Tong Family

Well, I’m finally having (no) time for old projects, but sometimes they beckon. In this case, I have a very early iPod with a Touchwheel. Actually, I have two. But the very most original one from the original HP partnership seems to have a crashed drive.

But the second with the original skin and songs from 2006 (?!) is still working. Wow, it definitely still sounds very good and although it doesn’t quite hold a charge, it is like a time machine.

The only thing I had forgotten is how to get it to restart. I accidentally plugged it into my MacBook and the connection of course hung. So to get it out of there with a Touchwheel reboot, you toggle the hold/on button at the top (a real button) and then hold the center and the menu button and it reboots. This is not the oldest iPod, that was the click wheel, but I never had one of those. This (hat tip to CNet) was the 4th generation and the screen was in color which was a real novelty back then in 2004. I won’t miss the headphones though, they were not that great.

Somehow this huge thing is such a cool moment. I even have the case for it.

Now the next project is an old iPhone 3G, let’s see if we can get that working. Circa 2008. I also have a HeadRoom preamp from that era.

It is strange to think that some so cool is now just nostalgia. 16 years is a long time!