It's always a shame when the very first building block of a company's existence is called off.
And that’s exactly what’s happening in Apple, as they a finally discontinuing the iPods after 20 years of greatness.
The News:
Apple said in a blog post posted on Tuesday that the iPod Touch—the sole version that is still available—will be accessible "while supplies last."
The reason for the iPod's removal is that a lot of other products have integrated the mobile audio streaming function, Apple said.
The news instantly sparked an explosion of posts from nostalgic memories on social media sites, with people sharing photos and sharing memories of their favorite iPods that they have collected over time.
British gaming YouTuber MrDalekJD posted: "Damn... It's kind of sad to learn it's official. Apple has officially ended the iPod as of the present. This thing changed the game of music forever. RIP. "
The iPod was released in 2001 and came with a scroll wheel. The iPod became the first player to be capable of holding 1,000 songs.
Apart from the iPod and iPod Touch, there are other models of the device: the iPod Mini, iPod Nano, and iPod Shuffle.
The New York Times reported that Apple has sold 450 million iPods since its device's introduction, citing information from venture capital firm Loup Ventures.
In the blog article, Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice president of global marketing, stated that "the spirit of the iPod lives on." "Music has always been part of our core at Apple and bringing it to hundreds of millions of users in the way iPod did impact more than just the music industry---it also redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared," Joswiak said.
iPod
The iPod is a discontinued line made up of media player portables as well as multi-purpose mobile devices developed and sold by Apple Inc. The first version was launched on the 23rd of October 2001, which was about 8+1/2 months after it was released.
The Macintosh version of iTunes was launched.
Apple will sell 450 million iPod devices by 2022. Apple ended its iPod product line on the 10th of May, 2022. At twenty years old, this iPod brand is among the oldest to be shut down by Apple.
Similar to other players for digital music, There are a few models of iPods that are also external storage devices for data.
Before macOS 10.15, the Apple iTunes program (and other software alternatives) was able to be employed to send music, images, games, videos, contacts, information about a contact, e-mail configurations, Web bookmarks, and calendars to devices that support these functions from computers running specific editions and versions of Apple macOS as well as Microsoft Windows operating systems.
Before the release of iOS 5, the iPod branding was used to describe the media player available on both the iPhone and the iPad, which was divided into two apps titled "Music" and "Videos" on the iPod Touch.
The separate music and video apps became standard across all Apple-powered devices in iOS 5. Although both the iPhone and iPad have similar media player capabilities to the iPod line, they are typically classified as separate products. In the middle of the year, iPhone sales overtook those of the iPod.
iPod's legacy
"With the iPod, listening to music will never be the same again," Steve Jobs, the former Apple CEO, stated when introducing the iPod. Through the iPod, Apple has invented an entirely new type of electronic music player that allows you to store your entire collection of music in your pocket and enjoy it anywhere you go, as the CEO has said.
"It did not take long for Jobs to realize that music was going to be huge," Walter Isaacson wrote in his book, Steve Jobs.
When Steve Jobs presented iTunes, the Apple music application, in January 2001, he had more plans. Another step in Apple's plan to create a digital hub was to create an iPod-style mobile music player. A few months later, iTunes came out. It was an idea Jobs was extremely passionate about because of his love of music. It was the iPod that was Apple's exclusive product.
"The spirit of the iPod lives on through the company's other products," Greg Joswiak, Apple's senior vice-president of global marketing, said in an email.
Although the iPod took a few cues from the iconic Walkman, Apple took the experience to an entirely new level. It was evident in the sales. Apple had a record quarter-end revenue of $7.1 billion at the start of 2007, with the iPod accounting for 48% of that. In the first quarter of 2008, 42 percent of Apple's revenues came from iPod sales.
The iPod is believed to have changed fortunes for the company before the iPhone did. In the keynote, Apple announced that the combined sales of its iPods had reached 220 million. But, since that time, iPod sales have decreased every financial quarter, as iPhones have taken over the market.
The iPod Touch was released in 2007, just a few months after Steve Jobs revealed the original iPhone, which he described as, "a widescreen iPod with touch controls." It was largely the same software and hardware features that were present in the original iPhone but without the components that made phone calls.
Sixth-generation versions of the iPod Classic and the third generation of the iPod Nano were released alongside.
The iPod Touch 2007 was advertised as a full-featured device, with a 3.5-inch touchscreen and 3.5-inch touch screen WiFi capability for Safari, Apple's browser, as well as the ability to play video on YouTube, the iPod Touch 2007 was advertised as a full-featured device. Every year between 2007 and 2010, the iPod Touch was upgraded.
The fifth-generation was released in 2012, and it took Apple three more years to release the sixth generation. The seventh, as well as final, generation of the iPod Touch came in 2019.
Although the first iPod Touch lacked a camera and microphone, the fourth generation version included everything. It was in 2011 that Apple included its messaging app iMessage, along with notifications and iCloud. Some more updates followed, mostly regarding chip upgrades.
The seventh-generation iPod Touch was thought of as a last chance to bring back the iPod lineup amid the growing popularity of both the iPhone and iPad. In the years since, there have been no references to the humble iPod during any Apple launches, which is pretty much making it impossible to revive the iPod.
Winding-up
The iPod was perhaps the device that changed the whole world for good.
If there weren’t iPods we would never know about Steve Jobs, there would be no iPhones, no MacBooks, no iPads and no Apple Watches.
At this time of saying goodbye we bid our heartfelt love and respect for this device.
iPod - thank you for being the change, thank you for bringing the change. You will be missed.
