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APPLE HERITAGE MUSEUM · LUGANO

iPod era

2001 – 2006 · 66 devices

Pre-Mac1976–1983Mac era1984–1997iMac era1998–2000iPod era2001–2006iPhone era2007–2019Silicon2020–today

A thousand songs in your pocket, dancing silhouettes, and the first Apple Stores: the computer company becomes music and pop culture too.

The story

On October 23, 2001, just over a month after 9/11, Apple introduced the iPod: a white 5 GB disc that put «a thousand songs in your pocket» for $399. Developed in under a year, it was the heart of Jobs's «digital hub» strategy: the Mac at the center, digital devices around it.

The ads featuring black silhouettes dancing on vivid backgrounds, with white earbuds prominently displayed, became ubiquitous. The earbuds were white by accident — white because the iPod was white — but proved a marketing masterstroke: they signaled a hidden object in someone's pocket.

Also in 2001, the first Apple Stores opened, to the skepticism of those who gave them no chance. With iTunes and then the iTunes Store, Apple redesigned the way people bought music. By 2005 the iPod was the company's best-selling product.

Trivia

The name comes from space
«iPod» was proposed by copywriter Vinnie Chieco: the white shell reminded him of the pods in «2001: A Space Odyssey» and the line «Open the pod bay doors, Hal». Jobs initially rejected the name.
White earbuds by accident
They were white only because the iPod was white. They became the product's symbol: in the silhouette ads, the only recognizable detail.
The stores «destined to fail»
When Apple opened its first stores in 2001, many analysts predicted disaster. Today they are among the most profitable retail spaces in the world per square meter.
The Beatles lawsuit
Apple Corps, the Beatles' label, sued Apple Computer: years earlier the company had promised to stay out of the music world.
Nearly half of revenue
At its peak the iPod accounted for up to 40% of Apple's turnover. It would later be «cannibalized» by the iPhone.

Devices from this period

Studio Display Power Macintosh G4 733 (Quicksilver) Power Macintosh G4 (Quicksilver) iPod (Original/Scroll Wheel), 1st Generation Power Mac G4 (Digital Audio) Power Mac G4 (QuickSilver) PowerBook G4 (Original – Titanium), 2001 Studio Display iBook (Dual USB) iMac (Early 2001 Flower Power) Power Mac G4 (Digital Audio) PowerBook G4 (1GHz/867MHz) + 54 devices
All eras See all 66 devices