is a brick wall of need-to-know-what-you-want-to-listen-to.

Also, having the TV on (routed digitally to a DAC / Amp) to listen to music sucks. Most of the streaming apps for TV scream for attention visually, when I want to—surprise—listen to music.

So yeah, a small interface that I can reliably browse music from like an iPod attached to my sound system but could also be taken with me sounds lovely.

Likely not. I have an old silver shuffle (the tiny USB pen size). Didn't use it much, tried to fire it back up and the battery is toast on it.

Most electronics will have toasted batteries over time. Devices without easily replaceable batteries will have a harder re-surgence, even if they deserve one.

It's almost certain. I've fired mine up again for the first time in years because I want digital music in my bedroom, but don't want a phone in there any longer -- and the nostalgia is just as strong as it was when I got a new turntable.

> Here's a question: will the iPod have a retro comeback moment, as electro-mechanical media like vinyl records and even cassettes have had?

The iPod is a brand and not a product category. The analog, would be standalone digital portable media players having a retro-comeback, not then iPod itself having one.

> Or maybe once you cross into the digital divide, does the experience and associated nostalgia perhaps not work the same way?

Quite possible; is there any aspect of the experience with iPods or other standalone players that is lost using multifunction digital media devices like smartphones?

Battery life. That is, many hours of play time, and very little battery consumption when not playing. Great for multiple days of camping with no power.

Very light-weight and small. People going for a run would strap it to an arm or other convenient location.

iPods, however, were much more prevalent than other digital, portable media players. iPod Classic likely will have a comeback, as people are talking about it right now. There's was a lot of chatter when the movie Baby Driver was released, as the main character uses one, and the director talked a lot about his. Google "ipod classic nostalgia" or "ipod baby driver" to see a lot of articles.

> Quite possible; is there any aspect of the experience with iPods or other standalone players that is lost using multifunction digital media devices like smartphones?

Battery life. Having a device with a known, dedicated use (as a psychological difference, rather than a strictly practical one). Handling the most common operations by touch, rather than actually pulling it out to use a clumsy touchscreen.

Physical buttons. With my dedicated media device I can control it with the buttons and leave it in my pocket. When I play music on my phone I have to take it out and look at it to make sure I tap the right part of the screen.

Also a lower replacement price. Someone might want to steal my expensive smart phone, or it might break and make me sad. If I had a $20 dedicated media player, then there's nothing to worry about.

You can tap those physical buttons and the thought will never cross your mind to check the weather, and ooh since we're at it, how's things on facebook? Email? Oh boy! 10 minutes down the toilet because I wanted to change the song playing!

Digital music is digital whether it's being streamed from physical hard disk or memory. It's not comparable to vinyl, which has a distinct sound and interface compared to other methods of listening.

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