Ipod Socks

Postedabout 2 months agoActiveabout 2 months ago

riffic

241 points

49 comments

en.wikipedia.orgTechstory

excitedpositive

Debate

20/100

AppleIpodNostalgia

Key topics

Apple

Ipod

Nostalgia

The HN community discovers Apple's discontinued 'iPod Socks' and shares their experiences and humorously speculates about future Apple accessories.

Snapshot generated from the HN discussion

Discussion Activity

Very active discussion

First comment

31m

Peak period

0-2h

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8.2

Comment distribution49 data points

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Based on 49 loaded comments

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01Story posted
Nov 11, 2025 at 11:52 AM EST
about 2 months ago
Step 01
02First comment
Nov 11, 2025 at 12:23 PM EST
31m after posting
Step 02
03Peak activity
38 comments in 0-2h
Hottest window of the conversation
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04Latest activity
Nov 12, 2025 at 1:03 PM EST
about 2 months ago
Step 04

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Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns

Discussion (49 comments)

Showing 49 comments

rekabis

about 2 months ago

1 reply

Holy shite. I never knew. Or, at least, this rings no bells. I have several iPod classics, now I know what to look for on eBay.

Lalabadie

about 2 months ago

I carried my iPhone (4?) in an iPod sock for a good while. It was great to protect pants pockets from cutting against the metal bezel.

swiftcoder

about 2 months ago

2 replies

Who knew Apple had a long history of knitwear releases?

amelius

about 2 months ago

Can't blame them. With so many Apple sheep around, they might as well make some knitware.

pixelatedindex

about 2 months ago

Not sure if doing it once before is “long history” but cool nonetheless

tetris11

about 2 months ago

1 reply

> Apple stopped selling the product sometime in September 2012.[5] The set soon became a collector's item, with aftermarket prices rising as high as US$90 by 2014.

There it is. The only reason anyone on HN will ever give a damn

nehal3m

about 2 months ago

1 reply

You honestly think the audience here only starts giving a damn at a measly $90? This is going in the weird comment hall of fame for me.

tetris11

about 2 months ago

(collect for rare item resale for $$$ later. Same with the pocket. Same with the sock.)

shmeeed

about 2 months ago

1 reply

I love that these posts are right below each other at the moment.

dang

about 2 months ago

Adjacencies like that are amusing but we end up sacrificing them to the higher priority of having 30 distinct stories on the frontpage. Sorry!

stevekemp

about 2 months ago

1 reply

Back in the day I knitted something similar for myself, though I don't recall if I'd seen the original product.

In fact earlier this year I bought a new kindle and knitted a little "sock" for it:

https://www.instagram.com/p/DGTsi5SM9YM/

Just knit a rectangle, and sew two edges together to make a flat "sock" or "envelope". I was done in a couple of hours, but I guess I'm used to knitting in front of the TV.

rambambram

about 2 months ago

Cute thing! And I guess it's pretty good in protecting the device?

rambambram

about 2 months ago

3 replies

Back when smartphones were not a thing yet, I had some new Nokia model that I kept in a little fabric 'bag' that I got with my Minidisc-player. I remember being laughed at by some friends. Years later everybody uses some kind of case for their smartphone, and I go by some personal policy to keep the bare smartphone in my pocket. I don't know why I tell this, maybe because I sometimes feel like a trendsetter.

skinnymuch

about 2 months ago

2 replies

I have been planning on paying for AppleCare and not using a case for my main phone or an incredibly thin discrete/minimal case. Modern phones look so sleek without cases.

iamacyborg

about 2 months ago

2 replies

They look sleek but feel like slippery garbage ergonomically.

rambambram

about 2 months ago

1 reply

I agree for the later models, but the 4S and SE were perfect with the square corners. Also because they were smaller and usable with one hand while cycling.

iamacyborg

about 2 months ago

Yeah even the 13 mini feels like garbage because it has both hard edges and is super slippery, despite the good size.

I think the last phone that felt good to use without a case was the Nexus 5.

sogen

about 2 months ago

Yes!

Mine slipped not once, but twice in a cab... In the span of a week...

As much as I loved how it looks and works without a case, they are a slippery nightmare

rambambram

about 2 months ago

1 reply

Exactly! People buy a beautiful iPhone, just to put it inside a nasty rubbery case that gets yellowish after three days of use.

swiftcoder

about 2 months ago

You need to buy cases made of better materials, in that case (heh). I've been using RhinoShield's bumpers for more than a decade now, and I've never had one discolour on me.

TremendousJudge

about 2 months ago

1 reply

I also used to have a bare phone policy, but I had to change it after everybody decided to start making the damn things out of fragile glass. Yeah plastic screens are uglier but they don't crack

hagbard_c

about 2 months ago

Whoa there pardner, my first 'smartphone' victim was a Nokia NGage - hey, it ran Symbian and I got it for not that much - which I had in my front coat pocket while working in the forest. One relatively gentle collision with a branch sticking out from a tree and the plastic screen was cracked. As was the LCD underneath it. It was then I switched to the next big thing, a Qtek S200 (better known as HTC Prophet). It was cheap 'cause it was used in some experiment by the Swedish railways which seems to have failed. The thing was new, more or less, for 1/10th of the price. It had a plastic touch screen cover which I replaced twice 'cause it started to resemble frosted glass from use.

HeinzStuckeIt

about 2 months ago

My memory of Nokia is phones so strong, you didn’t a case, just maybe a screen protector. I dropped my N900 from a meter height many, many times and it never cracked. It’s still such a handsome piece of hardware in my drawer that I wish I could still take it out and use it.

golden-face

about 2 months ago

1 reply

Stuff like this was kind of necessary on those early generation iPods, they had mechanical spinning disks. I remember dropping mine and hearing the click from the busted disk :/

throwaway314155

about 2 months ago

Weren't they supposed to stop per the accelerometer inside?

reconnecting

about 2 months ago

2 replies

I'm wondering if there are Socks/Pocket for Apple Vision Pro planned for release in 2035.

koziserek

about 2 months ago

1 reply

would need to be underpants

shalmanese

about 2 months ago

Between the iPod socks, Airpods Max bra & Vision underpants, you have the real makings of a undergarment set.

notatoad

about 2 months ago

you could probably put a gogglesock on the vision pro

https://gogglesoc.com/collections/gogglesocs

dinobones

about 2 months ago

5 replies

$30 for a sock even in 2025 seems pretty steep. In 2004 is crazy. I guess I'm forgetting how "overpriced" Apple was at the time.

skeaker

about 2 months ago

"At the time" is perhaps too generous a way to phrase it.

layer8

about 2 months ago

It was $29 for a pack of six socks.

intrasight

about 2 months ago

I have found that my knitted socks were one of the pair was lost get a second life to protect my tech.

soupfordummies

about 2 months ago

Just looked it up - $49 in today-bucks.

emchammer

about 2 months ago

The price is right for a dildo cozy. Maybe a little more if hand knit.

sphars

about 2 months ago

1 reply

Context for this submission:

Apple releases the iPhone Pocket: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/11/introducing-iphone-po...

HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45885813

dang

about 2 months ago

Thanks! I've put a link to OP in the toptext of the other thread.

Manfred

about 2 months ago

I also had an iPad sock, that eventually fitted an MacBook Air.

robertlagrant

about 2 months ago

I need some AirPod mittens to keep my collection in.

Isamu

about 2 months ago

I bought these for the kids, back in the iPod days. Fun and helpful to keep the things from getting too banged up. But actually the iPod era went by quickly.

The iPod was a stepping stone to the iPhone but even Steve didn’t know that at the beginning.

jasongill

about 2 months ago

I didn't realize these were a collectors item, I had bought a couple packs as they worked great to keep the iPod from clattering around in the glove compartment or center console of the car. I gave some to friends who used them as phone cases in the early iPhone days.

perihelions

about 2 months ago

> "cotton knit socks"

Interesting that they charge ten times more now for sock-things, yet they're only polyester.

> "Tech Specs" [sic]

> "Material: Nylon (14%), Polyester (85%), Polyurethane (1%)"

https://www.apple.com/shop/product/hs8p2zm/a/iphone-pocket-b...

dabluecaboose

about 2 months ago

After recently fixing up and using my old iPod, I was happy to find the website that I used to buy my parts also sells generic iPod socks!

I've got one on it in my phone locker right now.

https://eoe.works/collections/cases-attachments/products/new...

thesurlydev

about 2 months ago

vom

delBarrio

about 2 months ago

used one with my magic mouse 1, never would have paid upwards of $40 for it. was quite handy tho, to avoid scratching the delicate white plastic, despite it barely fit. Issey Myake knit lanyard pocket -- what a joke! Buckle up folks, we're definitely in a bubble.

sph

about 2 months ago

The world wasn't ready for this. Apple is living two decades ahead.

rcarmo

about 2 months ago

I love mine, still love them to carry small accessories all the time. Wish there was some modern alternative since some are becoming worn.

Alir3z4

about 2 months ago

I never ever knew such product existed.

No wonder they made iPhone pocket now.

They should make tshirts for their laptops as well.

levysoft