Ipod classics have a spinning rust hdd. They are heavy. The 2004 4th gen 40 GB is 176 grams and is a bulky 110 cm3. That's quite a bit more than my pixel 5, which is 151 grams and just 81 cm3. In fact, could buy nearly any old phone and do better, immediately, and have a much nicer display and better bluetooth codecs and the ability to play lossless formats.

I had an iPod in 2004. I gave it away because it was too heavy to carry around.

I ultimately replaced it with a Zen Stone: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creative_Zen#ZEN_Stone/Stone_P...

With the HDD swapped out for flash the weight is going to be much less, isn't it?

So what, you want to modify a good mp3 player to look more like a bad one?

With the classic iPod you've got a bad UI instead of a good UI and a large object instead of a small one. And while it will be lighter without the hard drive, it will still be a lot heavier than an mp3 player. It's pure downside on several different dimensions.

If you want to play your music on a device shaped like an iPod, it's even easier to use your existing phone.

I have no idea what a classic iPod weighs without the drive inside. No need to dismiss other people's requirements and preferences though.

I've had about 4 San Disk clips now. mostly because I lose them or put them through the wash.

some of the older models were definitely better, but at 20-40 bucks each and no real dependencies on the rest of my personal computer ecosystem it's a fair trade.

it's only that Spotify and YT music are easy to use that I haven't bought a new one. with enshitifacation being a thing I might go back