BLOG #4

 https://www.pcmag.com/news/a-visual-history-of-apple-ipods

Before the iPod, music was a hard business to get sold on. Thanks to bulky CD players and radios it was hard to listen to music out of the house, let alone catch a band. Luckily, in 2001, Steve Jobs had the brilliant idea of making tunes mobile, and developed and released the iPod, a portable music player that could download digital tunes.

There was a huge limitation on this, however. The original iPod had a very limited storage space, so listeners were only able to own a couple songs at most. Over the next two decades, this would gradually change. With each iteration of the iPod, its storage capacity and operating system would be updated. This, of course, meant that people would be spending about one to two hundred dollars every year, just so that they could listen to more songs. There have been more than 8 kinds of iPods, released from 2001 to 2012. After that, Apple modified the portable music device into something more.

While the iPod was first released, it flew off the shelves. Technology had once again revolutionized our lives. However, it became even more popular with the innovations in music itself. As our generation learned to try new genres, artists were no longer afraid to experiment with their work. Many dived off of their original plans and turned to new beats. This caused good and bad results, but ultimately it was for the better.

If it wasn’t for the iPod and its many spinoffs, I firmly believe that the music industry would not be where it is today. The innovation of downloadable music may have created some illegal pirating sites, but now artists are able to share their talent with anyone around the globe, while making a hefty profit. Apple became the number one tech company for a long period of time, and still is considered to be so by many people. 

Plus, this led to artists being able to gain popularity without performing in person. Concert tickets are now in high demand, and the word of music is expanding even further. Live music is overall a once in a lifetime experience, and should be taken if given the chance. However, having the ability to listen to your favorite artists, on the go, with no limits besides pricing is pretty cool.

More than anything, the iPod was key to evolving our means of communication. Due to it’s resounding success, Apple turned to releasing new products, such as the iTouch and the iPod shuffle. Ultimately, Apple created the iPhone, a device that combined all of their previous products into one. With this, the name of the game was forever changed. If the iPod never took this turn in evolution, the iPhone may have never seen the light of day. Most people may think that so many iPod iterations are useless and unwanted, but the truth is that each one played a critical role in developing the iPhone we have today.