The iPod: How Did it Happen?

The digitalization of music became very widespread with the introduction of MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, commonly known as MP3. It is an encoding format for sound storage using lossy data compression, which just means audio signals beyond most human hearing are not included to minimize storage levels. MP3 became the rave of the time.

Along with the growth of the MP3 came the popularization of personal digital gadgets like the camera, video cameras and organizers. But critics of the MP3 format said it lacked the fine audio characteristics of music recording and playback present in 3 rpm records. Apple Corporation found most MP3 players as not handy or inadequate and their interface undesirable. This critique made possible the development of the device that became the standard of audio storage and playback: the iPod. Introduced in October 23, 2001, the iPod was a "Mac-compatible 5GB HDD of 1,000 songs".

Apple engineers Tony Fadell, Michael Dhuey and Jonathan Ive conceptualized and created the iPod on the instructions of CEO Steve Jobs and under the aegis of Jon Rubinstein, the engineering chief. The concept for it started when Apple launched iTunes, a Internet program capable of switching CD music to digital form, organize the libraries, play video and radio. Developing a gadget to connect with this, Apple developed and introduced the iPod in a few months later, and followed up its rapid development with numerous models. The iPod line comprised of the iPod Classic, Nano, Mini (replaced by Nano), Shuffle and Touch.

First to be marketed was the iPod Classic on October 23, 2001, the subsequent issues appearing annually from July 17, 2002 to September 5, 2007. The Mini, a short-lived device only had two issues, marketed January 6, 2004 and February 22, 2005. The iPod Nano was released three times, September 7, 2005; September 12, 200 and September 5, 2007. Meantime the iPod Shuffle appeared first in January 11, 2005 and again in September 12, 2006 while the iPod Touch was released in September 5, 2007.

The term iPod itself was an idea by Vinnie Chieco who was reminded of 2001: A Space Odyssey film when he saw the device. It turned out the name was being used by Joseph Grasso who patented it for his Internet kiosks in 2003. Grasso eventually transferred the name to Apple in 2005.

Seeking big storage capacity, power and ease of manipulation, Apple designed the iPod to be just a 'mass storage device' very similar to a computer hard disk drive. The Mini even used a micro-hard disk, later stopped. Operating depends on the first computer system used: if operated on a MacIntosh, the HFS+ format is used; if on Windows, FAT32, which, however, was growing to be the format more often used.

In terms of connectivity, the iPod first used the FireWire cable, but eventually shifted to the USB for ease of loading. For storage, the first iPod can load only a thousand songs with a 5GB disk, but following models, such as the 6th generation iPod Classic, have 160 GB disks. This means the user can totally use up the battery twice yet not play all the stored songs in the iPod, perhaps an overkill, but then who recoded sound field today, garnering over 90% of hard-drive recorder-players and more than 70% total.

The iPod dominates the stored-music field today, capturing over 90% of hard-drive recorder-players and more than 70% over-all. It has received several awards including those on engineering excellence, most innovative product, and best computer product. Reviews rave on the iPod for its clean look, superb design and facility of use, and has 'altered the landscape of portable audio players.' Such is the iPod.

Article Source: http://www.fireyourbossnetwork.com

5 out of 54 out of 53 out of 52 out of 51 out of 5 

Not yet Rated