Now Using Found My Old iPod Classic, It Still Works

[Cobalt Pilgrim]

Dug out my old iPod Classic this week. It still works. There is something about that click wheel firing up and going straight to a library of music I actually own that no streaming dashboard has ever matched. No algorithm suggesting what I might like. No subscription that can be cancelled and take the whole library with it overnight. Just my music, the stuff I paid for, sitting there waiting.

Picked up an iPod speaker dock at the car boot sale for £2. The batteries had leaked, which is a classic problem with devices that have been sitting in a box or drawer for years, the alkaline cells corrode and leave that white crusty residue around the terminals. A bit of white vinegar on a cotton bud cleaned it up, neutralised the residue and after a few minutes drying time the speaker fired up perfectly. Two quid and about ten minutes of patient cleaning.

Now considering a proper mod to give the iPod itself a new life. The main vulnerability on the Classic is the original hard drive, which is mechanical and increasingly prone to failure after twenty years. The standard upgrade is to replace it with a flash storage adapter, either a SD card or an iFlash board, which removes the moving parts entirely and can massively expand the storage capacity. A new battery while the case is open is straightforward and brings the runtime back to something close to the original spec. The whole job costs between £20 and £50 depending on parts and takes about an hour with the right spudgers.

There is a version of this story that is just nostalgia. But there is also something more specific going on. Spotify's catalogue has changed dramatically over the years. Artists have pulled their music. Labels have let licensing lapse. Things I paid for on iTunes in 2006 are still in my library, still play fine, still mine. That permanence is worth something.