iPod Socks

(en.wikipedia.org)

231 points | by riffic 17 hours ago ago

47 comments

  • sphars 16 hours ago ago

    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 15 hours ago ago

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

  • dinobones 16 hours ago ago

    $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.

    • layer8 16 hours ago ago

      It was $29 for a pack of six socks.

    • soupfordummies 14 hours ago ago

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

    • intrasight 15 hours ago ago

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

    • emchammer 15 hours ago ago

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

  • rcarmo 3 hours ago 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.

  • perihelions 14 hours ago 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...

  • stevekemp 16 hours ago ago

    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 16 hours ago ago

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

  • rambambram 16 hours ago ago

    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.

    • HeinzStuckeIt 15 hours ago 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.

    • TremendousJudge 16 hours ago ago

      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 16 hours ago 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.

    • skinnymuch 16 hours ago ago

      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 16 hours ago ago

        They look sleek but feel like slippery garbage ergonomically.

        • rambambram 15 hours ago ago

          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 14 hours ago 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 15 hours ago 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 15 hours ago ago

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

  • Alir3z4 16 hours ago ago

    I never ever knew such product existed.

    No wonder they made iPhone pocket now.

    They should make tshirts for their laptops as well.

  • golden-face 16 hours ago ago

    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 16 hours ago ago

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

  • shmeeed 16 hours ago ago

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

    • dang 15 hours ago 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!

  • dabluecaboose 16 hours ago 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...

  • swiftcoder 17 hours ago ago

    Who knew Apple had a long history of knitwear releases?

    • amelius 15 hours ago ago

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

    • pixelatedindex 16 hours ago ago

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

  • jasongill 16 hours ago 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.

  • Isamu 16 hours ago 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.

  • reconnecting 16 hours ago ago

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

  • sph 16 hours ago ago

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

  • Manfred 16 hours ago ago

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

  • robertlagrant 16 hours ago ago

    I need some AirPod mittens to keep my collection in.

  • levysoft 15 hours ago ago

    I still use them to plug in my wired earphones.

  • tetris11 16 hours ago ago

    > 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 16 hours ago ago

      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 16 hours ago ago

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

  • thesurlydev 16 hours ago ago

    vom

  • delBarrio 16 hours ago 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.

  • rekabis 17 hours ago ago

    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 16 hours ago 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.