Music title display alternative on iPod touch (7G)?

I'm going to be picky about which of your many points I'm going to address.

• Getting rid of the cover art space on your iPod' Now Playing screen: not possible
• You don't want any internet/WLAN connection: turn off the external communications (in Settings)
• repeated requests to backup: perhaps you should consider backing up. We see far too many posts here from people who did not back up and then regret it when we tell them that all their content is lost
• iPod cannot be securely closed down: I can only assume that you mean "fully power down". If you want to turn the iPod off completely, press-and-hold the power button until the Power Off slider appears and then use that

You can let Apple know about all this by using this page: Feedback - iPod touch - Apple

Be aware though, that Apple do not respond to the feedback sent to them and of course, they may choose not to take up any of your suggestions.

hadrianuszürich wrote:

Thank you. I've counted with such stereotypical answers.

Don't take it out on the messenger.

As for Apple, and whatever they may choose to do; while you are entitled to your opinion, it is just one opinion out of a very large number of widespread opinions. There is no reason why your opinion should outweigh everyone else.

Have you considered alternative brands of player?

hadrianuszürich wrote:

It is too risky to transfer mp3 libraries to non-Apple products. I've been warned from various sources.

Hhhmmm! I've done it. Perhaps I should warn you about people who warn you about...

But I digress.

And I don't want to re-load hundreds of CDs again in case I lose my library.

But if you back up your music, you wouldn't need to reload from CD again. Not that copying music (note, copying - not transferring) to a non-Apple product is no more risky than to an Apple product. Perhaps transferring is where you're going wrong: if you transfer a file, you are deleting the original from it's old location before it is safely located somewhere else. Human error can cause that to go dramatically wrong. But if you copy the original, it's still there if the pasting to a new location goes horribly wrong.

I am not aware of any weekly reminder to back up, so either it's something new on a 7th generation iPod and/or it's a setting that can be turned off. You should investigate the possibility of turning off the reminder, especially since (you tell us that) you're not using any of the apps on the iPod, so there's nothing to back up. And there's a significant point; that back up is not referring to music anyway. You still need to back up your music, because hard drives fail, iPods get lost, damaged or even stolen. Not to mention that should your iPod ever need a Restore (procedure), it will delete the music on the iPod.

iTunes is the backup for the music on your iPod. It is in your interest to back up iTunes (or at the very least, the music files listed in it).

I thought I would be able to "reduce" its applications, in order to have - as previously - an uncomplicated mp3 player with no extra apps and no need of backups

You can simply ignore any apps that you're not interested in. If necessary, move everything on the iPod to a spare Home Screen, so that you can concentrate on the Music app. As for the backups, we've covered that - but I'll say it again: make and maintain a backup of all the content of your computer.

I find it a real waste now for having to throw away my old (first generation) 16GB Classic iPod, <....>

I though Apple would contribute to diminish ecologial damage...

They do. Take your iPod to any Apple store and they will accept it for recycling.

Perhaps you should stop listening to those various sources. They are not your friends.

hadrianuszürich wrote:

Speaking about ecological waste I referred to the fact that Apple created a "sealed" product in which an internal part (the battery) cannot be replaced - which means that the whole device (and not just a battery) must be eliminated.

I admit that I had misgivings about batteries that could not be replaced by the user, but now I understand why.

A battery that can be handled by the public has to have a rigid casing to protect it from damage. By removing the casing the battery is lighter and smaller, making the end product sleeker - something that users want. But if users were able to replace the battery themselves, there would be a danger from poorly handed and discarded batteries, so the consequence of this is that the product is sealed to protect users (and the innocent) from themselves (more on this below).

Apple have a battery replacement service, but your old iPod is probably too old for that service. Besides, would it be worth the cost? By the time one factors in shipping, parts and labour, the cost probably outweighs the benefit of changing the battery, especially since other factors may make the iPod redundant (on a Classic, the hard drive failing, on a Touch, the operating system cannot be updated to the latest version, due to processor limitations).

There are third-party options for replacing the battery, but once again, is it worth the cost? The real issue is how to make the cost of servicing a product low enough to make a product last longer. (There's no quick answer to that.)

To recap; Apple do take back old Apple devices, for recycling, even if the item has no trade-in value. You simply have to make use of the service.

What is the danger from batteries then (I hear you ask)?

The answer is that they have an enormous amount of power in them and if they are poorly handled they can burst into flame and can be difficult to extinguish. Do an online search (or look on YouTube) for "man bites battery". In the video, a man is seen biting a replacement battery that he is thinking of buying, presumably in a misguided attempt to confirm that it was "real". The result is that he compressed and damaged the inner core of the battery, thereby causing the battery to explode. The woman with him was very lucky that she wasn't seriously injured.

I've watched a video of a phone battery being taken apart, by someone who knew what he was doing. But even he was caught unawares; we viewers realised before he did that part of the battery had spontaneously combusted. He then had to make very sure to remove every single piece of the battery from the inside of his house, in order to prevent another piece of it combusting once he had gone to bed, thereby burning down his house and possibly even risking his life.

It's a very significant problem, so I'm in favour of non-replaceable batteries, or at least, not replaceable by people who should not be left alone with a match, let alone a very volatile block of chemicals.

Well, there is just one thing worth picking up on:

hadrianuszürich wrote:

Batteries: Why then not fabricate safer ones from the start?

Because such a battery simply would not have enough power to run an iPod for more than about two minutes.

Okay. Suit yourself.