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The iPod of 2004

techblog.willshouse.com

47 pointsmarcusEting32 comments

Ah, the 3G iPod.

It marked the time I finally stopped using a bunch of perl scripts to manage my music and started using iTunes; my first MP3 player; my first Apple product since the mid 80s, and it quickly led to my first iBook, and so, so much more.

Only the iPod touch, another killer device, could get me to eventually give it up.

I still sync that old iPod with iTunes, still use it in my car for long trips; in a number of ways the click wheel is still the superior interface for an MP3 player. What an epic little machine.

Edit: Yes, I meant 4G iPod. If I'm going to wax poetic about a device I should at least get its name right.

Actually, it's the 4G monochrome (http://guides.macrumors.com/iPod_%284G_Monochrome%29) iPod.

The 3G (http://guides.macrumors.com/iPod_%283G%29) didn't have the clickwheel. I've still got a trusty 3G 40 GB in my car tethered to my stereo and tucked away in my console.

I still think the 3G had the most futuristic interface (other than a touchscreen) of any iPod. With its non-mechanical buttons in an all-white, translucent face, and the red backlighting that only triggered when you touched it, it's still a pretty amazing bit of design.

I loved this design. Easy to hold in your hand. Rounded, cute and cuddly. And, the wheel was such a clever interface choice. By comparison, today's iPod feels like a waify supermodel to me.

I still rely on my iPod Classic as my music player of choice, though I'd probably want an iPod Touch if I didn't have an iPhone (for the apps).

I agree: this is one phenomenal design.

I have a 5th generation iPod that I've had for ages - I still use it for audio and video (through an external device) even though I have an iPhone, an iPad and an Android phone.

I still rely on my iPod Classic as my music player of choice, though I'd probably want an iPod Touch if I didn't have an iPhone (for the apps).

Somewhat off topic, but I find it odd that I can't get a high capacity phone to also act as my MP3/media player. It would be nice to only have to carry one device with all my stuff, but since I have more than 32GB of media, that's impossible.

the wheel was such a clever interface choice

... first seen on the ill-fated Modo four years earlier.

http://www.ideo.com/work/modo/

...sorta

3 years later (2007) and we get the first iPhone, which still looks relatively OK to modern eyes.

I'm thinking older iPods will age about the same as 1970's mall designs, with the extravagant plastic and overblown wall art.

I'm not so sure, like a lot of other Ive designed products the early iPods aped classic Braun design quite a bit and have a sort of timeless look. Here's the Braun T3 pocket radio that I'm thinking of specifically:

http://read-this.typepad.com/.a/6a0128756abbdc970c0120a70a97...

If I recall right they are next to each other in MoMa.

I love Apple's design. It's absolutely beautiful. But when I look back, their designs tend to age with the same quality that you mentioned. I take a look at the Colourful iMacs, PowerBooks and iPods of the past and now they all have the same "dated" quality to them. I suppose it's like looking at the Jetsons or other future-predictions from the past, but this "phenomena" is very interesting

I think the computers at least appear dated now as they set trends of the time. The iMac in particular has seen PC clone manufacturers pumping out superficially similar designs with each revamp.

There's definitely something psychological about design that I don't understand. Cars are another example - new cars today somehow look new, and putting them beside an older model makes the older model look old as well.

I wonder if it's because we're exposed to these designs, and that's why they look old? (We're familiar with them, we know they're old, therefore they feel old). It'd be interesting to see two models of something that you're not very familiar with, and see if the same phenomenon occurs.

I think that especially the early iPods are quite timeless. I have an iPod mini and it still looks great.

The technology is quite outdated but (contrary to 70s malls) the aesthetics are not.

(Some Apple designs do age. The early plastic iMacs but not the eMac or the lampshade iMac or the Cube. I also think that the fat iPod nano and pretty much every other iPod nano won’t age well. I think that the early iMacs were never intended to be timeless. They were designed to be flashy, to show that Apple is still alive.)

Except the older ipods make great external storage devices. Or you can hack on them with custom firmware which can be fun.

I recently moved back to my big and fat 2nd gen ipod when my current one died and found that it surprise plays mp3's just as well as the new one, fits in my pocket and everyone love to play with it and remember/talk about their first ipod. It has become retro cool :D

The only thing that looks outdated to me is the Chicago typeface on the screen. It's the one thing that seems to tie it to a particular moment in time.

Makes you wonder how ridiculous handheld tech will be just 5 years from now.

Maybe it won't be handheld, even, but embedded :)

I think we're likely to have wearable computing before embedded ones. I won't complain about being wrong though!

The iPod touch is wearable computing, at least as defined by futurists predicting such things 15 years ago.

There will be something else, not handheld devices. Think about it, iPhone 4 is not that different from the original iPhone. Better specs, more features, more app, but not totally different.

Still an exciting world to live in though =).

I never thought about it at the time, but the 3rd gen iPod was one of the last vestiges of the Classic Mac OS interface.

It's the last device Apple shipped with Monaco as it's default system font.

If I remember correctly, the later iPods used Myriad and then Helvetica.

Actually, Chicago is the font on the original iPods: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_(typeface)

Ah, my mistake. I did know that. Honest.

Now I feel old, and I'm only 23.

Imagine how all the Atari 400 / Vic 20 owners are feeling about now. In most aspects of life, we are still ok aged, but oh how tech has changed.

// although it looks like the Thunderbolt connector will bring back new version of the Atari 850

It only gets worse.

For what it's worth, older iPods with Firewire have a particular value to motorcycle tourers. Firewire has a very wide voltage spec, so you can hardwire your iPod straight to the bike.

Does anyone know of a reason why the headphone jack moved from the center to the left side ?

EDIT: On second thought, the new iPods (iPhones) have the ear piece for the phone in the middle.

There are three possible reasons I can think of.

1) Probably the most likely, is related to the electronics. Stuff got shuffled around. This was probably more true in the mini and nano designs, where space was even more precious. Bigger iPods might have simply been made to match. 2) Having the headphone jack in the middle might have made it difficult to determine orientation when the iPod was in a holster. 3) Cynical, but the location of the jack also made it easy to tell at a glance if the iPod was the 5G video version or not, as a point of visual differentiation.

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