Sharjah24 – AFP: Apple on Tuesday put out word it is no longer making iPods, the trend-setting MP3 players that transformed how people get music and gave rise to the iPhone.
Late Apple co-founder Steve Jobs introduced the devices nearly 21 years ago with his legendary showmanship flare, and the small, easy to operate players helped the company revolutionize how music was sold.
It packed "a mind-blowing 1,000 songs" the company said at the time, and together with Apple's iTunes shop established a new distribution model for the music industry.
Buying complete albums on vinyl gave way to paying 99 cents a piece for selected digital songs.
Industry trackers and California-based Apple itself have long acknowledged that the do-it-all iPhone would eat away at sales of one-trick devices such as iPod MP3 players.
The trend toward streaming music services, including one by Apple, has made devices designed just for carrying digital tunes around less enticing for consumers.
Apple said in a blog post that the current generation of iPods will only be available as long as current supplies last.
"Today, the experience of taking one’s music library out into the world has been integrated across Apple’s product line - from iPhone and Apple Watch to iPad and Mac."
In addition, the Apple Music subscription service provides streaming access to more than 90 million songs, the Silicon Valley giant said.
The iPod endured despite analyst worries that the release of the iPhone in 2007 would destroy demand, since the smartphones provided much more than just digital music.
News of the end of the line for iPod prompted a flurry of sad, nostalgic posts on Twitter.
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