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Classic, Mini, Nano, Shuffle, Touch - iPod History

26 October 07

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Factoid of the Week - Rise of the iPod

The first generation iPod was introduced to us in October 2001. Since then, Apple has sold over 100 million [different versions of] iPods worldwide. The iPod is the most known portable media player. Here’s a time line of major landmarks, chartering the rise of the iPod*:

Timeline

January 2001 - Steve Jobs announces iTunes (the first Mac jukebox) to the world at the annual Mac Expo, thereby delving Apple into the world of digital music.

October 23, 2001 - The first iPod is unveiled boasting a 5GB Hard Drive (up to 1,000 songs), unique scroll wheel, backlit LCD display, and a battery life of 10 hours. The original MSRP was set at $399.99

April 28, 2003 - With no subscription fees, $0.99/song, and 200,00+ songs available for download, Apple launches the iTunes Music Store. “The iTunes Music Store offers groundbreaking personal use rights, including burning songs onto an unlimited number of CDs for personal use, listening to songs on an unlimited number of iPods, playing songs on up to three Macintosh® computers, and using songs in any application on the Mac®, including iPhoto™, iMovie™ and iDVD™.”

January 6, 2004 - Apple introduces the iPod Mini which was the then smallest portable music player ever to hold up to 1,000 songs. It weighed in at a mere 3.6 oz., and came in a variety of colors with an MSRP of $249.99.

October 26, 2004 - iPods are released with the ability to store photos. “iPod Photo lets you combine your music and your favorite photos to create magical slideshows on your iPod, and features TV-out for sharing your slideshows on big screen televisions and projectors. iPod Photo comes in 40GB or 60GB models which hold up to 10,000 or 15,000 songs, and its extended battery life gives users up to 15 hours of music playback or up to 5 hours of slideshows.” Available in 40GB ($499) and 60GB ($599) versions.

January 11, 2005 - The iPod Shuffle is introduced. “Smaller and lighter than a pack of gum, iPod shuffle comes with its own lanyard so it’s ready to wear right out of the box.” Shuffles were available in versions of 512MB ($99) and 1GB ($149).

September 7, 2005 - The 1st generation iPod Nano is released. ‘“iPod nano is the biggest revolution since the original iPod,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “iPod nano is a full-featured iPod in an impossibly small size, and it’s going to change the rules for the entire portable music market.”’ It was available at first in 2GB ($199), and 4GB ($249) models originally. Later in Feb. 2006, 1GB ($149) model was put on the market.

September 12, 2006 - The 2nd generation iPod Nano is released featuring a new and thinner design, five different colors, and a battery life of 24 hours. It is available in 2GB ($149), 4GB ($199), and 8GB ($249) versions. With the launch of the 2nd gen. Nanos, Apple does away with 1GB versions of this model iPod.

Along with the 2G Nano, the 2nd generation of Shuffles are released. They are smaller than ever, marketed as ‘wearable’ with a new clip design, and available in a new color (silver)…all with the ability to hold 240 songs (1GB). Apple chose to do away with 512MB versions of the Shuffle.

January 30, 2007 - The 2nd generation of Shuffles are made available in five different colors (same colors as 2g nanos).

June 29, 2007 - The birth of the iPhone…well not exactly, but this is the release date of when it was made available for purchase. iPod + cell phone = genius marketing strategy. The iPhone went “on sale in the US on June 29, 2007 at 6:00 p.m. local time through Apple’s retail stores and AT&T’s select retail stores. Apple’s online store will be taking orders for iPhone beginning at 6:00 p.m. PDT. iPhone will be available in a 4GB model for $499 (US) and an 8GB model for $599 (US), and will work with either a PC or Mac®.”

September 5, 2007 - Apple introduces and released the 3rd Generation Nano, the iPod Classic, and the iPod Touch (AKA iTouch) all in one day.

3rd Generation Nano - The Nano is now enabled with the ability to playback video. Shorter and wider than the 2G, bigger and brighter screen, and with a new set of pastel colors, it is dubbed the ‘phatty’. New design, new price….”4GB iPod nano comes in silver for just $149 (US) and the 8GB model is available in silver, black, blue, green and a (PRODUCT) RED special edition for just $199 (US)”.

iPod Classic - From 1,000 songs to 40,000 songs, the original iPod has come a long way. The new iPod Classic is available in “80GB or 160GB of storage that holds your entire collection of music, photos, video, podcasts and games—up to 40,000 songs or 200 hours of video. Now in its sixth generation, the new iPod classic delivers all the features customers love about their iPods, plus an enhanced user interface featuring Cover Flow™ and a new all-metal enclosure. iPod classic is priced at just $249 for the 80GB model and $349 for the 160GB model.”

iPod Touch - I’ve made mention about this in previous entries here and here. In my opinion, this is the new iPod that future iPods should evolve from. With a multitouch interface, Wi-Fi capable, and a 3.5 inch color LCD display (to name a few features), the “8GB iPod touch model is $299 (US) and the 16GB iPod model is $399 (US).”

Also, on this date, Apple decided to reduce the price on iPhones and discontinue the production of the 4GB model iPhone. The 8GB was reduced from $599 to $399. The remaining stock of 4GB iPhones were sold off at $299. 4GB iPhones are no longer available for purchase at the Apple Online Store.

Did I Miss Anything?

So that was my breakdown of iPod history in the style of Cliffs Notes. Of course, there’s a lot more to iPods and the portable media player revolution, but I’ll save that for another day, another post, another blog. Feel free to leave a comment and/or correct me if I missed anything.

*Sources: Official Apple site

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