Happy Birthday iPod, growing 8 years strong!
Even at the time, people realized how important the iMac was for Apple. However, when Apple hit the market with the iPod, many pundits dismissed it out of hand as too expensive and too limited — FireWire and Apple only. Now, as media player that could closes in its first decade, it still claims an over 70 percent market and turned out to be just the first of a whole family of products that changed music, computing and mobile phones.
Where has the time gone? Well, I’ve put a lot of it into using, managing and just plain enjoying Apple’s iPod. Currently, the Carlson household has a 2G iPod touch, 3G iPod nano, 3G iPod shuffle and 1G iPod mini, and we’re planning to add several more. That is, every time a relative or friend asks which model they should ask for, buy and/or give we end getting one (or two) for ourselves.
Thereupon, given that Oct. 23 is the iPod’s birthday, it’s tribute time and there’s no more fitting way to get that job done than to share a video of Steve Jobs introducing the original 5GB model to a skeptical world way, way back in 2001.
via Cult of Mac
Here are some reviews of the original iPod:
“Clearly Apple is following Sony’s lead by integrating consumer electronics devices into its marketing strategy, but Apple lacks the richness of Sony’s product offering. And introducing new consumer products right now is risky, especially if they cannot be priced attractively” — Tim Deal, analyst, Technology Business Research via News.com.
“For all Jobs’ excitement, though, Apple users at Mac discussion sites seemed a bit crestfallen that the device wasn’t as revolutionary as the company had promised last week. Indeed, many said it was over-priced and under-powered”—Wired
“The Apple iPod’s pricing is at the high end for an MP3 player, but this is a tremendously good product. We hope to see a Windows-compatible version in the near future”—PCMag
And, doesn’t Steve look, well, “chunky”? Not fat, mind you, but so much beefier than the post pancreatic cancer/liver transplant Steve we’ve come to expect of late.
Any fond memories of the iPod you’d like to share? Guilt-ridden confessions as to how many iPods you own? Share it all in the comments below…
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October 24th, 2009
I remember watching the original iPod being released and thinking WOW. Now I am thinking , wow has it really been only eight years? It seems I can not remember my life before iPod. Truly a nostalgic video and Steve sounds like a prophet. Happy Birthday iPod! Wishing you many many more years!