Is This True?

[REDSHIFT1]

In the last two weeks I have made a few posts about some missing content on ITunes that turned out really to have nothing to do with Apple. Then a week ago my classic 160g got soaked and is now a paperweight. I did have a replacement place but only for a year. So I made a few rounds with some independent repair shops and with Apple itself (who did dell me I could bring it in and they could order a new one for $160 but without a warranty!) and just finally learned there was no fixing it...no big deal. I should have been paying attention to where I put it overnight..leaving it the coffee table in front of a bunch of kids playing the 360 was a bad idea.

During the repair rounds, I got told by the Apple guy just sort of off-handedly that the first iPod was a 250g! Later on I mentioned this to the pianist at the church and she said one of her teacher friends had one. She thought he bought it in 2001. It only did music...nothing else. Is this true? If so, why have I never actually seen one for sale anywhere?

 

[cjmnews]

Per the Apple iPod Model page Identifying iPod models

The biggest one ever made was 160 GB (iPod Classic)

There are pages out there telling you how to upgrade to larger capacities: Upgrade your iPod to 240GB | Apple | Geek.com

 

[Code Monkey]

She thought he bought it in 2001. It only did music...nothing else. Is this true? If so, why have I never actually seen one for sale anywhere?

The biggest reason, beyond the fact you're talking something that came out well over a decade ago and was only engineered to last a few years, is there were never that many to begin with. The first gen was Mac only, firewire only, and held a whole 5GB or 10GB, and like all clickwheel ipods before the fifth gen, was indeed audio only. I don't even think total sales of the first gen broke 1 million in all. The iPod didn't really become a success until the fourth gen when it was fully USB and Windows compatible.

As an aside, the interesting illustration about how bad Apple's short term memory is, is that those record iPod sales back in the mid 2000s that saved Apple from managed bankruptcy were actually lower than current iPod sales, a volume of sales Apple can barely bring themselves to mention in their keynotes and quarterly reports. Admittedly, they are dwarfed by iPhone and iPad sales AND Apple obfuscates the health/non-health of "iPods" by failing to break out touch vs non-iOS devices in their reported sales numbers, but it's still telling.

 

[kornchild2002]

Right. Apple released music-only iPods starting in 2000 all the way through 2004. They introduced the 5G iPod in 2005 that played music and videos. The battery life was terrible when watching videos but it was still the first video capable iPod.

That being said, Apple has never released a 240GB iPod. Someone may have modified an iPod from 2001 and put a 240GB hard drive in it but I highly doubt that. The reason I say that is the older iPods used an older internal connector for the hard drive. Newer, 240GB mobile hard drives use newer connectors that wouldn't work with the older iPods. The only ones that can be upgraded to 240GB are the 5G iPod and above. I think the older 4G iPods could handle 160GB aftermarket upgrades.

Either way, a 240GB iPod is an aftermarket modification. You can buy them on eBay for around $400 or you can do the modifications yourself for about half that (if you already have an applicable iPod model).