“1000 songs in your pocket”
Sony’s Walkman made a huge impact to the way people listened to music. Prior to it, the common device for portable music was the portable radio. The Walkman offered users the possibility of listening to their own music, anytime, anyplace. Just insert the cassette and press play. As the CD gained popularity, the cassette tape started to become obsolete and so did the Walkman. Sony’s Discman took over, following the principles of the Walkman but with the innovative advantages of the CD.
However, portable media players had various limitations. They were bulky and not very portable, as despite the efforts to make them as small as possible, they could not make them smaller than the size of a CD, which doesn’t fit nicely in a pocket. CDs would often get scratched if they were not taken care of. Furthermore, you were limited to just listening to the songs of one CD (usually less than 20 songs), unless you carried multiple CDs with you.
Steve Jobs realised this and saw a market opportunity in it. An opportunity to do things differently. And in 2001, Apple released the iPod. “With iPod, Apple has invented a whole new category of digital music player that lets you put your entire music collection in your pocket and listen to it wherever you go. With iPod, listening to music will never be the same again.”
The iPod was roughly the size of one of those cassette tapes, yet it could store 1000 songs. This revolutionized the way people would listen to music. They no longer had to decide what tapes they needed to take. They had their entire music library in their pocket. However, the iPod was not the only MP3 player at the time. It wasn’t even the first one. What made the iPod stand out and have the impact it did?
Other devices were either too big to be practical, had too many buttons or simply had not enough memory, not allowing as many songs to be downloaded. The iPod had only what was necessary. It concentrated on the essential aspects, making the design as simple as possible. Notice Dieter Rams’ influence and his principles on good design? In fact, there is a clear resemblance between the iPod and Braun’s T3 Radio.
However, it wasn’t only the physical design that made the iPod so popular. The iPod changed the way people would listen to music. It brought the idea of “shuffle”. Instead of choosing which song to play next or following the track list from the album, you could listen to music at random, something that had not been done until then. It also allowed users to create playlists, adding songs from different albums into one list, your playlist.
The iPod not only changed how music was consumed, but also how it was distributed. The Internet had such a negative effect on the music industry it almost made it disappear. People trading music, one song at a time, for free. The industry sold more than 100 million fewer CDs and cassettes due to this. Sharing music in this way was piracy but there was little artists or record labels could do about this. When Jimmy Iovine, entrepreneur and record executive, tried to fix the problem and meet with Intel, the response he received was “Not all businesses are meant to last forever.”
iTunes and the iPod solved this. You could buy individual songs or the complete album and download an entire CD into iPod in five to ten seconds. This allowed those who wanted to purchase digital music to do so in a legal way. iTunes could also convert CDs into MP3 files and then transferring these to the iPod. This enabled those who preferred buying physical CDs the opportunity to have the album both in physical and digital format, so they could listen to it with their iPods.
However, a lot has changed since then. Technology has advanced so much over the last few years that the iPod and iTunes as we knew them no longer exist. Various models of the iPod have been released throughout the years, the iPod Touch being the latest and only one that remains in production. It incorporates a touch screen which allows users to access apps and take pictures and videos, just like the iPhone. Because this model is essentially that, an iPhone, except for the phone.
No more click wheel. The new iPod has added so many features and offers so many new possibilities, yet it seems they have forgotten its purpose; listening to music.
But, can we blame Apple? Nowadays, our phones are one of the most powerful tools we have. Browsing the Internet, reading the news, seeing the weather, watching videos… All of this can be done using our phones. Why wouldn’t we listen to music with them? Why would anyone have a device JUST to listen to music? Why would I carry my iPod and my iPhone when I could have everything in a single device?
Additionally, streaming services like Spotify or Tidal have, once again, changed the way we consume music. Why would we want to be limited to 1000 songs or even 10,000 songs stored in our iPod when we can stream any song we want, any time we want, thanks to these services?
There is a beauty in the original iPod that will never disappear, no matter what. The idea of a single device designed with a single purpose; enjoy music. Free from distractions, apps, calls… The iPod provided a personal musical experience, a simple yet revolutionary design. It’s been years since I last used my iPod but I’m looking forward to going back home and use it once again, listen to the songs from my childhood, simply listen and enjoy the music.