If you’ve been following my journey back into the world of music ownership, you might remember that I teased a return to the iPod. You know - Apple’s now-discontinued personal music player, which lots of people, it seems, are suddenly hankering for in this world of algorithm-fuelled music entertainment.

Thanks to the lovely folks at Back Market, I now have in my possession a 5.5-generation iPod Classic. Since I last updated you on this topic, I’ve also bought a 3,000mAh battery for it, along with an adaptor that enables me to replace the old, spinning hard disk drive with modern solid-state storage (in the form of two 256GB microSD cards). Oh, and a bunch of tools to prize the thing apart.

The modding process hasn’t gone very well at all. The battery is installed and works absolutely fine (I think). The iFlash-Quad adaptor is installed, and the 512GB of total storage is being reported when I plug the iPod into my Mac. The problem is that no matter what I try, my Mac won't restore the iPod so I can install Rock Box on it. I even resorted to trying it on a Windows laptop, and that failed, too.

I’m working through solutions at the moment, and I tell the full story in this week’s Tech Diary video. But I have a feeling this might be a longer journey than I first expected…

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Samsung has always made good-but-not-spectacular earbuds. But with this iteration of the Buds Pro, they’ve managed to break through that barrier and produce a truly excellent pair of buds. It’s a very good time to be in the Samsung ecosystem!

Now that the initial ire has died down after the iPhone 16e was released, it’s been nice to spend some time with the iPhone 17e without feeling a bit dirty using it. Turns out, once you take a fairer look at things, this is still a very good phone from Apple, especially now that MagSafe is included.

👉 iPhone 17e vs Pixel 10a: The Differences That Actually Matter - Ok, the 17e is fine, but is it actually better value than the Pixel 10a? →

About a 50/50 split when the pro/anti Studio Display votes are totted up from last week. One of you said “I couldn't imagine spending over a thousand dollars for a 27" monitor”, which is totally fair when you think about. There is still room for the Studio Display though, mainly for the Apple purists amongst us!

🎶 Why are People Buying the MPC SAMPLE Even Though they Don't NEED IT? (Bolo Da Producer) - Immediate want.

🔌 BYD Atto 3 Evo Review - The PERFECT Family EV?! (The Next Drive) - SHAMELESS PLUG.

🤯 The AI Stack That Makes The Most Money (Most Get This Wrong) (Open Residency and Dan Martell) - We have officially entered a new era. And boy are we experimenting with it behind the scenes at Ellis Media Group!

Thanks for reading this week’s newsletter! Oh boy have I got some content coming for you next week. Three videos, the first of which on a product Apple should have updated years ago. Until then!

~ Mark