- iPod was first revealed to the press in October 2001
- It was a global phenomenon selling hundreds of millions
- The name of it comes from a surprising source
When the late Steve Jobs unveiled a device to a small press event back on October 23, 2001, even he couldn’t have anticipated the impact the iPod would have on the world.
The little handheld music players were a phenomenon and millions were sold, yet within two decades they were discontinued – overtaken by the evolution of another of Apple’s devices, the iPhone (and other similar smartphones).
But lets celebrate the iPod now – here are 10 things you might not have known about them.
The first iPod
The first iPod had 5GB of storage, enough to store 1,000 songs. The cost of that first iPod? A cool $399.
Why were they developed?
Portable music players had been around for 20 years, with devices such as the Sony Walkman, which played cassettes (kids – ask your parents) and later the Discman, which played CDs. Portable MP3 players had been around since the mid-1990s, but none had been successful, failing to marry portability with memory capacity. Steve Jobs thought they could be better, and tasked Tony Fadell to develop it, which he did in less than a year.
Where the name came from
The name for iPod came from Vinnie Chieco, a freelance copywriter, one of a number who were contracted by Apple to determine the strategy for launching the device on an unsuspecting world. The prototype reminded him of the line ‘Open the pod bay door, Hal” from classic sci-fi movie 2001: A Space Odyssey, referring to the EVA Pods of the spaceship in it.
Different types
There were various iterations of the iPod. As well as the iPod (later termed iPod classic), there was the iPod mini, Nano, Shuffle and Touch.
How many iPods were sold
It is estimated that Apple sold more than 450 million iPods by the time they were discontinued in May 2022.
Biggest memory
While the first iPod had a 5GB memory, it quickly became obvious that it wasn’t enough as many people had music collections that were way bigger. Over the years, Apple introduced iPods with increasing amounts of memory, with the biggest being the iPod Touch 7, which had 256GB of memory.
Some iPods are really valuable
Retro tech is always valuable and the iPod is no exception. A first generation iPod classic from 2001, still working and in its original box can be worth up to $1,000, according to The Penny Hoarder. However, other types of iPod can be worth as little as $10.
A noise annoys
In France, it is illegal to play an iPod at a volume louder than 100 decibels. The full range of sounds on an iPod is about 120 decibels.
iPod and iTunes
The iPod came just after iTunes – both were launched in 2001. Initially, iTunes was mainly used as a library for Mac users’ music collections. The iTunes Store – where users could purchase and download music – came in 2003, as did a Windows version of it.
iPhone’s role in iPod demise
In 2007, Apple released the iPhone, which could hold music as well as being a smartphone too. Understandably, users didn’t want to carry two devices around, and sales of the iPod began to fall. It was finally discontinued in May 2022.
