The end of the iPod

“I wish there was a way to know you’re in the good old days, before you’ve actually left them”.  

Goodbye to a real one 

If you can’t get sentimental about the iPod, then you are, unfortunately, a lost cause. As Apple announced the discontinuing of its groundbreaking MP3 player, the world mourned the death of a true great.  

After arriving on the scene in 2001 and boasting record-breaking capabilities of memory life – storing 1,000 songs was a huge deal back then – there have been many iterations of the iPod since. And despite the arrival of the iPhone and iPad seemingly harking the demise of the music-only device, its beloved reputation meant it clung on far longer than anyone predicted. No, we’re not crying, you are.   

Forever a game-changer  

The clickwheel. The Shuffle. Sheesh, the Nano – remember the Nano? Back in 2001, when Steve Jobs stood on stage debuting the first iPod, he said “listening to music will never be the same again”. And he was right. Ten years later, Apple held a 70% market share in MP3 players, and to date has sold 400 million iPods.  

So, despite the somewhat sorry end to the iPod, which hasn’t seen a generation update since 2019, the little handheld machine that transformed music listening will, no doubt, be regarded in history as one of life’s GOAT inventions.