Many lamented the demise of the iPod Classic, but it seems some people are willing to fork over tons of cash to get their hands on an old model.
On eBay, a rare version of the iPod classic has sold for $90,000, according to the site. Another iPod on eBay had a list price of $180,000, though that seller seems to be having trouble finding a buyer. Meanwhile, a sealed first-generation iPod has sold for $20,000.
It’s possible some of the exorbitant sales are fake, but there are a number of iPods listed on the site for four-figure prices.
The $90,000 iPod — the highest seller — is a factory-sealed UK model of the special edition U2 iPod, originally sold in 2004. The engraved autographs of U2’s four members are on the fourth-generation iPod’s back side. (This might seem a bit ironic to some, considering that many Apple users recently wanted to get this fall’s new U2 album off their iOS devices.) “New” U2 iPods are going for about $4,000 on Amazon.
The U2 iPod comes with 20GB of space and is rated for 12 hours of battery life (a battery that hasn’t been used in a decade, however, will likely have serious performance issues, if it works at all).
The iPod classic was discontinued in September, and Apple CEO Tim Cook said in October that the decision was made because the company “couldn’t get the parts anymore, not anywhere on Earth.”
“The engineering work was massive, and the number of people who wanted it very small,” Cook said at the WSJ.D Conference. “I felt there were reasonable alternatives.”
Well, the “very small” number of people aching for an iPod classic are really aching for it. Non-U2 iPod classics are still selling for a healthy $500 or so on Amazon.
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