20 years since the iPod was announced!! Nice to hear the stories behind it.
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Tony Fadell Reflects on Creating the iPod Ahead of Device's 20th Anniversary
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Things you don't talk about: The Matrix part 2 and 3, the Star Wars "prequels", and Apple's Motorola phone...
Although... what was funny about the Moto Phone is the trick Steve Jobs pulled when he had to demo it. That was classic Steve Jobs, and to be honest to this day, nobody would do that, well, maybe Elon would...
Jobs was required by contract to finish the product and introduce it in the keynote - but he knew it sucked as a product.
So what he did is, he gave the shortest possible intro that would not result in a lawsuit - only to then announce the brand new iPod nano first gen, a device that was so cool like it was out of a SciFi movie, it seemed impossible to have a device this small, with this much storage, and with a tiny color screen! So he did a lukewarm - by Jobs standards - intro of the Motorola phone, then killed it with a revolutionary and magic iPod.
As if to one up Motorola, like "this is how it's done, suckers!".
That was epic
I was hoping this past keynote would had done something spectacular in regards to a 20th anniversary iPod Classic or even a touch facelift but nope, that ship sailed already ?? can’t win them all anyways
Things you don't talk about: The Matrix part 2 and 3, the Star Wars "prequels", and Apple's Motorola phone...
Although... what was funny about the Moto Phone is the trick Steve Jobs pulled when he had to demo it. That was classic Steve Jobs, and to be honest to this day, nobody would do that, well, maybe Elon would...
Jobs was required by contract to finish the product and introduce it in the keynote - but he knew it sucked as a product.
So what he did is, he gave the shortest possible intro that would not result in a lawsuit - only to then announce the brand new iPod nano first gen, a device that was so cool like it was out of a SciFi movie, it seemed impossible to have a device this small, with this much storage, and with a tiny color screen! So he did a lukewarm - by Jobs standards - intro of the Motorola phone, then killed it with a revolutionary and magic iPod.
As if to one up Motorola, like "this is how it's done, suckers!".
That was epic
What really was epic was the insight Apple engineers gleaned from working with Motorola on razr. Motorola was one of the leading cellular telecom developers/manufacturers at the time (the M in MEN - Motorola, Ericsson, Nokia). That RF and baseband technical assistance and insight was crucial for Apple developing its own mobil handset that conformed to complex regulatory requirements. Without that assistance on razr, Apple would not have released the iPhone when it did - would likely have happened 1-2 years later. Plain and simple.
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I’m sure it was worth it for all of those children who missed their parents during that time. “Sorry I missed your 7th birthday son, I was busy making the click wheel extra clicky.” Seriously screw bosses like that, I wouldn’t have put up with it. We need to stop glorifying behavior like this as if this is something to look up to. It’s not. Life is more important than making some old billionaires richer. Working nonstop isn‘t good for long-term mental health either. There are so many reasons this is screwed up.
Well we are all kind of hanging out for your big step up, so this is really just tiding us over.
Nothing wrong with how the puck goes in. There isn't an entry on the score sheet for what type of shot put the puck in.
If I ever create something that just about saved a tech company from irrelevance you better believe I'd be taking a victory lap from time to time, and you would too. Don't pretend you wouldn't.
I wouldn't. But it's OK if you don't believe me. History has plenty of examples of people who saved companies, industries or created amazing things who didn't take victory laps.
You are correct, history is filled with that, but in the modern age it is also filled with stories of successes like this. I'm fine with getting it all out there now while all the people involved are still alive and can tell their stories. You don't want to read the article, fine, move on.
Is this as ground breaking as what the Wright Brothers did, or Henry Ford? Not if you write it off as just a new way of listening to music. Many of us see the iPod as something bigger. It was the first step in changing how we access music, news, and all digital information, as well as how we communicate. It wasn't the first MP3 player, some would argue it wasn't the best, but it did what nothing before it or after it could do. It captured the world's attention.
We talk about how boring iPhone keynotes are. I don't know your age, and I don't mean to insult you if you are younger, but do you remember how excited everyone was for the next iPod event? This was the start of all of that. It's ok to sit back and remember stuff like that from time to time and compare it to where you are now.
I'll give you a clue, I was at the MacWorld Expo when Steve first came back and MS's investment in Apple was made known. I remember the iPhone interest was huge until the 5. It reached marketplace maturity pretty quickly and competitors were largely caught up.
Finding the right "dividing line" when everything has been incremental changes is debatable. MP3 players were around before the iPod and so were digital sources for MP3. Apple's biggest breakthrough was making something that integrated the disparate pieces, made it simpler, and found a way for people to think it was cool. It isn't truly revolutionary, IMO, but I understand the nostalgia factor. Maybe I'd be more interested if it wasn't put out as an article every year...
Perhaps a bit of hyperbole there. But if there was a story on the 16th, 17th, 18th and 19th anniversaries, I must have missed it.
And if it were celebrated on the 1st and every 5th year, that’s only 5 times over the course of 20 years!
Besides, reliving a happy moment in their lives is human nature.
Thank you, but alas it won't work on the original, first iPod. The hunt goes on...