Time to Change Up the iPod

It’s about time to change up the venerable iPod. Sure, it transformed Apple and led the company into new business lines, but the device itself is becoming an anachronism right before our very eyes. The basics of the iPod has pretty much been subsumed by other Apple iDevices. As a music player, the iPod still gets the job done, but nowadays, it’s about multifunction and flexibility. Listen to music, play games, AND be online – you get the picture.

So why not revamp the iPod line? Keep the iconic name but repurpose its ambiguous name. How about a multipurpose home device? One that acts like a WiFi basestation or extender. Supports Time Machine backups over the air? For certain models, why not? Include speakers? That could be possible to act as an AirPlay end point.

Charging station… now this has some promise. How many Apple chargers and cables do you have. Enough right? I have a basket of assorted cables and chargers to rummage through. How about the “new” iPod acting as the central charger that has USB cables to connecting your Lightning or 30-pin connector cable? Wireless charging anyone? Perchance the iWatch? You want yet another charging station for the iWatch or an integration of all the charging systems?

And of course, while charging your iPhone with the new iPod, the iPhone is backing itself up to the internal iPod storage then to iCloud (over time). How about caching new app updates to the iPod storage? Instead of reaching out to the Internet for updates, your iDevices just need to connect to your high speed, household Wifi to pull in the recent updates.

Yup, the iPod can ride again.