Today the iPod turns 5
Five years ago today Apple introduced the first iPod. 5 gigs of storage promised 1,000 CD quality songs in your pocket. The Firewire port let you transfer those songs in less than 10 minutes, and it could even double as a portable hard drive. $399 would get you this little marvel (though it didn't go on sale until November 10th) but you had better have a Mac. Why? Because, the iPod was Mac only.
When I first heard about the iPod I thought, 'That's a dumb name and who needs to keep a 1,000 songs with them at all times? I don't even know 1,000 songs.' Fast forward 5 years and my iPod has 6800 songs on it and movies to boot!
I didn't think this little device would catch on, but then I saw one in person. I felt the quality in its manufacture (those first iPods had some heft to them), and I loved the smooth mechanical scroll wheel, which I still think is better than the current touch sensitive scroll wheel. I didn't buy one though, not until the 10 gig models were out (still Mac only) because I didn't think 5 gigs would be enough.
As soon as I loaded up that 10 gig iPod the way I listened to music changed forever. It also had the side effect of making me feel like I was in a special club. You see, children, back then you didn't see hundreds of people with those iconic white headphones everywhere you went. No, only the chosen people, i.e. Mac users, could even use these devices and even then only a percentage of Mac users could use it (your Mac needed a FireWire port, at the very least). I recall being on a subway car, hurtling underneath Manhattan, when a man saw my white headphones. He stopped, took out his iPod, and gave me a thumbs up. I nodded, and we passed like two scroll wheels in the night.
Ah, the iPod. Who knew it would ever get this big? Who knew that FireWire would stop being supported for transfers? Who knew that all iPods would be configured for PCs by default? You've come a long way, iPod, and I'm excited for your future.
Anyway, in honor of the iPod's birthday I suggest you watch the Special Event during which Steve introduced the little guy for the first time.
