22 years later on Tuesday 10 May 2022 Apple announced the end of production for the
Apple iPod. The device had proven to be a real breakthrough digital device not just for
Apple but for the music and the technology world.
The iPod turned Apple from a nearly bankrupt company to an eventual $3 trillion behemoth.
After 22 years since this product was designed and manufactured its chief architect,
Tony Fadell, speaking at the Computer History Museum said “Apple iPod is the only
reason why Apple is the company it is today”.
The device inspired the creation of the iPhone. It also saved the music industry from
piracy.
Before the iPod, the music industry was plagued by a bestiary of piracy services - Napster, Grokster, Gnutella, Kazaa - that enabled people to get songs for free. Partly as a
result, legal sales of CDs were down 9% in 2002.
As the iPod bows out, the technology industry has to take lessons from the creation of
this revolutionary product. One of those lessons is that it is not enough to just create a
product the product has to make a difference. It’s safe to say that the iPod made a difference in the music industry, the tech world, and our society.
Since then no tech product has come closer to resembling what Apple created.
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