In late 2001, a small device the size of a deck of cards arrived carrying a thousand songs and a modest hope, at a moment when the world was still shaken and few expected much from it. Its quiet power lay in solving an old problem of how to carry a whole life of music in a pocket, and in the software that bound it to a computer many had already dismissed. Over the years it reshaped how a company thought of itself, how songs were bought and sold, and how listeners related to the albums they once treasured. Twenty-five years later, the object has largely vanished, yet the habits it taught and th
Twenty-Five Years On, the iPod's 1,000 Songs Still Shape How Apple and the Music Industry Work
The iPhone never would have existed without it.
Mark
Twenty-five years on, why does the iPod still matter if nobody sells one anymore?
Mimi
Because of what it led to. Tony Fadell, the 'Podfather', says the iPhone never would have existed without it, and that the Apple we know wouldn't either.
Luke
That's a claim from someone who worked on the iPod, so it's an insider's view, not a settled fact. It's plausible, but nobody can prove the counterfactual.
Mark
What made the first one stand out in 2001?
Mimi
It held around 1,000 songs, and the wheel made a big collection easy to move through. Other MP3 players had little storage and were hard to use.
Mark
But it cost US$399 and only worked with Macs.
Mimi
Right, and Macs had under 3% of the market. That's why people doubted it. Windows support came in 2002 and widened things a lot.
Luke
Worth noting the 1,000-song figure was Jobs's own launch claim. The report calls it plausible for a personal collection, but it's still his number.
Mark
How did it change the music business?
Mimi
The iTunes Music Store sold single songs at 99 cents, so people stopped buying whole albums for a few tracks. Jay-Z pulled American Gangster from iTunes in 2007 over it.
Luke
And the report doesn't say how much album sales actually fell, only that some musicians complained. The effect on albums is an argument here, not a measured result.
Mark
And what happened to the iPod itself?
Mimi
The iPhone ended it. The iPod touch lasted until 2022, and Apple later bought Beats to catch up with Spotify.
Le Pouls
- Apple launched a US$399 music player in 2001 for a small base of Mac owners, when Macs held under 3% of the market, and many saw little reason to take it seriously.
- The iPod's wheel, compact storage and tie-in to iTunes made whole music libraries portable, and the device quickly outgrew its niche.
- The 99-cent song from the iTunes Music Store broke the album as the unit of purchase, pleasing buyers and angering artists who believed albums should stay whole.
- Once the iPhone arrived in 2007, the standalone player lost its reason to exist, and the iPod classic and nano were discontinued by 2017.
- Apple's later purchase of Beats signaled a move toward streaming, and the industry now lands on subscriptions rather than individual downloads.
In late 2001, a small device the size of a deck of cards arrived carrying a thousand songs and a modest hope, at a moment when the world was still shaken and few expected much from it. Its quiet power lay in solving an old problem of how to carry a whole life of music in a pocket, and in the software that bound it to a computer many had already dismissed. Over the years it reshaped how a company thought of itself, how songs were bought and sold, and how listeners related to the albums they once treasured. Twenty-five years later, the object has largely vanished, yet the habits it taught and the company it helped create still shape how the world listens.
On October 23, 2001, Steve Jobs pulled a device about the size of a deck of playing cards from his jeans pocket and claimed it could hold around 1,000 songs. The launch came at a grim time, with the World Trade Center attacks still fresh and economic worry spreading. Apple asked US$399 for an MP3 player that initially worked only with Macs, a platform with less than 3% of the computer market, and many people dismissed it.
The iPod solved a real problem, though. Compression had made albums small enough to carry, but earlier portable players were clumsy and held little. The iPod's display, its click wheel and its link to iTunes, which let users import CDs into a digital library, made large collections easy to navigate. Within a few years Windows support arrived, models multiplied, and by the end of 2005 Apple had sold more than 40 million units, lifting its Mac business along the way.
The iPhone's arrival in 2007 closed the era. Apple kept the iPod touch on sale until 2022, but few wanted a separate player once phones could do everything, and the classic and nano were discontinued in 2014 and 2017.
The music business changed as well. The iTunes Music Store opened two years after the first iPod, selling single songs for 99 cents, and buyers no longer had to pay for whole albums to get one track. Sales of individual songs soared at a moment when piracy had battered the industry. Not everyone cheered: in 2007 Jay-Z kept American Gangster off iTunes, insisting an album should not be broken into pieces. Subscription services eventually eased that tension, and Apple's purchase of Beats was a step toward competing with streaming pioneers such as Spotify.
Tony Fadell, the engineer nicknamed the 'Podfather', has said the iPhone would not have existed without the iPod, and that the Apple we know might never have taken shape. Twenty-five years on, the device is gone from shelves, but its influence on the company and on how people buy and hear music remains.
On October 23, 2001, Steve Jobs reached into the pocket of his jeans and pulled out a device about the size of a deck of playing cards. He claimed it could hold around 1,000 songs. It was the first iPod, and by then he had already spent 20 minutes showing the audience the software it was built to work with.
The timing was not kind. The Western world was still reeling from the World Trade Center attacks in New York, and economic uncertainty was growing. Apple wanted US$399 for an MP3 player that at first worked only with the company's Mac computers, which held less than 3% of the computer market. Dismissing it was easy.
Yet it solved a real problem. The MP3 format used compression algorithms to shrink music to a fraction of its former storage footprint, which in theory made whole album collections portable. Portable MP3 players already existed, but they generally had little storage and were hard to use. The iPod paired a monochrome display, which let users browse by artist, playlist or individual song, with a wheel and a central selection button for moving quickly through big collections. It rested on iTunes, which let Mac users import CDs into a digital library, and on Jobs's strategy of making the Mac a "digital hub" for videos, photos and music. Jobs said Apple built the iPod because it wanted a device integrated with that software.
The product changed fast. The first model had a wheel users physically turned. From the second generation in 2002, a touch-sensitive circle recognised finger movements, and Apple added Windows PC support at the same time, which dramatically widened the market. The third generation, in 2003, introduced a 30-pin connector that every iPhone also used until 2012. The cheaper, more colourful iPod mini arrived in 2004 with a click wheel that folded in the stop and menu buttons. In 2005 came the display-less iPod shuffle, built to play music in random order and the first model to use flash memory rather than a mini hard drive, along with the iPod nano, as thin as a pencil with a small colour screen. By the end of 2005 Apple had sold more than 40 million iPods, and the sales lifted its Mac business too.
The iPhone's introduction in 2007 began the end of the iPod era. The iPod touch, essentially an iPhone without mobile phone service, stayed on sale until 2022, but with smartphones everywhere few people wanted a separate player. Apple discontinued the iPod classic, by then offering 160GB, in 2014, and the iPod nano in 2017.
The music business felt the effects as well. Two years after the first iPod, Apple opened the iTunes Music Store, selling individual songs at 99 cents each as well as full albums. Buyers who wanted only a few tracks no longer had to purchase an entire album or an expensive single. Sales of individual songs soared, and the shuffle function made the digital mixtape more popular than ever. All of this landed on an industry battered by rampant online piracy.
Not everyone welcomed it. Some musicians complained that the iTunes model was killing the album. In 2007, Jay-Z refused to put his album American Gangster on the iTunes Store, arguing that films are not sold as individual scenes and that an album was not meant to be broken apart. The dispute eased as subscription services offering tens of millions of songs for a monthly fee took hold. Apple was so slow to leave the iTunes model that it bought the music company Beats to compete more quickly with streaming pioneer Spotify.
Tony Fadell, whose iPod work earned him the nickname 'Podfather', told Wired recently that the iPhone never would have existed without the iPod, and that the Apple we know would not exist either. Twenty-five years on, the device is gone from the shelves, but the company and the way people buy and hear music still carry its mark.
Citations marquantes
The iPhone never would have existed without it, and the Apple we know would never have existed without the iPod.— Tony Fadell, iPod pioneer, to Wired magazine
Films are not sold as individual scenes, and an album is not meant to be broken apart.— Jay-Z, paraphrased, on refusing to put American Gangster on iTunes in 2007
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