Finally finished the hardest part of my custom iPod build

I was able to finish the hardest part of my custom iPod project today by soldering a Taptic Engine mod to where the click speaker is in the headphone and lock switch ribbon cable. I ended up learning how to solder for this project (it was a terrible solder job, but a functional one nonetheless). Probably the most stressful thing that I have done to date regarding electronics.

Given the costs of music subscription services going up, how little artists actually make on streaming services, and having any music removed from streaming services at any moment, now is a good time to consider ditching the monthly costs and getting a dedicated music player (if you don't want to use your phone) and support the artists you listen to directly. I highly recommend getting a dedicated music player and buying CDs or using services like Bandcamp. You can still access the iTunes Store if that is more convent for you, although it is a different process depending on what device you are trying to get there from (ie searching for an artist in the music app on macOS and then selecting iTunes Store vs navigating to the store tab in iTunes on windows). You can also use Rockbox to upload custom firmware to a supported device that allows for greater functionality with supported file types. I haven't done anything with Rockbox firmware because I'm not really interested in it at the moment, but I may try it in the future.

Here are some links that I used if you are interested in partaking in a similar project:

- https://bandcamp.com/

- https://eoe.works/

- https://www.ifixit.com/Device/iPod_Original

- https://www.rockbox.org/

Now I need another 1/2 TB of microSD cards; maybe a new faceplate; and a bunch of music, videos, and pictures to store on it for daily use.