Today marks the 20th anniversary of the original iPod, when it was announced by a financially recovering Apple back in 2001. Steve Jobs announced it at the Town Hall in Apple’s old headquarters, Infinite Loop.
Back in 2001, Apple had really only offered its Mac lineup and iTunes, obviously the company had dabbled with the Newton before Jobs returned to the company and helped put it back on track, revamping its Mac lineup with the iconic iMac and iBook. The iPod was the first serious mobile device and it, looking back was one of the most important products the company released and helped it profit up until and after the iPhone was launched in 2007.
The iPod had enough capacity to hold 1,000 songs and has since been replaced by the iPhone for the music player of choice, the iPod line was revamped in 2012, with a new iPod touch, iPod nano and iPod shuffle but that was the last time it was touched with any great significance, the iPod nano and iPod shuffle were dropped in 2017 and the iPod Classic in 2014. The iPod touch remains the only model in sale in the lineup and has had very minor spec bumps in the years since the 5th generation in 2012.
Below is a video from YouTube, published around 15 years ago. The quality isn’t great, but you can get an idea of what it was like to sit there.
