25 Amazing Facts About the History of the iPod

Nineteen years ago, a small, yet powerful device changed the way people listen to music. To this day, iPods haven’t been forgotten, thanks to their huge impact.

Here are 25 facts about the history of the iPod that will instantly send you on a nostalgia trip.

1. When was the iPod invented?

The first version was released on October 23, 2001, about eight and a half months after the Macintosh version of iTunes was released. The first iPod was sold on November 10th, 2001.

2. iPod Day

iPod Day is celebrated every year on the 23rd of October. Celebrating iPod Day is really celebrating the rise of music as a constant presence in the lives of everyone. On this day, you can go through all of your music collection and remember the first songs you listened on your first iPod, and the hundreds more that were to follow.

3. The fastest selling music player in history

Five and a half years after its release, Apple had sold 100 million iPods, becoming the fastest selling music player in history and beating the Sony Walkman.

4. The reasons behind creating this device

Due to the small number of sales of the Apple Newton and the eMate (both of them were a series of personal digital assistants), Apple wanted a mobile device. Therefore, they started to develop a personal media player, which would become the iPod. Also, another reason for developing it is the fact that the company found existing digital music players big and clunky or small and useless with user interfaces that were unbelievably awful.

5. The idea to call it “the iPod”

The name was proposed by Vinnie Chieco, a freelance copywriter, who was asked to figure out how to introduce this device to the public. He got his inspiration from Stanley Kubrick’s movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”, particularly from the phrase: “Open the pod bay door, Hal!” The “pod” refers to the white EVA Pods of the Discovery One spaceship. The “i” was added because the company already had the iMac and the iBook.

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6. The original version of the iPod

The original version was about the size of a deck of playing cards, with a monochrome screen and a 5 gigabyte capacity. iPods can now be purchased with color screens capable of playing television shows, videos, or movies uploaded from a PC.

7. Apple didn’t entirely develop the iPod software

The reference platform for iPod OS was bought from PortalPlayer, a company that supplied software for personal media players.

8. Popular iPod features

Today’s iPods include a variety of features, such as: a calendar, an address book, a to-do list, an alarm clock with sleep timer, games, and a text reader. Besides its well-known white ear buds, the iPod has plenty of peripherals, including modules that allow songs to be broadcast on radio frequencies, digital voice recorders, and car integration.

9. iPod models

The iPod is also known for its big variety of models. They include: the iPod Classic (the original Apple iPod), the iPod Mini, the iPod Shuffle (the smallest model in Apple’s iPod family), the iPod Nano, and the iPod Touch.

10. iPod Touch is the only model that isn’t discontinued

Unlike the other models, the iPod Touch can still be purchased. The newest one, the 7th generation, was released on the online Apple Store on May 28, 2019. It comes in six colours (space gray, gold, silver, blue, pink, red) and has three different storage options: 32GB, 128GB, and 256GB. Also, the iPod Touch is the most expensive model, because of the similarities that it shares with the iPhone.

11. Brick – the first iPod game

The original iPod had the game Brick, invented by Apple’s co-founderSteve Wozniak. It was included as an Easter Egg hidden feature. After some time, Apple added three more games: Parachute, Solitaire, and Music Quiz. In September 2006, the iTunes Store began to offer additional games for purchase.

12. The least expensive iPod

Besides being known as the smallest model, the iPod Shuffle was also the cheapest one. This is because of the usage of flash memory and the absence of a screen.

13. Where is it made?

Although the iPod is designed in California, the manufacturing process takes place somewhere else. As many other Apple products, such as the iPad and the iPhone 11 or 12b, the iPod is manufactured and assembled by Foxconn, a Taiwanese company.

14. Battery life

If they’re not used at all, iPod batteries can last between 2 to 4 weeks.

15. iPod sales revenue

The iPod became a huge success shortly after its release. For example, in April 2007, Apple reported a second-quarter revenue of US$5.2 billion, of which 32% was made from iPod sales solely. However, as time went by and technology evolved, this percentage began to decline and iPod sales were overtaken in the middle of 2010 by the iPhone.

16. “Don’t steal music.”

The first versions of the iPod used to come with a plastic sticker on which a warning was written. The text said: “Don’t steal music.” in three languages (besides English): French, German, and Japanese.

17. The iPod’s impact on other businesses

Hundreds of companies have created viable businesses on the back of the iPod. From speakers and headphones to in-car kits, covers, cases and skins, the relationship between the iPod and the accessory market is self-propagating. The abundance of devices that work with the iPod has opened the door for accessory manufacturers worldwide, and without it, the mobile accessory industry wouldn’t be what it is today.

18. What are iPods made of?

According to Apple, stainless steel is a major component in the iPod Touch, iPod Classic, and iPod Shuffle. However, it is one of the lesser materials in the iPod Nano. Apple includes aluminium components in the iPod Shuffle, iPod Nano, and iPod Classic because this metal is highly recyclable. Plastic materials composed components in all of the iPod models except for the iPod Shuffle. However, plastics make up only a fraction of the total weight of these audio players.

19. iPod’s initial name

Before Vinnie Chieco came up with the idea to call it “iPod”, the product was known by the code name P68.

20. The inspiration for its design

It’s commonly said that the iPod was inspired by Braun’s T3 pocket radio, which looks remarkably similar. While it’s possible Apple took visual cues from Braun’s design, the inspiration for the wheel itself came from a different place: a Bang & Olufsen phone. Apple wasn’t initially sure how it would design the iPod’s user interface. That is, until Apple found inspiration from this Danish company.

21. iPod’s creators

Jon Rubinstein (Apple’s hardware engineering chief), the hardware engineers Tony Fadell and Michael Dhuey, and design engineer Sir Jonathan Ive were the ones who designed the iPod line. Jon Rubinstein was the one who created the team, as ordered by Steve Jobs. They were able to develop the first iPod in less than a year.

22. The iPod’s effects on the music industry

The iPod has also been credited with accelerating shifts within the music industry. Its popularization of digital music storage gave users the opportunity to abandon listening to entire albumsand instead be able to choose specific singles which hastened the end of the Album Era in popular music.

23. iPod’s “second name”

Because of its size and similar purposes, the first iPod has been given the name of “Walkman of the 21st century”.

24. The world’s most expensive iPod

The iPod Supreme is considered to be the most expensive iPod Touch on this planet. It is covered with 149 grams of 22 carat gold. The outer section of the iPod has 300 diamonds and the main navigation button has 12 diamonds which surround a single cut pink diamond of 2.1 carat. The device comes in a box made from white lacquered wood and it costs US$233,000.

25. What’s the number of songs an iPod can hold?

The maximum number of songs that every iPod is capable of storing varies upon the length of songs, file type, format, and encoding used. However, according to Apple’s estimations, an iPod touch 4th Generation with the capacity of 64 GB could hold up to 14.000 songs. That means that a 256 GB iPod Touch can hold approximately 56.000 songs!

Thanks to its user-friendliness, the iPod quickly became a very popular device of the first two decades of the 21^st century. It’s safe to say that it influenced many aspects of life, not only when it comes to music, but also business, education, etc. Although its number of users decreased over time, it’s undeniable that the iPod has left its mark on all music lovers and the music industry.

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