The iPod turned 10 years old yesterday. Over the past decade, the device has quickly become one of the the must-have items of the 21st century, and has helped revolutionise the way we consume music. Apple was by no means the first to drop into the MP3 player market, but the iPod's design and functionality made it the most successful.
Here are a few facts about the iPod that you may not know:
1. The first iPod was released on October 23, 2001 and had capacities of 5 or 10 GB. Apple marketed it as "1,000 songs in your pocket"
2. iTunes was introduced in 2003, allowing thousands upon thousands of songs, videos, movies, and more to be bought and downloaded directly to a computer and iPod.
3. iTunes is the number one music retailer in the world and features the world’s largest music catalogue with over 12 million songs.
4. The 10 billionth song to be purchased on iTunes, Guess Things Happen That Way by Johnny Cash, was purchased by Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia. To mark the occasion Sulcer received a call from Steve Jobs and a $10,000 (£6,287) iTunes gift card.
5. Soon after his death in 2009, Michael Jackson became the first artist to sell over one million download songs in a week.
6. The iPod classic uses a click wheel design and an internal hard drive and has not been updated since 2009. This has fuelled rumours that the iPod may soon be shelved.
7. The first iPods used to come wrapped in plastic with a warning in English, French, German and Japanese stating "Don't steal music."
8. The full range of sounds, on average, for an iPod is 120 decibels. In France, it is illegal to play your iPod louder than 100 decibels.
9. Over 297 million iPods have been sold worldwide.
10. Apologise by OneRepublic has the honour of being the song with the most downloads of all time (over 10 million)
In every issue of M we ask a PRS for Music member what they're listening to on their iPod at the moment. Here are our most recent:
What's on Tom Robinson's iPod?
What's on Rory Attwell's iPod?
What's on Felix Howard's iPod?
Here are a few facts about the iPod that you may not know:
1. The first iPod was released on October 23, 2001 and had capacities of 5 or 10 GB. Apple marketed it as "1,000 songs in your pocket"
2. iTunes was introduced in 2003, allowing thousands upon thousands of songs, videos, movies, and more to be bought and downloaded directly to a computer and iPod.
3. iTunes is the number one music retailer in the world and features the world’s largest music catalogue with over 12 million songs.
4. The 10 billionth song to be purchased on iTunes, Guess Things Happen That Way by Johnny Cash, was purchased by Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia. To mark the occasion Sulcer received a call from Steve Jobs and a $10,000 (£6,287) iTunes gift card.
5. Soon after his death in 2009, Michael Jackson became the first artist to sell over one million download songs in a week.
6. The iPod classic uses a click wheel design and an internal hard drive and has not been updated since 2009. This has fuelled rumours that the iPod may soon be shelved.
7. The first iPods used to come wrapped in plastic with a warning in English, French, German and Japanese stating "Don't steal music."
8. The full range of sounds, on average, for an iPod is 120 decibels. In France, it is illegal to play your iPod louder than 100 decibels.
9. Over 297 million iPods have been sold worldwide.
10. Apologise by OneRepublic has the honour of being the song with the most downloads of all time (over 10 million)
In every issue of M we ask a PRS for Music member what they're listening to on their iPod at the moment. Here are our most recent:
What's on Tom Robinson's iPod?
What's on Rory Attwell's iPod?
What's on Felix Howard's iPod?
