In early October, Apple began hyping the iPod's release (which was still a secret from the press after eight months of development). The hype culminated in an announcement that Apple would make a major announcement on October 23, 2001, and that it was "not Mac".
Rumors immediately flared up about a revitalized Newton or PVR, but no major site predicted that Apple would release an MP3 player.
The iPod was announced to the world from a rented auditorium near Apple's corporate campus in Cupertino. The audience - and the rest of the computer industry - was shocked by the product. No one grasped the importance of the device to Apple and the music industry in general until much later. Many reacted to the product with hostility, with criticisms that ranged from its $400 price to the scroll wheel and its lack of Windows compatibility.
A month later, the iPod was released in Europe to an enthusiastic reception. As more units sold, an entire ecosystem began to form around the device, as new accessories and software products were released.
A 10 GB version of the 1G (1st generation) iPod was introduced later.
Going Windows
The most popular iPod accessory was a utility that allowed users to sync an iPod's playlists with a Windows PC. Apple took note and made the July 2002 version of the iPod - now with as much as 20 GB of storage space - compatible with Windows PC through MusicMatch. Apple also included PIM software on the iPod.
The original spinning scroll wheel was replaced by a solid state scroll wheel similar to a notebook's touchpad. It continued to be surrounded by a ring of buttons just like the 1G iPod.
Madonna iPodTo the surprise of many, Apple started engraving iPods with text and even graphics. Several bands and companies licensed their logos to Apple, which engraved them on the back of the device. These new "special" iPods were available in time for the 2002 Christmas shopping season.
iPod: The 3rd Generation
Another hardware revision came in April 2003, bringing the iPod into its third generation. In a packed hall, Steve Jobs announced the new revision, which had no mechanical buttons. The function buttons were moved to just below the screen and were solid state, like the scroll wheel.
The new version also sported a new dock connector that supported both FireWire and USB 2.0, making it easier for PC users to connect to their iPods, since few Windows PC had FireWire ports. Capacities ranged from 10 GB up to 40 GB.
With the 3G iPod, Apple moved from the lithium polymer batteries found in 1G and 2G iPods to lithium-ion batteries, which would power all future iPods.
The most important update to the iPod was not actually a hardware or software feature. It was the fulfillment of Tony Fadell's goal of creating an entire business around the iPod.
The iTunes Music Store (iTMS) was announced in the summer of 2003 and opened days later. Now, the iPod had a fully legal supply of content, and made it easier for Apple to rationalize cutting the price of the iPod now that it had another revenues source.
This also marked the beginning of the end of Apple's relationship with MusicMatch, which also launched its own music store. Tracks purchased from MusicMatch could not be played on an iPod. To the disappointment of many PC users, iTMS required iTunes, which was only available for Mac OS X until June of 2003. Then Apple released iTunes for the PC, allowing Windows users to access the iTMS. Along with the iTMS, Apple also bumped up the capacity of the iPod, without changing the design.
All was not well for Apple and the iPod, though. Many of the Sony batteries used in the original iPod were beginning to fail by autumn of 2003. A class action suit was brought against the company, and Apple eventually agreed to replace the iPod's battery, even if it was out of warranty (though those customers had to pay a $99 fee).
Smaller: iPod mini
Rumors of a new version of the iPod flew as Toshiba announced that it had created a hard drive about half the size of the one used in the iPod. It was rumored that such an iPod would cost a little over $70 to make, making it possible to compete with high-end flash players that still dominated the market. During the January 2004 Macworld Expo keynote address, Jobs announced several revisions to the iPod line, all of them price breaks. During the last fifteen minutes, he announced that there would be a new member of the iPod family, the iPod mini.
iPod miniThe mini was based on a Hitachi drive the same size of the new Toshiba drive, and it had a capacity of 4 GB. In homage to the iMac, the mini was available in five different colors: blue, green, pink, silver, and gold. Because of its size, the controls of the iPod had to be rearranged to fit on the mini. The function buttons were moved to the scroll wheel. The mini also had a smaller screen. At $249, the mini cost much less than many flash-based players available at the time, and it had a much higher capacity.
Also at the Expo, Apple released a retouched 1984 ad that featured the runner wearing the signature white earbuds of the iPod.
A second generation iPod mini was introduced in February 2005 with a new chipset, much longer battery life (18 hours vs. 8 hours), and a 6 GB version was added. The unpopular gold finish was discontinued.
The 4th Generation iPod
HP, which had sold several flash-based MP3 players under the Compaq brand in the late nineties, wanted in on the iPod game. The behemoth (then the largest PC manufacturer in the world) did not want to invest in creating its own player or adopt Microsoft's struggling format (later named Plays4Sure) and reached an agreement with Apple to remarket the iPod under the HP brand and include iTunes on all consumer computers the company sold.
The agreement came to fruition in 2004 with the HP+iPod line. The HP name got the iPod into many retailers that did not sell Apple products, such as Wal-Mart.
The iPod was a huge hit. Apple had sold millions of devices and was raking in money (although barely making a profit from iTMS). BMW outfitted all of its vehicles with an iPod interface that allows BMW owners to play their music over the BMW's sound system and control their iPod through the steering wheel.
In mid-2004, Newsweek featured the iPod and Steve Jobs on the front cover. The article contained a short story on the history of the iPod and Apple's announcement of the fourth generation iPod, which was slightly smaller than the third generation iPod and had the same clickwheel introduced with the iPod mini. The new version also meant a price drop across the board for all iPods (except the mini). The HP+iPod was also released in July 2004.
