End of an Era: Saying Goodbye to iPod and Internet Explorer

As Ferris Bueller once opined, “If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”And in no arena is that more prevalent than technology.However, two tech stalwarts bucked that tradition by remaining relevant for more than 20 years each.But even the most quintessential pieces of tech eventually see their time in the sun fade. And recently, these two tech icons have both been officially sunsetted.Earlier this year Apple announced that the last remaining version of the iPod, the iPod Touch would halt production. Further, cementing the end of the legendary music player first introduced in 2001. Additionally, Apple clarified no new iOS software will be released for existing hardware. This moves the iPod from a supported product to a legacy one.And as if that piece of storied tech meeting the end of the line wasn’t enough, recently Microsoft formally retired its Internet Explorer web browser as well.The dominant web surfing platform launched in 1995, and lasted from the heyday of dial up internet well into the dawn of the millennium. With an entire generation of internet users first browsing the web using the ubiquitous application.So, while these two seminal tech products will now mostly exist only in our collective memories. The legacy of both will live on.The iPod was key in the resurgence of Apple as a major tech player and the framework for the iPhone.And Internet Explorer while itself highly influenced by another forgotten web browser Netscape Navigator, has its fingerprints all over the contemporary internet browser landscape. Google Chrome, Apple’s Safari and Mozilla Firefox all have taken cues from IE.Take a moment and say goodbye to these pair of pillars of the tech many of us were raised on.If you need us, we’ve dusted off an old clickwheel iPod and have found some wired headphones.Now playing: Green Day “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”.