RIP Steve Jobs! He changed the world in so many amazing ways.
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16 Years Ago Today, Apple Unveiled the Original iPod
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I remember watching the keynote (might have been a few hours later) of the iPod unveil... I was blown away--WITH DISBELIEF--because something didn't make any sense. Jobs got everyone frothed up after his reworking and revamping of Apple; iTunes was incredible; OS X was brilliant and invigorating;the Macs were awesome.
And there is Jobs. He's saying an MP3 player is an incredible device and an innovation.
HUH?
Genius innovator says a little (limited) mp3 player is the next step.
Wha? Had to accept that he saw something no one else did. There was something he knew or had his eye on that was unseen to the naysayers and critics. That was a long wait: 6 years. Then we all saw what he originally envisioned.
I purchased the first iPod: wonderful; purchased the second iPod: boffo. Purchased the first Nano, second Nano (just used it today), a few shuffles, first iPod Touch and latest iPod Touch. They are all wonderful, but most have died or froze, etc., after years of use.
Those were exciting years for the Apple ecosystem. These days are not close to those days, and that's sad.
And there is Jobs. He's saying an MP3 player is an incredible device and an innovation.
HUH?
Genius innovator says a little (limited) mp3 player is the next step.
Wha? Had to accept that he saw something no one else did. There was something he knew or had his eye on that was unseen to the naysayers and critics. That was a long wait: 6 years. Then we all saw what he originally envisioned.
I purchased the first iPod: wonderful; purchased the second iPod: boffo. Purchased the first Nano, second Nano (just used it today), a few shuffles, first iPod Touch and latest iPod Touch. They are all wonderful, but most have died or froze, etc., after years of use.
Those were exciting years for the Apple ecosystem. These days are not close to those days, and that's sad.
I had a portable minidisc player just prior to my first (early 2004 3rd gen) iPod. I used to carry so many discs around that I would audibly rattle as I walked down the street. How I don't miss the frustration of trying to condense double albums onto a single MD when they went over the crucial 80 min mark. White Album, The Wall....
Wasn't a bad little device, but the iPod completely and utterly eclipsed it on every possible front.
I bought the original iPod because I had been struggling with this Rio player that had enough flash memory for about 20 songs, with the extra module clicked in. 4 GB? Let me at it! And, it hooked up with iTunes, too! God, $400? Really? Yes, it was.
Yesterday, I have just (finally) did the iFlash Quad and now have 600GB Late 2009 iPod Classic. STILL my favorite way to listen to music. The gagdet that ressurected Apple !
The only things I didn't like what the iPod influenced was sealed batteries, no expandable storage, no FM radio (certain nanos had them), and reliance to iTunes which created this ecosystem.
This was the start of Apple's planned obsolescence which carried over to iPhones. Now many current smartphones lack many standard features from over a decade ago. Xiaomi and Huawei uses an iTunes-copycat PC Suite.
The announcements for the latest iPods from 2001-2006 were more amazing though especially for the nano models. We expected annual design changes. Not the 3-4 gen cycles we expect from iPhones.
This was the start of Apple's planned obsolescence which carried over to iPhones. Now many current smartphones lack many standard features from over a decade ago. Xiaomi and Huawei uses an iTunes-copycat PC Suite.
The announcements for the latest iPods from 2001-2006 were more amazing though especially for the nano models. We expected annual design changes. Not the 3-4 gen cycles we expect from iPhones.
I have a 3rd gen iPod (15GB), 2nd gen Product Red nano (8GB), 5th gen Product Red nano (16GB) and 3rd gen iPod Touch (64GB) in my "Apple iPod/iPhone Museum".
This was my favorite iPod ever. I liked the separate buttons and the non-moving clickwheel. Plus, it came with a headphone remote built in AND a charging dock, back when Apple would include stuff like that.Still miss my iPod 3rd Gen. I think it still functions but I haven't used it in years.
Infuriating, killing off this useful device. Music player on my iPhone 7 is not pleasant at all. Blind, blind, blind and greedy. But it seems they are coming back with Mac Pro and the mini, so maybe they are having a change of heart. But it sure does seem that they HATE musicians and music-fans over there in Cupertino.
No it was spastic back then too (horrible running man and moonwalk). I don't know how back then anybody could screw up the moonwalk, we've all had several years to practice.
Either way great commercial and considering the entrenced competition in the market Apple killed it! Marketing was at an all time high back then! They didn't need an omniprescient british voice (Ive) ... which seemingly seems too similar to the 1984 overlord video.
16 years ago was when Apple cared about its consumer base. Steve Job's Apple will forever be missed. He brought us the iPad, iPhone, iPod not to mention an exciting Mac range. The introduction of the MacBook Air in 2008 raised the bar so high it took other manufacturers years to catch up.
Macs in the Steve Jobs era were user serviceable none of this soldered in RAM nonsense and were built to last. I have a Late 2006 Mac Mini, Early 2008 24" iMac and a Late 2009 21.5" iMac all of which are running as good as the day they were purchased and continue to be productive. Sure no one can deny the 27" 5k Retina iMac is an awesome piece of kit but its entirely locked down.
Back in the day it wasn't necessary to have a Mac custom built by Apple. The user could upgrade most things themselves using the likes of iFixit for reference. Both of my iMacs have been upgraded to the hilt something that is nigh on impossible these days by the user.
Thanks to Steve Jobs the iPod along with iTunes has changed the way the world population listens to music and whilst the iPhone will continue to offer the same there is no way Tim Cook's Apple has shown anywhere near the amount of innovation and there is little sign of it doing so.
Macs in the Steve Jobs era were user serviceable none of this soldered in RAM nonsense and were built to last. I have a Late 2006 Mac Mini, Early 2008 24" iMac and a Late 2009 21.5" iMac all of which are running as good as the day they were purchased and continue to be productive. Sure no one can deny the 27" 5k Retina iMac is an awesome piece of kit but its entirely locked down.
Back in the day it wasn't necessary to have a Mac custom built by Apple. The user could upgrade most things themselves using the likes of iFixit for reference. Both of my iMacs have been upgraded to the hilt something that is nigh on impossible these days by the user.
Thanks to Steve Jobs the iPod along with iTunes has changed the way the world population listens to music and whilst the iPhone will continue to offer the same there is no way Tim Cook's Apple has shown anywhere near the amount of innovation and there is little sign of it doing so.
Great link find. Reading the posts on the first page seems not unlike what we see with any of Apple's products today (iPhone X and from myself included), lol.
WeezerX80 said:
elitemacor said:
If Apple has respect for Steve Jobs they should introduce an iPod Classic Anniversary edition with flash drive etc. At least that's a product they should keep alive even if now it is abandoned.
Hmm. I'd debate that. Back in 1982 I had a Sony Walkman from Japan (WALKMAN WM-101) on the bus in a city of 1.7 million back then (Toronto). Riding across the city I barely saw more than 3 people with any walkman for an entire 3 months of summer.
by the time the iPod debuted in it's first year you'd see several people every block using an MP3 player. Not to mention restored the want to pay for music by everyone across the globe, artists being paid for music ... providing computers and software for artsist to create their content and ability to upload it.
I'd say that is quite 'revolutionary' to me.
source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/276307/global-apple-ipod-sales-since-fiscal-year-2006/
This is what Apple Think Different was done behind the iPod. Sony lost because they where part of the old model. I did wish the Hi-MD (minidisc took off more than it did though).
If You really think about it, all the technology that's packed into something that fits in the palm of your hand is incredible . And the fact that it's portable and lightweight from where technology was over 10 years ago, we live in some amazing technological times.
I really miss Steve Jobs - the man and his RDF was powerful, magical.
Sorry guys, this triggered memories.
Sorry guys, this triggered memories.
Precisely Steve Jobs brought so many High Quality products to the table. Snow Leopard remains to this day the best OS X (macOS) release .
Oh gosh. That fabled “thread 500” too!
I remember getting the 3rd gen one and it’s halo effect made me want a PowerBook too. I was at college at the time and I had spent up my student loan, and my folks would never lend me money for an MP3 player. So I borrowed the money from a friend. I was that desperate! But what a device. I bought it through a friend’s company so I was able to get the tax knocked off the price. Which was nice. Anywho I do remember feeling that my i-Bead 200 was the better MP3 player for a while with its direct usb connection, it’s necklace like design, and FM radio support. Loved the thing.
I still use the last HDD model they produced (can’t remember what gen it was). It’s excellent as a video watching thing in bed; loads of storage, mega long battery life, perfect size screen. My iPod touch never replicated that functionality.
I remember getting the 3rd gen one and it’s halo effect made me want a PowerBook too. I was at college at the time and I had spent up my student loan, and my folks would never lend me money for an MP3 player. So I borrowed the money from a friend. I was that desperate! But what a device. I bought it through a friend’s company so I was able to get the tax knocked off the price. Which was nice. Anywho I do remember feeling that my i-Bead 200 was the better MP3 player for a while with its direct usb connection, it’s necklace like design, and FM radio support. Loved the thing.
I still use the last HDD model they produced (can’t remember what gen it was). It’s excellent as a video watching thing in bed; loads of storage, mega long battery life, perfect size screen. My iPod touch never replicated that functionality.
"The iPhone does everything the iPod did and more"
At a far higher price. Our family has six iPodTouch. They do just what we need. We don't need the phone functionality which incurs a far higher cost. Hopefully Apple will continue making the iPodTouch line because there are a lot of people like us who want the rest of the functions but don't need the phone and don't want to spend the money on the phone.
At a far higher price. Our family has six iPodTouch. They do just what we need. We don't need the phone functionality which incurs a far higher cost. Hopefully Apple will continue making the iPodTouch line because there are a lot of people like us who want the rest of the functions but don't need the phone and don't want to spend the money on the phone.
The iPod along with iTunes changed the way the World Population listens to Audio content.
Steve saw the shortcomings of existing music players—and an opportunity, but Tony Fadell was the talent Apple recruited to ultimately design a solution. Fanboys owe more graditude to Fadell for their favorite mobile hardware than to Jobs and Ive combined.