Somewhat surprisingly, it continues to work, and using it reminds me of how far this little device has come in such a short time.

Damn

Well, that’s interesting. I just got an email from eBay saying they had taken the auction down. Here’s what they said:

The rights owner, Apple, Inc., notified eBay that this listing violates intellectual property rights. When eBay receives a report of this type of violation, we remove the listing to comply with the law.

I don’t know how selling an old iPod can violate their rights, but you can’t fight city hall (or eBay or Apple either, apparently).

For the curious, here’s the details

A rare opportunity to own a piece of Apple history – one of the first iPods ever made

How I came to own this

When the iPod was about to be introduced, the engineering team recruited a number of Apple employees for last minute testing of the new ultra-secret device. Each tester was given an iPod; I was one of them. After the official release, everyone had the chance to trade in their pre-release (aka PVT) iPod for a new ‘real’ one if they wanted. But I never got around to exchanging mine, so I still have it.

Most of these early units were turned in to Apple and recycled, so very few exist anymore. I don’t have any way to know precisely, but this is certainly one of the first hundred or so iPods ever built.

Details

• The iPod still works, and the battery holds a charge very well. But it is being sold as a collectible, not a usable iPod.
• Includes the pre-release 5GB iPod, FireWire cable, charger and earphones.
• The included original earphones are somewhat interesting too. The first batch of iPod earphones were bigger (approximately 18mm in diameter). But the testers and others early users complained that they were too large and uncomfortable. So all subsequent batches of the iPod’s earphones were somewhat smaller (about 16mm).
• It can be sync’d with current versions of iTunes.
• The back of the case is somewhat scuffed and the plastic is slightly discolored in places. See photos.

IMPORTANT NOTE:
There were hardware changes made before the actual release, which mean the firmware in this unit cannot be updated using the standard update mechanism built into iTunes. If the unit ever needs to be reset/restored, there’s a special utility, which I’ll include. If you were to update it with a current iPod updater, it would be damaged and probably not work any more.

But thanks to Chris Breen at Playlist, I at least got a little chuckle out of the sad situation.

The records companies argued that they should be able to charge more for the ‘hottest’ songs, with the old crap remaining at 99¢. While I’m not opposed to variable pricing, I’ve always felt that 99¢ is the upper limit. I think the older, less popular stuff should sell for less; sometimes considerably less. But that’s just me.

*See Hollywood Accounting.

It is such a cool idea and they’re only fifty bucks. Looks perfect for use on airplanes or while I’m mowing the lawn. I love that the Click-wheel is still totally accessible. I can hardly wait to try a pair.

I’ve noticed that Macally has really upgraded their industrial designs over the years, making nice products for very reasonable prices. In fact, I’m typing on one of their keyboards right now.

Get all the mTune details on their website.

Boy is it sweet! And thanks to an awesome free software tool called Handbrake, it’s a cinch to transcode stuff from DVD for playback on the iPod. This came in very handy for loading up all 26 episodes of the new Adventures of Superman, which came out on DVD a couple weeks ago. Talk about a baby-boomer, gadget-freak’s dream come true!

Handbrake is available here for Mac, BeOS and Linux.

I’ve lost count (literally) of how many iPods we’ve had. I know I’ve had at least six, my three sons have had at least seven between them, and my wife is on her first. Which makes somewhere around 15 total. One was stolen, one died a horrible death sitting in an inch of water in a car cup holder for several days, and another was accidently run over. A few were sold on eBay over the years to finance upgrades to the latest and greatest.

But enough is enough. I avoided going to the nearby Apple store for some weeks after the introduction of the Nano for fear that I would be ‘forced’ to buy one by the gadget monkey on my back. And when I finally had to go there to help a friend pick out a new Mac, I stayed strong and resisted the urge to add one to my collection. But my self-discipline was wasted, as that same friend gave me a shiney new Nano for my birthday just two days later.

With this new one, I’ve currently got four (shown above). I suppose I’ll sell the Shuffle, as I’m cheating on it with the sexy new Nano. The 20 GB 4-g model mostly lives in my car. And the original 5GB I keep for its ‘historical’ significance; it’s a pre-production model that I got when I worked on the beta team for the first iPod.

I have to admit that I still like the original scroll-wheel the best (the kind that actually turns). The newer click-wheel is a work of genius, but there’s still nothing like physical feedback.

Apple has a long history of making their earlier products look lame whenever they introduce something new; thereby compelling loonies like me to buy a new one. Guess I just have to get used to the idea of buying a new iPod every year.