I hike a lot and hate using my phone's battery power for music. On top of needing that power for other things, it just feels wasteful. I bought a cheap MP3 player to try out in 2016 and have been hooked ever since. These devices are smaller and lighter than spare phone batteries or power banks.
In addition, I find that I use the MP3 player when I'm out running normal errands precisely because I've organized my music by hand and even edited tracks by hand in some cases. Examples would be things like rare covers that can only be found on YouTube, or favorite songs from niche internet music communities which were poorly mastered.
It's also a bit of a gear hobby now since there are so many MP3 players on the market. Prices are low and performance is great.
I have to agree about the iPod though, as I found the need for proprietary software, and really annoying software at that, made me use it less and less until my 32GB iTouch was mostly used as an ebook reader. I also prefer physical buttons for my mp3-listening while on the go.
In addition, I find that I use the MP3 player when I'm out running normal errands precisely because I've organized my music by hand and even edited tracks by hand in some cases. Examples would be things like rare covers that can only be found on YouTube, or favorite songs from niche internet music communities which were poorly mastered.
It's also a bit of a gear hobby now since there are so many MP3 players on the market. Prices are low and performance is great.
I have to agree about the iPod though, as I found the need for proprietary software, and really annoying software at that, made me use it less and less until my 32GB iTouch was mostly used as an ebook reader. I also prefer physical buttons for my mp3-listening while on the go.