A single, quiet link appeared on Apple’s own support forum. The last official version. He clicked. The download began slowly, a thin green line crawling across his taskbar. When it finished, he ran the installer. A warning popped up: “This program requires a missing update.”

He ran the iTunes installer again. This time, it worked. The setup window was old, with glass-like borders. It didn't ask for an Apple ID or demand a subscription. It simply installed.

When it finished, the familiar, slightly faded music note icon appeared on his desktop. He double-clicked. The program opened with a clean, simple library: no Apple Music, no TV+, no Arcade. Just Music, Movies, and his connected iPod.