Saturday, July 17, 2021
Archive
best ebay deal i've had in recent memory - a nine dollar "tested, not working, doesn't turn on" ipod 3rd gen
some ipod trivia: the 3rd gen ipod was the first to use the proprietary 30-pin connector. but unlike all other 30-pin ipods (and iphones), it doesn't work at all with usb-- it requires a 30-pin-to-FIREWIRE cable. firewire is pretty rare these days!
the 1st and 2nd gen ipods just used firewire directly, so this wasn't crazy at the time. usb was slow and the ipod was targeted mostly at mac users, who all had firewire... later ipods supported both usb and firewire via their 30-pin connectors.
firewire provides 12 volts, usb provides 5 volts. the 3rd gen ipod, despite having a 30-pin connector, will not charge or turn on from the 5 volts of usb. when i saw this listing, i took a gamble that the seller slapped it on a standard usb charger and saw no signs of life-- and i was right! it booted straight up with a firewire charger. it's also crammed full of music..! the most played track is Yoda by Weird Al, with 146 plays. the last thing it played was Track 04 (lol) by the Beastie Boys, on August 22, 2007. i wonder if the owner upgraded to an iphone.
this feels like it might have been mean. maybe i should have told the seller what i know. did i scam them by withholding this information? is it scamming someone to notice they don't know what they have?? they clearly loved their ipod, it's full of custom playlists and everything. at least it ended up with someone who's gonna treat it well. i'm gonna have to make a little shelf, for all the handheld electronics i'm collecting...
the 1st and 2nd gen ipods just used firewire directly, so this wasn't crazy at the time. usb was slow and the ipod was targeted mostly at mac users, who all had firewire... later ipods supported both usb and firewire via their 30-pin connectors.
firewire provides 12 volts, usb provides 5 volts. the 3rd gen ipod, despite having a 30-pin connector, will not charge or turn on from the 5 volts of usb. when i saw this listing, i took a gamble that the seller slapped it on a standard usb charger and saw no signs of life-- and i was right! it booted straight up with a firewire charger. it's also crammed full of music..! the most played track is Yoda by Weird Al, with 146 plays. the last thing it played was Track 04 (lol) by the Beastie Boys, on August 22, 2007. i wonder if the owner upgraded to an iphone.
this feels like it might have been mean. maybe i should have told the seller what i know. did i scam them by withholding this information? is it scamming someone to notice they don't know what they have?? they clearly loved their ipod, it's full of custom playlists and everything. at least it ended up with someone who's gonna treat it well. i'm gonna have to make a little shelf, for all the handheld electronics i'm collecting...