The original iPod Touch may be the greatest form factor for a device
Why did we have to change a good thing?
I was recently cleaning out some old pieces of tech from my garage. There was a bag that contained an Xbox One that I hadn't turned on since the early days of the pandemic. Maybe there is a story about that for another day.
But as I was getting ready to sell the Xbox, I noticed something else in that bag. It was an original 8GB iPod Touch.
You probably know that I've always been more of an Android guy rather than an iPhone guy. But the OG iPod Touch was a different beast.
Let's think back to the time when this device was released. The glory days. It was before the iPhone changed the world. At the time, it was the best mobile internet experience available. I remember purchasing the device secondhand on Craigslist in late 2008 or early 2009 I believe.
What other devices was I using at the time? I recall fondly tinkering with an old Palm Treo smart phone. I guess you could call it a smart phone but the mobile internet experience wasn't really possible. This iPod Touch was the perfect way for me to keep my Treo for many of the excellent things it could do well (look at that physical keyboard!). But then I'd have a dedicated handheld internet device too.
As I look at it now, the size is what feels the most antiquated. No one is making touch screen devices this small anymore. You can't get a smart phone of any type in this form factor. And while the device is small by today's standards, it's still eerily thin. Maybe that's because it wasn't filled with a very large battery or any of the mobile phone radios needed to place calls. It's just a screen with a wifi radio and minimal memory. 8GB of storage is all it has and that was plenty for me at the time.
The truth is, I didn't really use the iPod Touch a whole lot. It was a novelty device. It was fun to play with for a bit. Soon after buying it, the Motorola Droid came out and started my interest in the Android ecosystem and the Touch ended up in a drawer and then moved to several homes without getting turned on again.
To be honest, I wasn't sure that it still worked when I plugged it in the other day. It took me a minute to find the old school wide skinny cable needed to plug it in. I'm embarrassed to say that I don't even remember the name for that connector type (I looked it up, 30-pin!). Pre-micro USB or Lightning cable. A proprietary Apple thing.
But the iPod Touch booted up quickly and still works flawlessly. At least the apps that still exist. Turning it on is like looking into a time machine back to July 15, 2008, at least that's what day the calendar app thinks it is. And no, I didn’t take this pictures at 4 am either.
It's clear that I wasn't really using it as my daily driver. The music app has a single audio book (The $100 Start-Up by Chris Guillebeau who ended up teaching several successful classes at CreativeLive while I worked there, kismet? foreshadowing? manifesting?).
The software actually is really responsive with minimal lag and most of the apps still open and function to the best of their ability. But as the headline indicates, the hardware is really the story with this thing. The touchscreen is awesome. The tactical home button is a joy to press. And the only other button is the power button on the top left. It's super clean with a solid heft for such a small device. The metal backing is fantastic like all the original iPods. The black corner on the top left also is both functional and aesthetically pleasing. I believe that's to allow the wifi radio to connect through the metal backing. Sure, there are plenty of scratches on the back but the aluminum wears them well.
The only imperfection I can notice is the glass of the screen itself. It appears to be raised ever so slightly from the metal casing. Likely a result of a few drops. You can notice a few faint lines on the screen, but there are no major cracks and everything is clearly visible.
What is the point of this trip down memory lane? It's mostly a nostalgia thing I suppose. The carefree days where our devices easily fit in any pocket. When we didn't need a huge screen to feel immersed in whatever it is we were looking at.
While we know that screen sizes like this aren't in high demand anymore, how amazing would it be if you could custom order a phone to your exact specifications? I would pay a premium to get a device that easily fit in one hand with a scratch proof front and a drop resistant back.
The first generation iPod Touch may just be the most elegant device ever created, and I don't even consider myself to be an Apple Fanboy.
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