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The iPod’s slow shuffle back to relevance
For Gen Z, the discontinued device represents a back-to-nature state of innocence.
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For Gen Z, the iPod represents a back-to-nature state of innocence, much as flutes and acoustic guitars did for their grandparents in the 1970s, says the writer.
PHOTO: ORNELL WATSON/NYTIMES
Ludovic Hunter-Tilney
Like the control dial on an iPod Classic, making satisfyingly clicky sounds as you scroll songs, what goes around comes around. Apple’s pioneering series of MP3 players, launched in 2001 and shuttered in 2022, is making a comeback
Searches for versions of the iPod Classic on eBay rose by a quarter during the first 10 months of 2025, while those for its diminutive younger sibling, the iPod Nano, were up by a fifth.
