An Ode to my iPod Nano

Ever since December, I’ve been trying to clean out my house and get a rid of a ton of stuff. And for the most part, I’ve been pretty successful! I’m not following Marie Kondo or anything, but I have been replacing things in my house that were placeholders with new pieces that, as corny as it sounds, genuinely give me joy.

One thing that I haven’t gotten rid of or replaced, though, is my clock radio, circa 2003.

Let’s be honest, I use my phone alarm (actually, my Fitbit – that vibration feature is awesome) to wake myself up in the morning. But a nightstand just doesn’t feel complete without a clock, right? And this one does the job just fine.

Another really old school device I haven’t yet trashed is sitting right on top of that clock radio: a second generation iPod Nano, which Wikipedia tells me was sold from 2006-2007. Shockingly, it still works, although the screen is fading a bit and I have no idea how to load new songs onto it. No matter – that just means I get to enjoy my favorite Napster-downloaded early 2000s songs like Ben Harper’s “Steal My Kisses” and Hoku’s “Perfect Day” and all the songs from the Dawson’s Creek soundtrack, which was basically how I discovered every artist I listened to then.

And recently, I discovered that my ten-year-old Nano is perfect for skiing. Sure, it doesn’t have bluetooth… but my ski helmet headphones are corded anyway, and it’s easy to snake the cord through my jacket. The Nano’s tactile controls mean I can easily control the volume and the song that’s playing without having to see the screen, making it easy for me to leave in my pocket and just run my finger along the dial through my snowpants. Its super slim form fits perfectly in the hip pocket of my snowpants – a lot more comfortably than my big bulky phone, which I now usually tuck deep in the breast pocket of my ski jacket both to keep it safe and keep it out of my way.

Unfortunately, in the course of writing this post, I just realized something very sad. In my haste to pack up and leave the mountain from my last ski trip, I think my Nano fell out in the parking lot! While it is bright pink and possibly someone spotted it (and I left a message with the resort lost and found to check), my guess is that it’s gone forever. RIP, Nano! 🙁

On the bright side: a quick eBay search reveals that these babies are going for $20 or less now. So if the resort didn’t find it, you bet I’m going to replace it! It is seriously perfect for skiing, especially when I’m on mountains that don’t have great cell service and streaming isn’t really possible. Now I just need to boot up my 2006 netbook to see if I can get all my old classic songs loaded back on…

Anyone else hanging onto the past with a few things in your house? Maybe a spare Tamagotchi out there somewhere?