iPods are now considered ‘vintage’ tech—so of course, they’re sold out at Urban Outfitters

 

By Sarah Bregel

Vintage is hot these days, which means you can find items that went out of style decades ago at the most fashionable stores for the young and hip. First, records and record players, which you used to only be able to find at thrift shops, were popping up in trendy stores. Now, your useless old iPod is officially on trend.

If iPods being “vintage” makes you feel old, you’re not alone. But the 2001 invention is now considered “a genuine piece of vintage retro tech,” according to the product description at Urban Outfitters, where the refurbished devices were being sold recently—though they’re seemingly so popular, they’re currently sold out on the site. So, don’t be too floored if your tween or teen asks for one for the holidays this year.

The classic MP3 players were restored by Retrospekt, a workshop and product design studio. However, the iPods might function a little better than you remember: They have all-new batteries and 129 GBs of storage.

If you’re shocked that the iPod is making a comeback, prepare to have your brain “shuffled.” The Apple iPod Mini (first generation) was selling for $199, while the Apple iPod (the fifth generation) cost a whopping $349. Therefore, if you’ve been hanging on to an old iPod for all these years, you may have just saved yourself a couple hundred bucks.

It was just last year that Apple announced that the iPod would only be available “while supplies last,” meaning the company wouldn’t be making any more of the devices.

“Music has always been part of our core at Apple, and bringing it to hundreds of millions of users in the way iPod did impacted more than just the music industry—it also redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared,” Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide marketing, said in a statement at the time.

“Today, the spirit of iPod lives on,” he continued. “We’ve integrated an incredible music experience across all of our products, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to HomePod mini, and across Mac, iPad, and Apple TV. And Apple Music delivers industry-leading sound quality with support for spatial audio—there’s no better way to enjoy, discover, and experience music.”

 

But clearly, the world wasn’t ready to let the iPod go.

Fast Company

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