Who Invented the Ipod?

The world changed in 2001 when Apple Computer introduced the iPod, the world's first portable MP3 music player. It was the most significant change in music since the compact disc killed the vinyl record. It changed how people listen to music, how they buy music and how they incorporate it into their lives.

History

The first recorded sounds were those of inventors such as Thomas Edison---who sang "Mary Had a Little Lamb" into his machine on tin foil in 1877---and from those early tentative steps, music has been a major part of sound recording. Records began to appear with single songs at 78 revolutions per minute. Collections of these, known as "albums," might contain an entire symphony. By 1930, RCA Victor produced the first long-playing record. In 1949, the same company released the first 45 rpm record "single," which launched the rock and roll era for the 1950s. The 78s died off, but the LPs and singles continued for many years. By 1982, the first laser-read CD was reduced to consumers. In the next 19 years, the CD became the dominant music product on the market.

Time Frame

When Apple Computer original wanted to be called Apple, CEO Steve Jobs had to sign a deal with the Beatles to use the name. The Beatles had founded Apple Corp. in 1968 as their own record label. The executors of the Beatles' company agreed to let Jobs and his partner, Steve Wozniak, use the Apple name as long as they never did anything with music. This was fine with Jobs and Wozniak because no one yet had created the MP3 compression of digitized music. That changed in 1987, when Fraunhofer-Gesellshaft introduced the technology. Apple Computer made a new deal with Apple Corp. to settle the old agreement two decades later.

Considerations

When MP3s started to be used by a variety of people world wide and it really began to catch on, Jobs and his crew at Apple saw real possibilities in a market that was just coming of age. Plans were made, and a team at the computer company was given the task of creating a new version of what used to be called a Sony Walkman, but without moving parts or the need for or limitations of the cassette tape.

Effects

First came iTunes, the software Apple introduced in January 2001 that was like a digital jukebox or music library. This was from a software program purchased by Apple and changed to meet its needs. It could handle standard, non-compressed AIFF music files but also could import and compress files to the MP3 format. This was essential for the creation of a portable music player because an MP3 file, on average, is about a tenth the size of an uncompressed music file. The work already was progressing on the iPod. Jon Rubinstein, Michael Dhuey and Tony Fadell headed the team at Apple that would, after a year of work, introduce the iPod in October 2001. Vinnie Chieco, who was brought into Apple to help introduce the iPod, came up with the name.

Features

Then the world changed. Nobody else really was in the market of compact, portable MP3 players, so Apple had the genre to itself. Besides, Apple always made stylish, impressive, innovative products anyway, and the iPod was no different. It was tiny, sleek and white. It could be tucked into a pocket. It could be taken anywhere. And it synced up to iTunes, which was available for both the Apple Macintosh and Windows-based computers. Despite MP3 compression, the sound is clear, sharp and good. Few people can hear the difference between a compressed music file at top quality and an uncompressed file.

Resources

• Apple Computer