The iPod came out at the perfect time for me. I was just starting college and discovering new ways of obtaining music (i.e., downloading) and organizing them with iTunes. Since I had an iMac at the time, I wanted a way to bring all my new music with me when I went home or to class. I was looking at the other mp3 players and nothing had all the features I wanted. Then the iPod came out and was exactly what I wanted. It also allowed me to use it as a hard-drive for transferring files to my dad.
I ordered one in early december of that year (an early christmas present) and everyone one of my friends thought I was crazy for spending $400 dollars on a music player. Most actually weren't impressed by it because it was made by Apple, but I knew it was great. I think I was probably one of a handful on campus that had the now famous white Headphones, not that anyone cared about them or knew what they were connected to. I bet I could have left it on a desk and gone to the bathroom and no one would have taken it because they didn't know what it was.
I wish Apple would come out with an Apple only product again, like the iPod was originally, I liked knowing only a select group of people would understand and appreciate the product.