Today marks the 20th anniversary that Steve Jobs introduced the iPod at a press conference at Apple's Town Hall auditorium. This event has been regarded as one of Apple's most significant moments.
Below is a snapshot from Apple's website on October 23, 2001. This was the date the iPod was officially announced. Image courtesy of Wayback Machine
The original iPod's news story is still available on our website. However, the comments section is known for containing many negative comments about it. One commenter called the iPod "far from revolutionary", while another wrote, "all this hype for something that's so absurd!"
The iPod was, of course, one of Apple's most important products and helped the company to regain its success after falling prey to bankruptcy in the 1990s.
Jobs once described the iPod as having "1,000 songs in your pockets," and he revealed the device by taking it out of his pocket.
Jobs stated in a press release that Apple's iPod is a new type of digital music player. "With iPod, Apple invented a whole new category that allows you to put your entire music collection into your pocket and listen wherever you go," Jobs said. With iPod, music listening will never be the same.
Since then, the iPod has become a niche product. The iPod touch is the last model that's still available to purchase after the iPod classic was retired in 2014. In addition, the iPod nano and iPod Shuffle were both discontinued in 2017. As of today, the iPod touch's product page can only be found in the footer section of Apple's website.
Tony Fadell, Apple's former senior vice-president of the iPod team, spoke out about creating the iPod in a published interview.
