@andreasgoebel Or what’s the least-expensive Apple device I could get solely for using my iShuffle and iTunes. . . .

"What the hell do you need more than 1TB for, you bastard"

The foam covered it in the photos, of course, but normally, the SD card reader sits like this: (there used to be a hard disk there )

Just to be safe, I put it in the thicker chassis for now. The connector was a bit tricky, so I had to place some foam underneath. I also got an extra flex cable (the molds are slightly different) and a connector socket—let's see how that works out. Maybe this new flex will also fix the left-right balance issue specific to the flex itself.

Aftermarket iPod batteries cost around 1000₺ if you could even import them (you can’t due to import restrictions). Custom 3000mAh batteries go for over 2000₺ (including taxes), while the battery I’m using costs just 55₺ today on marketplace sites.

Since these batteries weren’t selling due to lack of demand, distributors and resellers are offloading them cheaply. And because the connector is a flex + socket type, not many people repurpose them, making them even cheaper.

Thanks to the SD card mod, the device will now consume less power, but I figured I might as well upgrade the battery beyond the standard capacity while I’m at it.

Normal iPod batteries are around 650-850mAh. Standard LiPo batteries have the same voltage, just connected via a flex cable to the motherboard.

There’s a balance issue with the headphone jacks on the replacement ipod flex cables (probably due to capacitors on the flex). The left side is about 12% louder (yes, I tested it with stereo test music and IEMs in short bursts). Some reviews mention the same problem.

Can your #ipod play #doom ?

So now I'm torn between using my old Zune HD or the iPod Nano 2nd Gen I picked up last year as my EDC retro player. The Zune is the superior device in every way except actually getting music onto it now that I've completely migrated away from Windows. Is it worth maintaining a Windows 7 VM and manually converting anything I want to transfer from ALAC to MP3? ...Maybe it is?

@markgurman #Deepseek proved we are just at the very early stages of AI. When it brought all the major AI tech stocks down, #Apple was the only one not affected. When MP3 players were the rage, Apple was missing in action for years until the #iPod, the industry was 4 years ahead on Apple. The same goes for smart phones. And again, the last I checked, every techie seems to be running LLMs on #MacBook Pros.

And speaking of the #iPod Nano, this is really fun to rewatch. He refers to "the iTunes phone" here, too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GRv-kv5XEg

I haven't updated here for a while about my #ipod modding journey.

I tried to stick with Stock OS, but it was too much of a hassle to convert all my music to ALAC, so I tried to tinker with #rockbox firmware.

It's now docked and blasting out music from Ulysses 31, which is exactly why I wanted an iPod - to help me reconnect with my old library! #ipod #80sCartoons