Hundreds of millions of "Apple museums" of people who love early iPhones and iPods
(Dan Tri) - From the nearly 20-year-old iPhone 2G to iPods with intact seals, a series of Apple devices thought to belong to the past are still sought after, preserved and brought out by a Vietnamese community.
"Revenge for the past" with iPhones that are nearly 20 years old
On the long table of a meeting in Hanoi, Apple devices of many generations were introduced one by one by members.
There is the iPhone 2G launched in 2007, iPhone 4, 4S, iPhone 5 still running the first version of iOS, alongside iPod Shuffles smaller than the palm of your hand or limited versions of iPods that were no longer produced many years ago.
Community members brought many early iPhone and iPod models to the meeting to interact and share about collectibles (Photo: Tuan Anh).
Most equipment is no longer suitable for today's needs.
Some phones cannot make calls normally, many old iOS versions can no longer download Facebook or popular applications. However, for those present, it is the age, original condition and story behind each device that makes the device attractive.
Mr. Le Quang Dinh (born 1990), one of the members who participated in building the "low iOS old iPhone users" association from the early days, said he has been with the group for about 10 years.
Mr. Le Quang Dinh has been involved with the old iOS community for about 10 years, and is also one of the organizers of periodic offline sessions (Photo: Tuan Anh).
From a community of only a few people with similar interests, the group now has about 62,000 members. Offline sessions are held periodically every month or every few months for players to meet, share knowledge, repair machines or exchange equipment.
During the meeting, Mr. Dinh brought an iPhone 2G 8GB version, complete with box and accessories.
The phone still works but is almost only a collector's item. According to him, a funny saying often mentioned by people in the group is "revenge for the past".
"In the past, I didn't have money to own it, but now I have the means to buy it back," Mr. Dinh shared.
The iPhone 2G 8GB fullbox version that Mr. Dinh brought to the meeting is currently mainly of collectible value (Photo: Tuan Anh).
He himself started to love phones since high school. From Chinese phones, BlackBerry to iPhone 3G, iPhone 4, 4S..., his hobby gradually turned into learning more deeply about software, jailbreak and old iOS versions.
The story of "making up for missed experiences" also appeared in Ngo Tuan Anh (born 1991, lives and works in Hanoi).
Unlike many members who have been playing for a long time, Tuan Anh has just entered the hobby of collecting since April this year. While surfing Facebook, the image of an iPhone 2G reminded him of the technology items he once dreamed of but could not afford to own.
Mr. Ngo Tuan Anh just started collecting in April but already owns about 50 antique iPhones with a total purchase price of about 130 million VND (Photo: Tien Dat).
In just about 6 months, his collection has increased to about 50 units, the total cost of buying the device is about 130 million VND.
"In the past, I didn't have enough conditions to buy many models of phones. Now that I work and have the means, I want to experience things again that I haven't experienced before," Tuan Anh shared.
Each person has a "school" of playing ancient Apple
If viewed from the outside, collecting can be as simple as buying old phones. But in the community, each person sets for themselves a very different criteria.
Duc Minh (born 1999), currently working in the field of programming and electronic engineering, does not set a goal of having many computers.
What he is looking for are iPhones running iOS versions as close to the factory date as possible, while prioritizing the highest memory capacity of each generation.
Mr. Duc Minh (born 1999) pursues the "school" of collecting iPhones with early iOS versions and high memory capacity (Photo: Tuan Anh).
At the meeting, Mr. Minh brought an iPhone 4S and iPhone 5. In particular, the iPhone 5 64GB version still ran iOS 6. He also kept an iPhone 5S running iOS 7, the operating system version associated with the time this model appeared.
"My goal is the lowest iOS and highest capacity," Mr. Minh said.
The iPhone 5 64GB version running iOS 6 is one of the devices preserved by Duc Minh because the old operating system version is increasingly difficult to find (Photo: Tuan Anh).
According to him, the reason lies in its rarity. High-memory versions are inherently smaller in number, while a machine that still retains the factory operating system after more than a decade is not easy to find.
Meanwhile, Mr. Dat (born in 1995) pursues another school of thought: New Seal - devices that have not been activated, have not been sealed, and have intact tags.
Mr. Dat focuses on collecting New Seal iPods, unactivated and with intact tags, many of which take one to two years to find (Photo: Tuan Anh).
He started simply by buying an iPod to listen to music. Then, from one machine, the number of machines "kept multiplying".
Although the collection is worth more than 100 million VND, for him, the selection criterion is not the price but the rarity, original condition and unique mark of each device.
Compact, screenless iPod Shuffles recall a period when separate music players were still very popular (Photo: Tuan Anh).
Mr. Dat especially likes red devices because of his personal preference. There was a red iPod Nano Gen 4 with the seal still intact, it took him nearly 2 years to find it.
While many members started with the iPhone, Mr. Kien spent more than 10 years searching for generations of music players that made Apple's mark, especially limited editions, fullboxes or low-production quantities.
Mr. Kien is a longtime iPod fan, focusing on hunting for rare and limited editions, including the limited edition early iPod Nano that he took many years to find (Photo: Tuan Anh).
There are devices he had to wait more than a decade to find. A limited edition early iPod Nano, according to Mr. Kien, was only produced 1,000 units for the Japanese market, which he bought through auctions with players in many countries. The final price is about 15 million VND, while the accessories are still intact and unopened.
According to Mr. Kien, the total amount spent on the collection is currently about 400-500 million VND. However, this money is not spent at one time but accumulates over many years.
Mr. Dat and Mr. Kien next to the vintage iPods they collected, from New Seal models to limited editions that are hard to find on the market (Photo: Tuan Anh).
He said at first he played alone, then joined the community. As he meets more people with similar interests, he learns from others and shares his knowledge about iPods and music.
For him, the appeal of the iPod does not necessarily come from sound quality.
"iPod is more about experience. Maybe the sound is not too good compared to some other music players, but it brings the experience of click wheel, clicking sound...", Mr. Kien said.
Not only the device, what this community wants to preserve is also the software experience of a time.
An iPhone 4 running iOS 4, an iPhone 4S running iOS 5 or an iPhone 5 running iOS 6 may no longer be useful to the average user. Many applications have stopped being supported, the device cannot download games and software directly from the App Store like before.
For collectors, that's what makes these devices so special.
The first iPhones running iOS are preserved by players to recreate the original software experience of each generation (Photo: Tuan Anh).
Mr. Dinh said part of the job of the technically savvy members is to store old versions of software, games and applications so they can be installed on old Apple devices.
Thanks to that, an old iPhone doesn't simply light up the screen for display. Players can also re-experience the interface, games and applications that appeared during the period when that device was commonly used.
Offline sessions are also an opportunity for players to help each other restore software, install old applications and retain the experience of disappeared iOS versions (Photo: Tuan Anh).
This is also the reason why Duc Minh puts the iOS version first when looking to buy a device.
During offline sessions, members can bring faulty devices to each other to check, support installation or connect with people who own the device model they are looking for.
The obvious common point among players is that most do not see these devices as a short-term investment.
A decades-old phone may no longer make calls, an iPod only has music functions, or an old version of iOS can barely meet modern needs.
What keeps them engaged is the feeling of touching a bygone technological period.
For many members, the value of old iPhones and iPods lies not in their current usability but in the nostalgic feeling every time they hold them again, listen to music or turn on familiar interfaces (Photo: Tuan Anh).
From the full-box iPhone 2G, iPhones running original iOS to iPods that have never been sealed, each item on the table can be seen as a small piece of Apple's product development history.
Technologically outdated devices are still preserved by players as part of their memories, associated with experiences they once had or missed (Photo: Tuan Anh).
Placed next to modern smartphones, they are slower, have smaller screens and many features have become outdated.
But at community meetings, they are still turned on, passed around, listened to a song or reinstalled a once familiar game.
And perhaps it was that moment that made the room with dozens of old devices look like a miniature "Apple museum" - where technology items that have reached the end of their commercial life continue to live in the memories of those who once loved them.
Photo: Mr. Nguyen