We haven’t had the smoothest relationship over the years, but I still wouldn’t want to be without it.

Stuck on “On” occasionally? Yep. Battery failure? Yeah. Issues with Apple claiming I can’t actually use what I’ve downloaded through iTunes? Oh yes.

But I still use my white 30 GB color LCD click wheel!

Something like this!

My attachment may be because it was my first iPod, but it’s more likely that once I figured it all out, it became a magical treasure chest of all of my favorite or at-the-moment songs that I could get into .mp3 format.

I was fully aware of the loss of quality in this format, yet I considered the balance to be far more in my favor because a lot of my music doesn’t get played on the radio. Which also meant I never had to depend on the radio again unless I wanted to.

Getting to hear what I want when I want it, without worrying about wearing out the tape, scratching the CD, damaging the vinyl, or waiting fruitlessly next to the radio, was amazing at the time and still is today.

Even though I have, actually, kept most of the original sources (I do not toss records; nope) because I still think the best sound is from a 45 rpm.

I’m really glad it still works. The most I ever had to do with it was replace the battery, as it had started to drain alarmingly fast. Now it barely budges. A new life for my old pod!

Later I also got this (and the cat), but that’s another matter entirely.

Now go read this post that inspired this trip down living nostalgia.

Excerpt: “The iPod Classic is now becoming what vinyl was a decade or two ago — not when vinyl became cool again, but during the CD era, when it seemed obsolete to everyone but collectors and music snobs. Which is to say that the iPod’s “vintage” resurgence is probably inevitable.”