I personally, and I’m sure many others, would consider a part of their life to be defined under the notion of “the iPod days”. The Apple iPod, as well as further earlier gadgets such as the Walkman and Discman, revolutionised the way we all consumed music. Long before music was as accessible as it is today with refined MP3 music players and the use of streaming services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Soundcloud.

The iPod was released in 2001 by Steve Jobs, and it was the first MP3 player capable of storing 1,000 songs. Back then, that was an absolute madness. I distinctly remember carefully curating my chosen songs that would make the cut onto this innovative device. The iPod has been upgraded a great deal of times since its first debut, with each revision defined as a new “generation”. Every new generation would become more finessed, typically at a smaller and lighter size than its predecessor, and containing additional features. The main umbrella of iPod categories are known as the the iPod (classic), iPod mini, iPod nano, iPod shuffle, iPod touch and the iPod peripherals. All of which had further versions and sub-categories within them.

Apple made the announcement to discontinue the iPod on Tuesday. Greg Joswiak, the company’s senior vice president stated, “Music has always been part of our core at Apple, and bringing it to hundreds of millions of users in the way iPod did impacted more than just the music industry — it also redefined how music is discovered, listened to, and shared… Today, the spirit of iPod lives on.”

Many have jumped on Twitter to bid the iPod farewell with emotional posts:

RIP to the iPod. https://t.co/6fng6o3aIP

— BuzzFeed (@BuzzFeed) May 11, 2022

British inventor Kane Kramer was actually the first person to invent a digital audio player, which was named the IXI. The device was only able to play about one song, and the prototype was shelved when Kramer couldn’t market it in time. Apple did in fact credit Kane later, when it came to their release of the iPod.

The iPod supported the music world massively, whilst changing the way we listen to music and use technology today. CNET Editor at Large Ian Sherr in a statement said, “We would not have the iPhone as it is today if it weren’t for the iPod”.

The iPod touch will still be available for a limited of time whilst the supplies last.