This needs an interrobang‽

I'm here with a usb c to 1/8" jack like a moron! The EU pushed replaceable batteries, maybe we need a headphone jack bill haha.

Check out the company Nothing. They make products like the Nothing Phone with transparent designs

Could just be the regular battery not having to supply power to an energy sucking spinning disk.

I used a modern 3000mA lithium ion battery which provides about 60 hours of music playback. That’s about 2 hours per day which is much more than I use!

They sell 3000mah replacement batteries vs the original 850mah. I think some solid state drives can save power, but others can use more.

Many phones have "Do not disturb"-mode, or even airplane mode.

You can also go into the settings and disconnect from your mobile provider if you really want peace and quiet.

It's a quick Google search for an alternative software that is pretty user-friendly and independent of Apple.

Also I suggest replacing the Hard drive with a card that lets you put in SD cards.

Back in the day, I used to rock iPod Linux. Looks like it's still about http://www.ipodlinux.org/

There was also rockbox that let you play flac on iPod. https://www.rockbox.org/

Or less exteme, I'm sure that foobar2000 had plugins for managing your iPod.

Does it still count as “imadeit” if I made it using a hodge podge of other people’s parts? Haha, I ordered the custom shell from eBay ☺️ but it feels very high quality (not 3D printed)

Let me tell you son. Back in the day, headphones used to have a wire

I know the angle is a bit weird, but that is a wired headphone/earbud cable. The cable just has a 90 degree bend at the end.

Rockbox does support FLAC, with iPodLinux I'm not so sure (their ancient http site FAQ promises development via MPD, but that's not a given to have actually happened).

There's a bunch of places selling replacement iPod shells, I think there's probably just one factory that makes them but the iPod mod scene is actually pretty extensive all things considered.

Yes. I still use my classic regularly. 20 000+ songs on it without ever being connected to itunes. Rhythmbox for linux works great when I want to switch things up. Winamp did the job back when I was still using windows. Maybe you were forced to use itunes briefly back when the ipod was first released, but it didn't take long for other programmers to figure out how to make their software compatible.