Apple PR has announced that the iPod touch will be for sale as long as supplies last:
Since its introduction over 20 years ago, iPod has captivated users all over the world who love the ability to take their music with them on the go. 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 — along with access to more than 90 million songs and over 30,000 playlists available via Apple Music.
Music has always been part of our core at Apple, and bringing it to hundreds of millions of users in the way iPod did impacted more than just the music industry — it also redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared,” said Greg Joswiak, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Today, the spirit of iPod lives on. We’ve integrated an incredible music experience across all of our products, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to HomePod mini, and across Mac, iPad, and Apple TV. And Apple Music delivers industry-leading sound quality with support for spatial audio — there’s no better way to enjoy, discover, and experience music.”
The iPod touch started life as “an iPhone without the phone,” then was reinvented as “the funnest iPod ever,” with Apple pitching it as the most popular portable gaming device on the planet. Over the years, however, Apple let it slip farther and farther behind the iPhone. Today’s news shouldn’t be a surprise, but it’s still sad to the iPod brand slip away.