At the moment, Apple is definitely recognizable for its premium iPhones, versatile iPads, and highly effective Mac laptops. Earlier than Apple discontinued it in 2022, the iPod was one other well-loved innovation in Apple’s lineup of merchandise, and for good motive. Launched 22 years in the past right this moment, the Apple iPod steered the music trade away from cassette and CD gamers and paved the best way for transportable MP3 gamers and music streaming platforms.
Music techniques earlier than the iPod had design points
Our historical past lesson begins in 1979 when Sony launched the transportable cassette participant known as the Walkman. Whereas the Walkman was in style among the many music-loving crowd, it was cumbersome and restricted by the bodily constraints of the cassette format.
By the Nineteen Nineties, the craze for cassette tapes had began to die down, and CD gamers started blowing up in recognition because of their superior audio high quality, increased signal-to-noise ratio, and bigger frequency vary.
Nevertheless, the shift to the CD media meant you needed to carry the instances for each disc as CDs are inclined to wreck from scratching and direct daylight. So, CDs additionally turned out to be a cumbersome and space-consuming answer for music lovers.
By the beginning of the twenty first century, it turned clear that the music trade was in dire want of innovation to flee from its rut. Enter the iPod, a game-changing gadget that may ceaselessly redefine our music expertise.
The iPod revolutionized the MP3 participant market
On Oct. 23, 2001, Steve Jobs launched the first-generation iPod, a conveyable user-friendly music participant that was priced at $399. The OG iPod had a modern, all-white look and included a mechanical scroll wheel and a 2-inch show. What actually set it other than each different music system on the time was its 5GB laborious drive, that means you could possibly retailer effectively over 1,000 songs on the iPod.
Moreover permitting you to scroll by albums in seconds, the iPod’s intuitive interface made finding particular songs a breeze. The iPod additionally labored seamlessly with Apple’s iTunes app, permitting Mac customers to burn the contents of their favourite MP3 CDs onto their iPods.
The iPod had solved many issues affecting the music trade, and this was just the start!
Apple saved making the iPod extra accessible with software program and {hardware} updates
In April 2003, Apple rebranded the iTunes app as iTunes Music Retailer, a web-based platform the place you could possibly legally entry an intensive catalog of songs. Whereas it couldn’t utterly finish music piracy, the brand new app introduced a authorized, and extra importantly, handy various to pirating MP3 recordsdata. Quickly, the tech large deployed the iTunes Music Retailer on Home windows XP, permitting the Home windows viewers to make full use of the app.
Apple additionally began experimenting with the iPod’s {hardware}, and every successive iteration of the transportable music participant launched worthwhile additions to the product. Other than the mainline iPod sequence, Apple additionally launched different fashions with completely different functionalities, together with the iPod mini, iPod shuffle, iPod nano, and iPod contact. With its intuitive design, seamless integration with iTunes, and wealthy audio high quality, the iPod dominated the MP3 participant market all through the early 2000s.
Nevertheless, what turned out to be the iPod’s largest nemesis wasn’t Sony’s Walkman or third-party clones. It was Apple’s personal product, the iPhone.
The iPod’s reign was minimize brief by the iPhone
In 2007, Apple launched the iPhone, bringing one other competitor to the iPod. For the reason that authentic iPhone’s game-changing options warrant an article of their very own, right here’s the brief model: The iPhone was a full-on multimedia gadget able to extra than simply enjoying music. It might run apps, browse the net, make calls, and rather more for simply $499.
The iPhone’s gross sales skyrocketed inside a yr of its launch, and in 2011, Apple offered extra iPhones than iPods. By 2014, Apple discontinued the mainline iPod sequence as the recognition of the iPhone and Android smartphones made iPods out of date.
Quickly, the iPod contact was the final one standing, maybe as a result of its touchscreen interface allowed folks to make use of it as a funds iPhone. On Might 10, 2022, Apple put the ultimate nail within the iPod’s coffin by retiring the iPod contact lineup.
Wanting again, the launch of the iPod marked a turning level for the music trade. Not solely was the iPod Apple’s first fruitful enterprise outdoors the world of PCs, however the success of the iPod and iTunes paved the best way for the rise of streaming companies.
