Apple Is Finally Killing the iPod Classic

Once, it was the iconic model of the future: a sleek white design, a futuristic click wheel, and a once-inconceivable storage capacity. Now it’s going the way of the Walkman.

That’s the Apple news that won’t be announced with all the pomp and circumstance of yesterday's iPhone 6 reveal: 13 years after releasing its first model, Apple is finally killing the iPod Classic—without so much as giving it a proper obituary. As the tech blog Engadget noticed, “The company just reopened its online store after announcing two new iPhones and a smartwatch, and the iPod classic is conspicuously absent from the iPod section.”

Those nostalgic for the days when you could listen to music on an Apple device that wasn’t also the same device you used for texting and sexting and Snapchatting and tweeting can still purchase an iPod Touch or Nano or Shuffle, of course. But you’ll have to turn to eBay for a Classic, which could store an impressive maximum of 160GB

For nostalgia’s sake, here’s what the device looked like when it first debuted in 2001:

Just for kicks, recharged & reloaded my 2001 iPod (w/the scroll wheel that moves.) Still works great... pic.twitter.com/WX4aaACwDa

— Scott Kirsner (@ScottKirsner) January 17, 2014

Curiously, U2 has been prominently involved with both the early years and now the death of the iPod. In 2004, as the device was skyrocketing in popularity, the Irish rock band famously participated in an iPod commercial set to “Vertigo”. Yesterday, the iPod’s demise came as U2 performed and released its new album, Songs of Innocence.

RIP: 2001–2014.