Do you remember where you were on the morning of October 23rd, 2001? I’m not sure I can tell you where I was at the very moment that Apple announced the original iPod, but I remember exactly where I was when I first saw a picture of it: in the Uris Library fishbowl, hitting up Apple.com on my trusty PowerBook G3.
The idea of a 5GB music player the size of a deck of cards was unbelievable—after all, that PowerBook G3 only had a 6GB hard drive in it. One of my buddies had an original Diamond Rio that I borrowed from time to time, but you could only store a handful of songs on it, so mostly I relied on a portable CD player when I wanted to listen to music.
Upon hearing that Apple was planning a special announcement, my thoughts—like most people’s of that era—probably turned to Macs. I’d like to say that I had the sense then that the iPod was something different, something important, but I’m sure I didn’t have any idea of just how big it would become. Part of me figured that it would go the way of Apple’s other attempts at consumer electronics, like the Pippin or the QuickTake.
And yet here we are, seven years later, and the iPod is still going strong: Apple announced on Tuesday that it sold 11 million of the devices last quarter—the most ever for a non-holiday quarter. I’ve now owned six iPods (not including an original iPhone and an iPhone 3G), ranging from the original 5GB model to a 3G nano (with a 4G on its way in the near future). I only wish my 1G iPod were still around to see it, but he’s gone to the great recycling pool in the sky.
So where does the future of the iPod lie seven years from now? With the stunning sales results of the iPhone in the past quarter, I think it’s safe to say that the iPhone is on the ascent, and is in many ways becoming to the iPod what the iPod once was to the Mac. It seems likely the iPod classic will disappear in the next year, with the nano becoming the primary music device, and the iPod touch taking over the high-end.
I suspect that the iPod of seven years hence will be something beyond our imagination, but I lay my money down that come 2015, there will still be something called an iPod. How many product lines can you say that about?
I remember exactly where I was. I had just spend the night for the first time with a lovely girl that now is my wife. So we celebrate our 7th anniversary of sorts today. Let the seven year itch begin.
Didn't buy a first generation iPod though. I thought they were too sharp around the front edges. And way too expensive.
I need to send my 1st gen in for recycling. It finally gave me the sad face. I bought it the February after they came out, along with my first laptop, a titanium g4 powerbook, which I still have, though I have no specific use for it. I can't believe it has been so long.
My 2nd gen iPod still works too, but I just use it to transfer big files between computers missing USB2. I loved how the old ones came with the long white firewire cable. I bet I'm not the only one using an old iPod cable for target disk mode.
I bought it shortly after it was released.
I had a feeling it was going to revolutionize the portable music industry, especially once I hooked it up to my iBook and loaded up iTunes.
I still have it. It still sorta works.