Apple Anger!

I have had my iPod Classic for about 17 years.  The original computer I used to synch it with iTunes is long dead.  I haven’t added any music to it in some time because I had synched it to too many computers (now all dead) over the years.  Recently, I had my first issue …

I need my music.  Music is SO important to me.  I listen to it at night while at work (often drowning out the conversations or non-stop babble of coworkers).  I listen to it when I take a walk.  I listen to it in my car (while connected with USB).  I have over 5000 songs on it, many of which I cannot find anywhere anymore.  I do NOT want to give it up.

Within the last few weeks, the one ear stopped working.  I thought it was just the headphones I was using, but upon trying other headphones, I discovered it was something in the iPod itself.  I contacted Apple Support tonight and was basically told that my iPod Classic (as well as an old Nano my son had) was “obsolete”.  I could try cleaning it with the bristles of a tooth brush or blow air into it to see if there was debris in it (which I did), but that didn’t work.  The only option she gave me was “try to go to an Apple store and they ‘may’ be able to fix it”.

The closest Apple store is an hour from me, and quite frankly, I don’t want to pay a ton of money just to have it looked at.  Besides, there are plenty of articles online about how when people had taken it in to be fixed, they were told it was beyond repair.  Right now if I connect it to my car USB, it plays in both speakers.  So, technically, it still works. I don’t want them to “break it further”!

I certainly don’t have the money to buy a new one, which is the iPod Touch (which, as you know, had a huge touch screen and is easily breakable even with a case, screen protector, and such).  Hell, the refurbished ones (with the space I have on my classic) is something like $200!  So, do I get one only to have it become “obsolete”, too?!

Apple – you disappoint me.  First, you made it so after a few computers, I couldn’t add music to my device.  Then, you update iTunes to the point where it won’t even connect to the device.  Then you basically don’t support your previous devices.  I cannot begin to voice my disappointment loud enough!  It angers me!  I know that I cannot be the only Apple customer who feels this way.  You didn’t even offer me a trade in toward a new device.  Sad.

I really don’t want a cheap MP3 player, but I guess that’s what I may end up doing.  I also will now need to make that list of songs on the iPod currently and begin to create a folder somewhere on my laptop or external drive to store them so that when I get another device I can put those songs on it.  I also will need to see about finding a way to get the ones that are unavailable for me to get, or things that I personally recorded for it, into some sort of file to transfer it over.

In the meantime, at least I can still listen to it in the car, and still use it on the dock while I DJ.  Hang in there old and obsolete friend….