Apple may have taken the first step to phasing out the iPod.
A sharp eye at Apple Insider noticed that earlier this week, Apple removed the iconic media player from the top menu on Apple s homepage. It s been replaced with Apple Music, the new streaming service unveiled Monday.
While iPods are still available on the Apple Store website, it s no great leap to infer that in Apple s streaming-music future, there is no place for the download-based iPod.
Sales of the iPod, which jump-started Apple s meteoric resurgence in the early 2000s, have been steadily declining for several years, as more consumers get their music from their iPhones — and soon, their watches. Last fall, Apple discontinued the iPod Classic (which I mourned with a heavy heart).
The iPod lineup has not had a significant upgrade since 2012, though reports surfaced in April that the iPod Touch may get a freshening-up in the fall, possibly adding more memory and improved streaming capability.
But in the past, Apple has shown no mercy to technologies it deems to be passé. It s easy to envision them doing the same to the no-longer-vital iPod.
At top: Apple s 4-inch iPod Touch. (Apple photo)
