A growing number of people, especially Gen Z, are looking to move away from streaming services, and Apple’s old iPod devices are having a resurgence.

People are buying up Apple’s retired tech like it’s going out of style—again—as an increasing number of music listeners long for a break from streaming services and smartphones. Especially among younger generations, the growing interest in classic iPods is part of a broader digital burnout trend spurring a return to offline devices and hobbies.

Apple discontinued the iPod product line in 2022, but Google Trends data reveals that searches for the original iPod and iPod Nano spiked last year: eBay searches for classic iPods jumped by 25% and iPod Nano by 20% between January and October 2025, compared to the same period in 2024.

Part of the interest stems from the fact that older tech tends to be “single-purpose,” according to computer science professor Cal Newport, the author of “Digital Minimalism.” Smartphones bundle music, instant messages, social feeds, news, games, and more, which makes it “nearly impossible to control your technology use with any consistency,” said Newport. “All you can do with an iPod, for example, is listen to music.”

“The act of playing my music, with the sole purpose of listening to music—no ads, no apps, no distractions—makes my brain feel brand-new again,” said Shaughnessy Barker, a Gen Z-er who started using an iPod Classic over the winter holiday season after searching eBay and Facebook Marketplace.

“Sometimes, I just want to go out, take a walk, and I want to listen to music, but I don’t necessarily want 20 notifications,” said Katherine Esters, who “grew up with the rise and fall of iPods.” She recently purchased an iPod Classic for $100 on Facebook Marketplace, which she says she listens to when she’s “trying to cleanse myself of being on my phone.”

In some cases, it’s not about the old tech itself, but capturing what that tech represents: reclaiming your time from a digital environment. This can even be accomplished by repurposing current tech; for example, tinyPod turns your existing Apple Watch into a physically scrollable iPod-like device, while still retaining the functionality of the Apple Watch.

But for many, especially young people who grew up in the age of “algorithmic ease,” it’s about embracing more hands-on experiences, tapping into so-called “friction-maxxing”—that is, building up a tolerance for “inconvenience”—and even finding some form of enlightenment or enjoyment in it.

For others, it’s less about a digital cleanse and more about trying to bypass phone bans at school, according to The New York Times. And there’s no sign of music streaming fading away anytime soon; Luminate data shows U.S. on-demand audio streaming reached 1.4 trillion song streams in 2025, up from 1.3 trillion the year prior.