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Apple's iPod Nano And Shuffle Are Officially Dead, And It Was Time For Them To Go

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Apple's iPod revolutionized both the music industry and how the world accessed the most beloved singles and albums of all time, but as with everything, it seems the era of the ‘Pod is coming to a close.

This week, Apple officially discontinued two of its more archaic iPod models, the Nano and Shuffle. That may be sad to some who loved these devices, but their demise actually seems to have taken longer than it should have. Those two models of iPod are the only ones without screens that at the very least show people what is playing or allow them to choose what they want to hear next, and in an age when even watches need to have screens to sell well, there doesn't seem to be room for anything not providing enough visual information to the user. 

When both the Nano and the Shuffle first launched, they were welcome additions to a growing product line, and they were perfectly aimed at the more casual listener who didn’t want to spend a large chunk of change on unnecessary features. They just wanted to own the new tech gadget everyone else did and play their few favorite tunes, and the Nano and the Shuffle satisfied many of these customers. This was a large group of people whose needs were being overlooked by many companies, as they weren't the type to spend more and more cash to update their tech or go for the coolest, shiniest new things, but Apple was smart enough to create an iPod for every type of music lover.

Apple was one of the first companies to ever sell something specifically designed for the casual listener, but now, many of those people have moved on to the free tiers offered by streaming platforms such as Spotify and Pandora. Two members of the iPod family leave the world this week as digital downloads, the very thing that created a market for these electronics in the first place, continue to lose favorability as well. The world is running towards streaming, and while all forms of actually purchasing music are hurting, none is feeling the pain more than the digital download sector.

Both the Nano and the Shuffle iPods have been removed from Apple’s website, and a click on the link that once went straight to page dedicated to all things Shuffle now redirects to a free trial of Apple Music. 

For those fretting that they didn’t get to grab one last item, don’t worry too much! It’s likely that these products will be available on a variety of websites for years to come, as wholesalers will be looking to unload their stocks and those who have decided to move on will work to sell theirs for a few dollars, if possible. Perhaps Nanos and the Shuffles will one day be deemed collectibles, as they are about to become much rarer, though don’t expect your device to explode in value in the coming decade, as its functionality is still limited, and better products are being released all the time for a reason. After all, cassette players went out of style, but they’re not the coolest thing on the auction sites, are they?