A former Apple software engineer who worked on the iPod claims that the smartphone giant made a “top secret” music player for the US government. David Shayer, who worked for the company for 18 years, wrote that in 2005 the director of iPod Software told him of a “special assignment” with “two engineers from the US Department of Energy [to] build a special iPod.”

Today officially marks the end of Apple's era of standalone music players.

Wow,” a man said to me recently on the subway, “I haven’t seen one of those things in years.” He gestured toward the scuffed-yet-still-sleek, aluminum-colored rectangle in my hand — a 160GB sixth generation iPod Classic. I blinked for a moment. We were not talking about, say, a quill pen, a monocle, or a bottle of Crystal Pepsi, but an electronic device I had purchased in 2010.

Apple is preparing to make significant changes to its stores to simplify the experience by relocating iPod stock to accessory shelves and removing iPad-based Smart Signs.