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The very first iPod launched with "1,000 songs in your pocket."
It had 5GB of storage space, weighed 6.5 ounces, featured a 160 x 128 pixel display and FireWire connectivity and cost $399.
As well as an increased capacity topping out at 20GB, the second generation iPod got an important new feature -- Windows compatibility.
This came not via iTunes, but through MUSICMATCH Jukebox, with software called "iPod for Windows."
2003 was a big year for the Apple iPod. In April, the third generation model was introduced.
Thinner and lighter, this complete redesign now boasted a touch-sensitive interface, dock connector and 30GB capacity.
USB syncing and the launch of the iTunes Music Store solidified the early iPod ecosystem.
These elements helped Apple hit some milestones in 2003 -- one million iPods sold (which rose to two million by the end of the year) and 25 million iTunes downloads.
Keen to capitalize on the iPod's mass-market appeal, Apple made a smart move in 2004 by launching the colorful iPod mini, which featured a new Click Wheel interface.
Small, pocket-friendly and available in five colors, the mini appealed to a younger market that wanted to be seen with those hallmark white headphones.
Priced at $249 at launch, the mini boasted roughly the same 1,000-song capacity as the original iPod.
The first fourth generation iPod wasn't a major step in the device's evolution.
It got the mini's Click Wheel, an improved 12-hour battery life and an interesting new command called "Shuffle Songs."
Pricing stayed fairly static: a 20GB model cost $299, and a 40GB cost $399.
In 2004 U2 and Apple's so-called "special relationship" bore fruit: the "iPod U2 Special Edition."
A "new iPod U2 Special Edition," based on the fifth generation iPod, was also released in June 2006.
The second fourth generation iPod (yep, we're confused too) Apple introduced the "iPod Photo."
With the ability to display photos on its color screen, and connect to a big screen TV for slideshow display, it commanded a premium $499 for the 40GB version and $599 for the 60GB.
New year, new iPod. The digital music player went cheaper than ever before with the launch of the screen-less, entry-level "shuffle," $99 for the 512MB model.
Bundled with a lanyard, the shuffle was intriguing to joggers and gymers, as well as to those on a budget.
Released in February, the second generation mini was a bit of a non-event.
With 4GB models at "the magic price point of $199," a 6GB version was also available for $249.
The main thing the new mini got was a much better battery, as well as a fresh lick of paint and text that matched the body color.
Just a few months after updating the mini, Apple introduced the iPod nano.
Available in black or white and super-slim thanks to flash memory, the nano boasted a color screen.
2GB and 4GB models hit the market for $199 and $249, respectively. A 1GB version was later announced in February 2006, priced at $149.
In September 2005 you could purchase a rare special edition iPod with the Hogwarts crest. The device was launched to mark the release of the Harry Potter digital audio books.
As iTunes expanded to include TV shows and music videos, Apple unleashed the fith generation iPod, capable of video playback and an improved and enlarged 2.5-inch screen.
The second generation iPod shuffle shrunk down, with an all-new aluminum design and clip, leading Apple to boast that it was "the most wearable iPod ever."
At launch the next-gen shuffle was only available in silver, with a 1GB capacity, priced at $79.
The nano got some love in 2006 with increased 8GB capacity, a 24-hour battery life and an aluminum, "smaller, thinner and lighter" design in five colors.
In September 2006, the "new" iPod was to all intents and purposes the same as the fifth generation iPod released October 2005.
New capacities -- 30GB at the "new low price" of $249 and 80GB for $349 -- made Apple hopeful for iPod holiday purchases.
$10 from the sale of every (PRODUCT) RED nano was donated to a charity dedicated to helping people affected by AIDS in Africa.
Realizing that people like color options, Apple made the shuffle available in blue, pink, green, orange and the original silver.
The all-new "fatty" nano boasted a 2-inch QVGA screen, new colors and a smaller Click Wheel.
Other improvements included an all-metal design, video playback and Cover Flow browsing.
Following the debut of the iPhone earlier in the year, Apple launched the first iPod touch in September 2007.
Boasting the same multi-touch interface, built-in Wi-Fi, YouTube app and Safari browser, it instantly changed people's expectations of media players.
The Mail, Maps, Stocks, Weather and Notes apps were added via a January 2008 update -- the App Store wouldn't open until the following summer.
When the touch became the hero in the iPod product line-up, the original iPod became a "classic" in 2007.
The nano slimmed back down to its previous, taller design for the fourth gen iteration, and was dubbed the "thinnest iPod ever."
Nine color options in an alumnium and glass finish, horizontal viewing and an accelerometer (which allowed the "shake to shuffle" function) differentiated the new "nano-chromatic" model.
The second generation touch got a built-in speaker and, crucially, App Store access.
Smaller, lighter and sleeker than the previous model, Jobs described the touch-take-two as the "funnest" iPod yet.
Apple took an unusual step in 2009, getting rid of the shuffle's controls in favor of "VoiceOver" functionality.
Sold as "the first music player that talks to you," the tiny 4GB third generation shuffle spoke song titles, artists and playlist names.
In September 2009 Apple introduced a cheaper 2GB model for $59 and added four colors to the lineup.
When it revealed the nano, Apple announced that it had sold more than 100 million units to date.
And the fifth generation nano offered more convergence than ever before, with a video camera, mic, speaker, FM radio and pedometer.
On 09.09.09 the 8GB iPod touch received Voice Control, bundled remote earphones and a price tag of $199.
Apple put the controls back on the body of the fourth gen shuffle, although VoiceOver stays on. In five colors, the start price was an affordable $49.
In 2010 Apple borrowed multi-touch functionality from the iPod touch, as well as adopted the shuffle's clip for what was called "the biggest reinvention of the iPod nano since its debut in 2005."
The small-scale, square MP3 player lost video playback, speakers and camera.
The fourth generation touch got Retina display, FaceTime video calling, HD video recording, an A4 chip, a 3-axis gyro and Game Center. Whew.
The latest nano update saw price shrink to $129.
Other minor improvements include a slightly redesigned user interface, 16 new digital clock faces and better built-in fitness features.
Not a new model, but now with the iOS 5 update, the 2011 version of the iPod touch starts at $199.
One other change: Apple offered the iPod touch in white -- just as it did the original iPod all the way back in 2001.
Encased in anodized aluminum, and available in five colors, 2012's update boasted the thinnest touch ever.
Specs included a 4-inch Retina display, a 5-megapixel camera with 1080p recording and the new A5 chip. On the software side there was iOS 6, and iPod owners could now use Siri.
The seventh gen nano reverted to a long form factor, complete with a 2.5-inch multi-touch display and a complete set of navigation buttons.
Improvements included the return of video playback and new Bluetooth connectivity.
Released without much fanfare, the more affordable ($229) 2013 iteration of the iPod touch doesn't quite count as the sixth generation.
At $70 less than the 32GB iPod touch, this 16GB edition is Apple's version of economy class. It does away with the iSight rear-facing camera and only comes in silver.
Otherwise, the specs are the same, and it runs iOS7 just like its more expensive cohorts.
Given that Tim Cook reportedly called the iPod a "declining business," we may have seen the last of Apple's new iPod offerings.
Do you think iPods have a future? What functionality would you still like to see?
Have your say in the comments below.
Apple iPod of Cupertino, Calif., died quietly this week after a lengthy bout of dance-infused music playing. iPod, 12, was surrounded by family members Apple iPhone and Apple iPad, when its sales quietly slipped away …
OK, OK, the iPod is not, in fact dead (at least not yet), but make no mistake, the world’s classiest and best MP3 player — the one that built an entire industry — is rapidly fading into oblivion. Even iPod’s parent (company), Apple can’t deny the obvious.
See also: 10 Better Alternatives to Your iPhone's Native Apps
In its 2014 Q1 earnings call held earlier this week, Apple revealed that its revenues would take a $2 billion dollar hit thanks to a number of factors that include a strong U.S. dollar, channel inventory issues and a tumbling iPod business. Apple CFO Peter Oppenheimer said sales on iPods declined by more than half and that “they will continue to decline year-over-year” in the next quarter.
In an unaudited data summary released by the company, the decline is revealed in stark numbers: In Q1 of 2013, Apple sold over 12M iPods. This quarter, just 6M. Revenue slipped even more precipitously, from $2.1 million to under a million dollars in Q1 of 2014.
The wheels have come off and the company offered no indication that there’ll be any kind of category turnaround. The fact that it hasn’t offered a single iPod update for more than a year (skipping its traditional fall update in 2013) is another clear indicator that development on new iPods has either slowed or ceased.
However, with so many different models: iPod Touch, Shuffle, Nano and Classic, there’s always the chance that at least the touch could get some kind of refresh or perhaps a new name since it’s essentially Apple’s smallest iPad: Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the iPad Touch.
Even if that does happen, by the end of this year we may very well be remembering the iPod. So why wait until then?
Apple launched the iPod, a 6.5-ounce, elegant little brick of a music-playing device, in 2001. It had a 5GB spinning hard drive, physical buttons, a monochrome screen and a firewire port. Plus, it only worked with the Mac. Imagine what would have happened if that had not changed in 2002.

Image: Julie Jacobson/Associated Press

There was also iTunes, which back then was little more than a song-transfer utility that allowed you to rip (remember that word?) music from your CD collection and put it on the iPod.
The iPod was not the first MP3 player, but despite a premium price tag ($399), it was almost universally recognized as the best.
Early on, the iPod stood out for its ease of use. Yes, even before the introduction of a touchscreen, the iPod menu system and scroll wheel made intuitive sense. And then there was iTunes and, perhaps more importantly, the iTunes store — by far the easiest, legal way to buy music.
The iPod was also the first product to really help build the Apple and founder and CEO Steve Jobs' mystique. Soon the yearly updates and introductions of new models (Mini, Nano, shuffle and touch) became eagerly-anticipated “events.”
By 2007, when the one-two punch of the iPhone and then iPod Touch arrived, Apple had left virtually every other MP3 maker in the dust. Somewhere in the midst of all this Microsoft launched its Zune player, which was met with almost universal disinterest. In my own home, our third-party players from SanDisk were all discarded in favor of first- and second-generation iPod touches. MP3 players become synonymous with iPods. Even retailers fell quietly into line.
On Best Buy’s website, for instance, the digital music player page is called the “iPod and MP3 Players” and if you visit it, you basically see only iPods. You’ll need another click to see music players from Sony (yes, the former leader in portable music players is still out there giving it a go), SanDisk and a company I never heard of before, Mach Speed.
In 2012, I reviewed what may well be the last iPod Touch update we’ll ever see. Even then, I questioned its relevance. The differences between the iPod touch and, at the time, iPhone 5, had shrunk to a very short list that included thickness, weight and the ability to make phone calls. Otherwise, on a feature-by-feature basis, they were almost a match.
Similarly, smartphones from Samsung, HTC, Nokia and, yes, Sony, all handle apps, music, photos, video, photography and more nearly as well as the iPod touch. No adult would want to carry a phone and a music player in their pockets when they can get away with one device that actually does it all.
On the other hand, I did think that the iPod Touch and maybe even the simplified nano (the most frequently redesigned product in Apple’s iPod lineup) could be great gadgets for preteens. I’m sure you’ve observed parents handing their children their iPhone to keep them occupied. It’s a stop-gap measure and I’m sure these parents would much rather hand them something that doesn’t contain critical information like personal photos, emails, texts and contact info.
What I didn’t take into account is the price. At $229, the iPod touch is probably a little too precious to hand to an 8 year old. I suspect that hurt the iPod touch during the last two holiday buying seasons, but probably not nearly as much as the emergence of mid-size tablets.

Image: Mashable, Christina Ascani

An original iPad mini, which is larger and more powerful than the touch costs $299 (just $70 more than the touch). The Retina model starts at $399. I suspect parents also took a good look at 7-inch tablets from Amazon (as low as $139), Google (Nexus 7 for $229) and even Barnes & Noble (the $129 Nook HD).
Larger screens, possibly sturdier bodies, lower prices and access to all the same music, movies and apps, games and children’s books (those images looks much better on a larger screen) likely made these products irresistible to parents who were not ready to hand their children iPhones.
By my reckoning, this trend cut the bottom out from beneath the iPod as effectively as Bugs Bunny sawing away the floor from under a hapless Elmer Fudd.
The emergence of streaming music services has also conspired to end the iPod’s reign as a place to store your music. I remember once buying an old iPod at a garage sale for $5. The guy told me it didn’t work. So I bought it on a whim and plugged it into one of my iPod dock players. (Remember those? Thank goodness for Bluetooth.) Lo and behold, the iPod came alive and suddenly I had access to the guy’s 40,000-song library. I felt guilty, so I returned it to him and told him to buy his own dock.
First of all, if you sync your iPod with the cloud, you don’t have to worry about having all your songs stored locally. Second, consumers are increasingly adopting streaming music services. Why buy and store when you can listen to all you want for free or a small monthly or yearly fee?
Even as iPhone popularity, tablet growth and the rise of streaming dig the iPod’s grave, increasingly disinterested consumers are accelerating its departure from this mortal coil.
When I asked iPod owners for their memories, a couple noted that they no longer carry them. One guy keeps it wired in his car and Mike Paul told me on Google +:
I LOVED my iPods, but there are three of them sitting in the cobweb-infested back corner of a drawer in my office. Haven't used them in 2 or 3 years. Makes me sad...
The story is the same in my house. Now everyone except my son has an iPhone. iPods are either in a drawer or sitting in someone’s car.
It’s true, this obit is a bit premature. Apple continues to sell the iPod on its website. Six million units is nothing to sneeze at (unless you consider that the iPhone sold 51M and the iPad 26M in the same time frame), but there is no denying the trend or the underlying forces behind it.
So, to continue:
The iPod, which loved music, photography, games and making new friends, passed away quietly sometime in 2014 or 2015. Apple asks that, in lieu of flowers, you buy an iPhone 5S.
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