— Posted inSoftware — 2 min read

iPod Shuffle First Generation Anecdote

– [Mactracker URL](mactracker://34706F89-A4D3-4E29-AFAF-A15C764DD18A)
– [Everymac](https://everymac.com/systems/apple/ipod/specs/ipod_shuffle.html)
– [MacStories Discord](https://discord.com/channels/836622115435184162/837345643567251506/974757027249270825)
– [SimpleNote](http://simp.ly/publish/g5zTQ0)

![iPod Shuffle and Kale](https://i.snap.as/MlLcxhgv.png)

Order Number: `M9724LL/A` (512 MB)

—

*Sorry I’m so late with this but I forgot I had something to contribute lol.*

My first and only dedicated mp3 player was [**a first-generation iPod Shuffle**](https://everymac.com/systems/apple/ipod/specs/ipod_shuffle.html) – which was not only the most elegant looking USB drive one could find at the time, but – imo – remains the single highest-value mainstream consumer tech product I’ve ever owned. It was a 512mb stick with playback controls and a 3.5mm audio jack at one end. From what I remember, you could just freely store any combination of non-media files and media files in the root separated by a single directory. I was in 5th grade (11 years old) at the time (2005,) and public schools were just beginning to suggest students invest in a flash drive for carrying/storing digital school assignments.

I say highest value because got dang was that thing handy. Idk if I can communicate it, really, but it unified so many functions into one very high quality (and extremely tough) device. (I accidentally put it through the wash at least 3 separate times and it never actually stopped working.) It even came with a lanyard attachment!

Idk if there’s something wrong with me or what but I’m especially sentimental about this thing because I remember wholeheartedly believing and anticipating tech to progress along these lines – design priorities that especially made sense to me. Clever, lean permutations/amalgamations of once single-function products….

I took that photo during a tech podcast years ago – I was doing this same anecdote lol. I find it to be the best idea Apple, Incorporated ever had and yet looking at the everymac page now, I see it was discontinued less than 9 months after it came out. 😥

https://everymac.com/systems/apple/ipod/specs/ipod_shuffle.html

-[**MacStories Discord Message URL**](https://discord.com/channels/836622115435184162/837345643567251506/974757027249270825)

— Posted inSoftware — 1 min read

Colossus

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”