Technology and Scienceupdated 1h ago2 min read
Apple Music Hides a Playable Original iPod With Brick Game on Its 404 Page
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Apple Music 404 page hides a working browser-based replica of the first-gen iPod. Nonexistent Apple Music URLs reveal a functional first-gen iPod with 'Give this a spin instead'.
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A 404 Becomes an iPod
Apple Music’s website shows an interactive replica of the original iPod on its “Page Not Found” screen, with the prompt “Give this a spin instead.” The iPod is hidden on the Apple Music online site at a 404-style address, and AppleInsider describes the virtual device as having a click wheel that lets users scroll through settings or music. The virtual iPod marks 25 years since the device was introduced on October 23, 2001, and Gadget Review says the experience includes a functional click wheel plus controls for Menu, Back, Forward, Select, and Play/Pause.
Apple Music’s iPod recreation includes a library of 1,029 songs, and Gadget Review says tracks play as approximately 90-second clips rather than full recordings. The iPod can be found by going to Apple Music’s 404 page or by adding a string of random letters after the main Apple Music URL when a page does not load.
Controls, Previews, and Brick
The virtual iPod includes song scrubbing, shuffle, repeat, backlight controls, and an option to toggle click-wheel sounds on or off. The easter egg is only visible in a web browser, and MacRumors says the iPod shows “Page Not Found,” alongside “Give this a spin instead.” The iPod can play 90-second previews of select songs and includes an easter egg within an easter egg, where holding the center button on the click wheel’s center button in Settings → About eventually plays the classic game Breakout.
The About screen hides a version of Brick, a Breakout-style game, and the Brick button has to be held for five seconds on the web version. The web player uses Apple’s standard preview clips rather than full tracks, and songs longer than 2:30 stop after 90 seconds while shorter tracks stop after 30 seconds.
Anniversary Context and Access
Apple introduced the original iPod on October 23, 2001, and Notebookcheck says it launched with a price of $399 and a 5 GB hard drive. Apple officially discontinued the iPod product line on May 10, 2022, and it frames the Apple Music 404 page as appearing on the 25th anniversary of the iPod’s announcement. The iPod emulator is so lifelike that if a user selects a song it appears to play it, but AppleInsider says it could not make the track be audible.
The experience reportedly works without an active Apple Music subscription, though behavior may vary by device and region, and no removal date was identified in the available reporting. Anyone who types a nonexistent address into music.apple.com now sees the familiar white player beside “Page Not Found” and “Give this a spin instead,” and TechEBlog describes the recreation as matching the original monochrome screen and mechanical scroll wheel closely.