What a run it was. Apple announced on Tuesday that after 20 years, it will no longer make any new iPods. Though the company hasn’t been making them like it did during its mid-2000s glory years (iPod Touches are the only ones currently available for purchase), it’s noteworthy due to the impact it made during those early file-trading days. It wasn’t the first MP3 player, but it’s easily the most influential.
Here’s what Greg Joswiak, Apple’s Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, had to say about the iPod going away:
“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. We’ve integrated an incredible music experience across all of our products, from the iPhone to the Apple Watch to HomePod mini, and across Mac, iPad, and Apple TV. And Apple Music delivers industry-leading sound quality with support for spatial audio — there’s no better way to enjoy, discover, and experience music.”
The first iPod was available for purchase in October 2001. The original iPod had a clickwheel to navigate and select what you wanted to listen to. Over the next few years, the first generations of iPods (better known as the Classic) would go away, leading to other editions like the Mini, a video-capable version of the original version, the Shuffle, Nano and eventually the Touch, which was similar to the iPhone. There was also a custom U2 iPod with the release of their 2004 album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb. The Shuffle and Nano were discontinued in 2017.
The remaining iPod Touches will be sold in Apple stores while supplies last.
