From WIRED · Steven Levy · · 2m
The iPod was perfect. The iPhone never will be.
Twenty-five years after its launch, the iPod remains the one device that did one thing flawlessly and made people happy.
In brief
Twenty-five years after its launch, the iPod remains the one device that did one thing flawlessly and made people happy. The iPod, launched October twenty-third, two thousand and one, was a one-function device that executed perfectly and brought only joy, unlike the iPhone that replaced it. Originally reported by…
Steve Jobs launches the iPod
On October twenty-third, two thousand and one, Steve Jobs pulled the iPod from his jeans pocket and told the author it would be a landmark product. Apple couriers hand-delivered it to New York.
“iPod will be a landmark product.”
The iPod becomes a phenomenon
By two thousand and four, the author was writing a cover story called iPod Nation and later published a book about the device called The Perfect Thing.
The iPhone ends the iPod's reign
On January eleventh, two thousand and seven, Steve Jobs announced the iPhone, described as the best iPod ever integrated with a phone and internet device.
Apple discontinues the iPod line
Apple killed the Nano and Shuffle on July twenty-seventh, two thousand and seventeen, and discontinued the iPod Touch on May tenth, two thousand and twenty-two.
The iPod was perfect, the iPhone is not
The iPod was a one-function device that superbly executed its function and made people unconditionally happy.
Jobs redesigned the iPod every year
Steve Jobs redesigned the iPod annually, yielding different sizes and shapes. The mini came first, then multiple variations of nanos and shuffles in crazy colors and configurations. Each iteration seemed to grow smaller and cooler.
Tony Fadell on why the iPod died
Tony Fadell, who headed the iPod hardware team, says Jobs and other executives agreed the device was on a course to oblivion despite being great.
“The discussion was about Apple not doing lower-value things.”
What the iPod had that nothing else does
Fadell says the iPod's value came from what it did not do: connect to the internet.Without connection, there was no distraction from feeds, mail, or other life interruptions.
“This thing should still exist.”
Communities keep the iPod alive
Multiple active communities on Facebook and Reddit mod old iPods with large flash drives and Bluetooth.
A generation will never know what they missed
New CEO John Ternus has no incentive to revive the iPod. A generation exists that does not know what it is like to have a dedicated music device that will never interrupt a tune with…
The one thing
The iPod, launched October twenty-third, two thousand and one, was a one-function device that executed perfectly and brought only joy, unlike the iPhone that replaced it.
