A $399 bet on pocket music that rescued Apple
Twenty-five years ago, Apple priced a 5GB music player at $399, a cost that defined the portable audio market before smartphones took over.
By Isabel Moretti ·
On October 23, 2001, Apple priced its new portable music player at $399. The device contained 5GB of storage, enough space for approximately 1,000 pop songs encoded as MP3 files at 160Kbps. Apple chief executive Steve Jobs introduced the product as a breakthrough digital device that was not a Mac, promising a whole music library in a user's pocket for that price.
The launch occurred while Apple was recovering from the dot-com bubble burst. Jobs had previously led the company through the release of Mac OS X, iBooks, and iMacs. He viewed the Mac as a hub for various digital devices, including cameras and DVD players. Jobs selected music as the target market because he believed the industry lacked a dominant player, despite competitors like Sony and Creative already selling portable options.
The hardware relied on a Toshiba 1.8-inch hard drive that was 0.2 inches thick. The finished unit measured 2.4 by 4 by 0.78 inches and weighed 6.5 ounces. Jobs noted the weight was lighter than most cell phones of the era. The player supported MP3, WAV, and AIFF file formats and provided 20 minutes of skip protection. A rechargeable lithium-polymer battery offered 10 hours of continuous playback and could reach 80% charge in one hour.
Data transfer occurred via a single FireWire 400 cable. Jobs stated that FireWire could move a full CD onto the player in five to 10 seconds, compared to roughly five minutes over standard USB connections. The same connection could fill the device with 1,000 songs in about 10 minutes, a process that took five hours via USB. The device also functioned as an external FireWire hard drive when connected to a computer.
Apple emphasized the device's one-handed usability through an accelerated scroll wheel with tactile feedback. This feature allowed users to navigate by playlist, artist, or song. Jobs demonstrated the interface on stage by playing Sarah McLachlan's track "Building a Mystery." The launch coincided with the release of iTunes 2, which added MP3 CD burning and automatic library syncing for the new player.
The iPod line remained in Apple's product lineup for over a decade after the first iPhone arrived in early 2007. Sales eventually declined as smartphones matured. Apple released the seventh-generation iPod Touch in May 2019 and officially discontinued the entire iPod line in May 2022.
Source: Tom's Hardware
