I have an old 3rd generation iPod that I bought in 2003. No, not the iPhone 3G, not the 3G iPod Touch, not the 3G iPod Shuffle, not the 3G iPod Nano. Not an iPod Mini, not an iPod Video, not even an iPod Classic... just plain "iPod," that's how old it is. It's got 15GB, a black and white screen, no click wheel, and I still love it.
This model used to be called the "iPod with Dock Connector," since it was the first model to feature a 30-pin port on the bottom. Of course, now all iPods (and iPhones) have one now, so that moniker is pretty meaningless.
Worse, as I discovered, not all Dock Connectors are the same. Which means not all iPod accessories that utilize the Dock Connector actually work with the 3rd generation iPod.
In fact, almost none of the accessories on the market today work with the 3rd generation iPod! That includes power chargers.
As it turns out, 3G iPods like mine cannot charge via USB like almost every other iPod still in use today.
I found out the hard way when, in an attempt to reduce the amount of cabling on my iMac, I removed my FireWire dock and started plugging my iPod into the USB-to-iPod cable that came with my wife's Nano. It synced up just fine, which led me to believe it did exactly the same thing as the FW cable. Wrong!
The iPod kept running out of juice and I had no idea why. I researched the issue and learned that USB ports can lose power when an iMac goes to sleep. But when I turned off the sleep function, the iPod still drained while connected.
After more hours of Internet searches, I finally discovered that the 3G iPod cannot in fact charge over USB because USB doesn't provide enough voltage. USB provides 5V, and the 3G iPod needs 9-12V. I'm not sure how the newer iPods get around this, but there you have it.
Years later, having forgotten all that I learned on this subject, I found myself in the same loop of frustration when buying a car charger for my 3G iPod. I ordered and returned two different models because neither worked, even though they both fit with the iPod Dock Connector. Granted, the manufacturers did not mention support for the 3G iPod, but I just assumed they didn't bother listing it because it's so ancient. I couldn't see any reason why these accessories wouldn't work with mine.
One was a simple iPod-to-USB cable that came with a USB-to-car-charger piece. I got it because it also split off the audio feed from the iPod so I could plug it into my car's auxiliary port. The aux-in worked great, but the charger did nothing. Well, actually, it was putting out juice, as indicated by the status lights, but the amount was insufficient for my 3G iPod.
The other charger I tried was a more sophisticated one with play/pause, prev/next controls. I own other iPod accessories that have these controls, so I assumed this one would work, too... nope. Not only did this charger not charge (even with no USB involved), but it did nothing but freeze up my iPod when I pressed the control buttons on the charger.
I later learned that Apple totally changed the Dock Connector interface for modern iPods and iPhones. Since most current accessories are built for modern iPods and iPhones, they don't send the right commands to my antique iPod.
So I just ordered a third car charger, this one with no controls and no audio aux-in, and I made sure it is 12V and not USB-based. You'd be amazed how hard this is. Even the websites that specifically list the 3rd generation iPod to help folks search for compatible accessories suggest USB-based chargers that are clearly not compatible.
We'll see if the third time's the charm. I'm not holding my breath.
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