tony fadell
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The birth of the iPod
Wired has an interesting look at the early days of the iPod, and what's most fascinating is just how fully formed the idea of the iPod and iTunes was. The idea itself originates from a company called PortalPlayer, where hardware designer Tony Fadell had the idea to create a player that could eventually be paired with "a Napster music sale service to complement it." That's it -- even that early, the iPod + iTunes idea that would eventually revolutionize Apple was that complete. Of course, that was before Apple even got invested in the project -- once they did, Steve Jobs put "100 percent" of his time into the project, and they ended with the iconic design and the feel and experience that pushed it beyond any other MP3 player at the time. That's not to say that development was smooth sailing after that -- apparently there was a major battery issue that kept battery life at a super low three hours until Apple and PortalPlayer got it fixed up. Always fun to hear the backstory on the stuff that would eventually make this company what it is today.
WSJ: Apple's iPod boss stepping down, replacement stuck in legal limbo (Update: now official)
He might not be a household name, but Tony Fadell is the chief of Apple's iPod division (and credited with bringing the iPod idea to Apple) and part of the executive team responsible for the iPhone's development. At least he was. The Wall Street Journal, citing sources "familiar with the matter," reports that Fadell is jumping off the Infinite Loop for personal reasons but will remain at Apple's disposal in a consulting role. Here's the kicker: Mark Papermaster appears to be the named successor assuming IBM's lawyers don't put a stop to Apple's plans. None of this matters of course since it's common knowledge amongst investors that Steve Jobs does everything from inventing the iPhone to replacing printer cartridges around the Apple campus -- his staff is just there for tax purposes.Update: It's official. Papermaster is in as senior VP of Devices Hardware Engineering reporting to Jobs -- Fadell is out. That means he'll lead the iPod and iPhone hardware engineering teams. IBM be damned.Read -- WSJ rumorRead -- Tony Fadell Bio
