1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,760 Speaker 1: Welcome to tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,920 Speaker 1: Be there and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,080 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive reducer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,640 Speaker 1: and how the tech are Young. Now, Normally on a Wednesday, 5 00:00:21,720 --> 00:00:24,240 Speaker 1: I would attempt to bring to you a tech Stuff 6 00:00:24,320 --> 00:00:29,000 Speaker 1: Tidbits episode, which is ostensibly supposed to be a shorter episode, 7 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:31,160 Speaker 1: but we all know how that goes when you got 8 00:00:31,240 --> 00:00:35,480 Speaker 1: chatty Cathy over here yapping into the microphone. But today 9 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:38,240 Speaker 1: I'm just going to abandon all hope of this being 10 00:00:38,440 --> 00:00:43,400 Speaker 1: tid bit ish. And that's because yesterday that being made 11 00:00:43,400 --> 00:00:48,560 Speaker 1: tenth two thousand twenty two, Apple brought an end to 12 00:00:49,000 --> 00:00:53,159 Speaker 1: an era. The company announced that it was discontinuing the 13 00:00:53,240 --> 00:00:57,800 Speaker 1: iPod Touch, which is the last model in the iPod 14 00:00:57,840 --> 00:01:02,080 Speaker 1: line to be made. All the others have already been retired. 15 00:01:02,720 --> 00:01:08,200 Speaker 1: So the iPod was a transformational technology, and now iPod 16 00:01:08,680 --> 00:01:12,280 Speaker 1: as a brand is going away. In fact, we get 17 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:17,039 Speaker 1: the term podcasting from the iPod. Now, the iPod was 18 00:01:17,080 --> 00:01:20,280 Speaker 1: not the first MP three player, but it was the 19 00:01:20,319 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: model that brought that technology into the mainstream. And moreover, 20 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:29,000 Speaker 1: the iPod played a pivotal role in turning Apple's fortunes around. 21 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,280 Speaker 1: It's pretty easy for us to forget these days that 22 00:01:32,480 --> 00:01:36,800 Speaker 1: just a couple of decades ago, the multi trillion dollar 23 00:01:37,000 --> 00:01:40,640 Speaker 1: company that is Apple today back then was on the 24 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:44,160 Speaker 1: verge of collapse. So I thought we could do a 25 00:01:44,240 --> 00:01:49,080 Speaker 1: quick rundown of the history of the iPod and why 26 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:53,120 Speaker 1: I argue it is one of the most important technologies 27 00:01:53,120 --> 00:01:57,960 Speaker 1: to emerge, specifically for me to get real selfish and 28 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 1: egotistical about it, but one of the most technologies to 29 00:02:00,920 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 1: emerge over the last couple of decades. Uh. And I 30 00:02:03,680 --> 00:02:08,120 Speaker 1: think this dovetails nicely with Monday's episode about dr M disasters. 31 00:02:08,680 --> 00:02:11,639 Speaker 1: In that episode, I talked about how Apple, under pressure 32 00:02:11,720 --> 00:02:17,160 Speaker 1: from music labels, included DRM or digital rights management on 33 00:02:17,520 --> 00:02:21,160 Speaker 1: digital files, that is, songs and albums that it sold 34 00:02:21,240 --> 00:02:25,000 Speaker 1: through its iTunes music store. A few years later, Apple 35 00:02:25,000 --> 00:02:28,000 Speaker 1: would be the company that was able to dictate its 36 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: own terms because the tables had turned. And that's how 37 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,239 Speaker 1: much things changed in just a few years. The glove 38 00:02:35,720 --> 00:02:39,120 Speaker 1: was on the other foot. I might be getting turned around. Anyway. 39 00:02:39,160 --> 00:02:42,720 Speaker 1: Let's let's roll back the clock a bit. As I said, 40 00:02:42,760 --> 00:02:47,160 Speaker 1: the iPod was not the first MP three player, and 41 00:02:47,240 --> 00:02:50,560 Speaker 1: it definitely wasn't the first digital music player. There was 42 00:02:50,600 --> 00:02:54,080 Speaker 1: a British inventor named Kane Kramer who came up with 43 00:02:54,120 --> 00:02:57,280 Speaker 1: the idea for a digital music player way back in 44 00:02:57,400 --> 00:03:01,320 Speaker 1: the late nineteen seventies. He filed a patent for his design, 45 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:05,000 Speaker 1: which he called the I X I or X or 46 00:03:05,200 --> 00:03:07,600 Speaker 1: maybe it's supposed to be Roman numerals, but anyway, he 47 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:12,120 Speaker 1: he filed a patent for it in ninete and he 48 00:03:12,160 --> 00:03:16,400 Speaker 1: received a patent in Because these things take time, that 49 00:03:16,520 --> 00:03:18,880 Speaker 1: that device was capable of holding about three and a 50 00:03:18,880 --> 00:03:21,480 Speaker 1: half minutes of audio, which would be about one and 51 00:03:21,520 --> 00:03:24,760 Speaker 1: a half Ramons songs or the bit in a meat 52 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:28,480 Speaker 1: Loaf song just before meat Loaf starts to sing. Anyway, 53 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: three and a half minutes is hardly useful. Digital audio 54 00:03:32,840 --> 00:03:36,560 Speaker 1: files were really big and storage was really limited. That 55 00:03:36,640 --> 00:03:40,960 Speaker 1: combo just meant that the digital audio player technology wasn't 56 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,120 Speaker 1: quite ready for prime time, which is putting it lightly. 57 00:03:45,160 --> 00:03:49,280 Speaker 1: Skip ahead to the early nineteen nineties and the emergence 58 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,040 Speaker 1: of the MP three file format. I did a whole 59 00:03:53,160 --> 00:03:58,080 Speaker 1: episode about the creation and evolution of MP three's, so 60 00:03:58,160 --> 00:04:00,520 Speaker 1: this is just going to be a short version of 61 00:04:00,600 --> 00:04:04,920 Speaker 1: that story. So the MP three format could compress audio 62 00:04:05,000 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: files down to a more manageable size. The format does 63 00:04:09,440 --> 00:04:13,120 Speaker 1: this by getting rid of information that's in the file. Ideally, 64 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,520 Speaker 1: it's information that doesn't impact the experience of listening to 65 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:22,159 Speaker 1: the audio. There's an entire psycho acoustic side to the 66 00:04:22,240 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: MP three technology that's all about determining what would be 67 00:04:26,279 --> 00:04:31,479 Speaker 1: perceivable or perceptible and what would not, and you just 68 00:04:31,520 --> 00:04:34,400 Speaker 1: get rid of all the stuff that isn't. The idea 69 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:37,920 Speaker 1: being that if a human is incapable of hearing a 70 00:04:37,960 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: particular sound, there's no reason to include that information in 71 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 1: the compressed file. Now, of course, you can encode m 72 00:04:45,400 --> 00:04:49,080 Speaker 1: P three's so that they are more or less aggressive 73 00:04:49,360 --> 00:04:53,320 Speaker 1: in their approach to compressing file sizes. The more aggressive 74 00:04:53,360 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 1: you get, the smaller the compressed file will be, but 75 00:04:56,680 --> 00:04:59,919 Speaker 1: the worst it will sound. So this is a lossy 76 00:05:00,240 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: file format. But if you go easy with your compression, 77 00:05:04,680 --> 00:05:07,520 Speaker 1: then the file size it won't shrink down as much, 78 00:05:07,600 --> 00:05:12,040 Speaker 1: but the fidelity the quality of the audio will be better. Anyway, 79 00:05:12,080 --> 00:05:17,000 Speaker 1: the MP three format made audio files more practical for 80 00:05:17,760 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 1: you know, the average person, like whether you wanted to 81 00:05:19,920 --> 00:05:24,080 Speaker 1: just have them on your computer or potentially transfer them, 82 00:05:24,160 --> 00:05:27,800 Speaker 1: say over the internet, by the late nineties, there were 83 00:05:27,800 --> 00:05:30,640 Speaker 1: a couple of companies that were experimenting with digital audio 84 00:05:30,680 --> 00:05:34,720 Speaker 1: players that could play MP three files. See before that 85 00:05:35,080 --> 00:05:38,200 Speaker 1: the really the only way to enjoy MP three's was 86 00:05:38,279 --> 00:05:41,960 Speaker 1: to listen to them on a computer. Eventually, you did 87 00:05:42,000 --> 00:05:45,680 Speaker 1: have some CD player manufacturers that started to produce compact 88 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:49,920 Speaker 1: disc players that could read MP three compact discs. So 89 00:05:49,960 --> 00:05:53,400 Speaker 1: in those cases, you could burn a CD with you know, 90 00:05:53,520 --> 00:05:56,880 Speaker 1: more than a hundred songs on it in MP three format, 91 00:05:56,960 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 1: so they're not being burned in the the the raw 92 00:06:00,680 --> 00:06:05,520 Speaker 1: audio files that you would use to digitally imprint CDs. Instead, 93 00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:08,440 Speaker 1: you're you're just burning MP three files to the CD. 94 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:13,080 Speaker 1: But those weren't commonplace, and there certainly weren't very many 95 00:06:13,200 --> 00:06:19,240 Speaker 1: portable solutions around until the two thousand's, so it just 96 00:06:19,440 --> 00:06:22,960 Speaker 1: was not a very convenient form factor yet. Then you 97 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:25,920 Speaker 1: had a couple of companies like Elgar Labs that started 98 00:06:25,960 --> 00:06:29,160 Speaker 1: to introduce digital audio players that could play m P three's. 99 00:06:29,279 --> 00:06:33,159 Speaker 1: Uh the Elgar Labs one was the mp man F ten. 100 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:35,599 Speaker 1: I'm guessing they were kind of naming their products so 101 00:06:35,600 --> 00:06:40,039 Speaker 1: it was kind of similar to Sony's Walkman trademark, and 102 00:06:40,120 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: the F ten had thirty two whole megabytes of memory, 103 00:06:43,240 --> 00:06:46,640 Speaker 1: and it cost two hundred fifty dollars. There was also 104 00:06:46,680 --> 00:06:51,320 Speaker 1: the Diamond Rio p MP three hundred, which was more popular. 105 00:06:52,000 --> 00:06:54,280 Speaker 1: It also only had thirty two megabytes of storage. It 106 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: hit the market not long after the F ten did. 107 00:06:58,240 --> 00:07:00,599 Speaker 1: And please keep in mind that these play years didn't 108 00:07:00,600 --> 00:07:05,159 Speaker 1: have native connectivity on them. You could not download music 109 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:09,359 Speaker 1: directly to the device. You could not stream anything to 110 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:12,360 Speaker 1: the device. Instead, you would have to use software on 111 00:07:12,480 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: your computer to manage your music library. Then you would 112 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:19,560 Speaker 1: transfer songs from your computer to your MP three player 113 00:07:19,840 --> 00:07:23,400 Speaker 1: using a physical cable that connected the two. This would 114 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: be true for early iPods as well, In fact, true 115 00:07:27,040 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: for everything up to and including the iPod Touch, at 116 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,440 Speaker 1: least in the early stages. The p MP three in 117 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 1: particular helped start to churn up interest in the MP 118 00:07:38,240 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: three format, right Like, there were geeks like me who 119 00:07:42,040 --> 00:07:44,800 Speaker 1: were interested in MP three's back then. But once you 120 00:07:44,920 --> 00:07:48,560 Speaker 1: got to a player that could actually store and play 121 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:50,960 Speaker 1: that stuff on its own and you could carry it 122 00:07:51,000 --> 00:07:54,800 Speaker 1: around with you, that's when MP three's really started to 123 00:07:55,120 --> 00:07:59,040 Speaker 1: gain some traction. That's also when the music industry really 124 00:07:59,080 --> 00:08:02,880 Speaker 1: got involved. The recording Industry Association of America or r 125 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: I double A sued real Port, which was in charge 126 00:08:07,360 --> 00:08:12,760 Speaker 1: of making RIO and the software used to manage the RIO, 127 00:08:13,680 --> 00:08:16,840 Speaker 1: because there was a general fear that folks would start 128 00:08:16,920 --> 00:08:20,840 Speaker 1: buying compact discs, rip music from the c d s, 129 00:08:21,280 --> 00:08:25,160 Speaker 1: and then share that music online without you know, everyone 130 00:08:25,280 --> 00:08:27,840 Speaker 1: going through the proper process of forking cash over to 131 00:08:27,880 --> 00:08:31,120 Speaker 1: the music labels, and the r I double A lost 132 00:08:31,240 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: that lawsuit. The court said, no, the existence of this 133 00:08:34,960 --> 00:08:39,880 Speaker 1: saying does not automatically mean what you say. It means. 134 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:45,720 Speaker 1: They're certainly not liable for people taking that that path. 135 00:08:46,080 --> 00:08:49,439 Speaker 1: People might, but it's not the fault of the company 136 00:08:49,480 --> 00:08:53,880 Speaker 1: for that, and MP three players and the software needed 137 00:08:53,920 --> 00:08:57,000 Speaker 1: to transfer music from PCs two MP three players were 138 00:08:57,000 --> 00:08:59,760 Speaker 1: deemed to be totally legal. It turned out the r 139 00:08:59,840 --> 00:09:02,240 Speaker 1: I double A was kind of on point with its fears, 140 00:09:02,240 --> 00:09:04,439 Speaker 1: even if it didn't have legal grounds to stop in 141 00:09:04,559 --> 00:09:08,600 Speaker 1: P three players, because people did start to share music online, 142 00:09:08,720 --> 00:09:12,640 Speaker 1: and then once the peer to peer network technology began 143 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:15,600 Speaker 1: to emerge, it really took off. It became pretty easy 144 00:09:15,720 --> 00:09:19,360 Speaker 1: to distribute music files across lots of computers. So this 145 00:09:19,440 --> 00:09:23,120 Speaker 1: was the birth of napster. In n and the music 146 00:09:23,200 --> 00:09:27,600 Speaker 1: labels went banana. A downturn and media sales sent a 147 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:31,040 Speaker 1: shock way through the music industry, and they went nuclear 148 00:09:31,200 --> 00:09:34,360 Speaker 1: on Napster and its users. Now on the MP three 149 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:38,280 Speaker 1: player side, developments began to push the technology forward. The 150 00:09:38,320 --> 00:09:42,640 Speaker 1: remote solutions Personal jukebox MP three player did a big 151 00:09:42,720 --> 00:09:46,600 Speaker 1: leap frog over earlier devices because it actually included a 152 00:09:46,679 --> 00:09:50,880 Speaker 1: small hard drive from a laptop as its storage device, 153 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:55,880 Speaker 1: and that pushed the jukebox's capacity to four point eight gigabytes, 154 00:09:56,120 --> 00:09:59,559 Speaker 1: which was leagues better than that thirty two megabyte limitation 155 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:04,800 Speaker 1: of the earliest MP three players. But generally speaking, these 156 00:10:04,880 --> 00:10:08,719 Speaker 1: MP three players were bulky, They were not really attractive. 157 00:10:09,280 --> 00:10:11,760 Speaker 1: The ones with hard drives were also very heavy and 158 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,320 Speaker 1: delicate because hard drives have moving mechanical components and if 159 00:10:15,320 --> 00:10:18,520 Speaker 1: you were to say, drop your MP three player, you 160 00:10:18,520 --> 00:10:21,920 Speaker 1: could damage those mechanical components and it wouldn't work anymore. 161 00:10:22,679 --> 00:10:26,520 Speaker 1: And again, they weren't really stylish and they were really expensive. 162 00:10:27,000 --> 00:10:30,760 Speaker 1: But Steve Jobs had an idea to change all that. 163 00:10:31,559 --> 00:10:42,480 Speaker 1: I'll explain more when we come back after this quick break. Okay, 164 00:10:42,520 --> 00:10:44,960 Speaker 1: so I had set the stage for the early days 165 00:10:44,960 --> 00:10:48,000 Speaker 1: of the MP three player Steve Jobs was in charge 166 00:10:48,000 --> 00:10:50,880 Speaker 1: of Apple at this time, and you know he had 167 00:10:50,960 --> 00:10:53,839 Speaker 1: been a co founder of Apple. He essentially got for 168 00:10:54,040 --> 00:10:58,200 Speaker 1: style of the company, or essentially pushed aside enough so 169 00:10:58,200 --> 00:11:00,560 Speaker 1: that he left the company all depends on which account 170 00:11:00,559 --> 00:11:04,920 Speaker 1: you listened to, then ultimately came back to rescue the 171 00:11:04,960 --> 00:11:07,960 Speaker 1: company when it was on the verge of financial collapse. 172 00:11:08,960 --> 00:11:12,040 Speaker 1: He saw the potential of the MP three player space, 173 00:11:12,640 --> 00:11:16,959 Speaker 1: but the devices on the market lacked style, they lacked utility. 174 00:11:17,160 --> 00:11:20,520 Speaker 1: No one was knocking it out of the park. The 175 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:23,280 Speaker 1: existing ones were just too big and bulky, and they 176 00:11:23,280 --> 00:11:26,280 Speaker 1: were too ugly. And there were early adopter types who 177 00:11:26,320 --> 00:11:29,520 Speaker 1: met the Venn diagram overlap of computer nerd and music 178 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:32,840 Speaker 1: nerd who were buying some of those early MP three players, 179 00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:36,840 Speaker 1: But most MP three players just weren't user friendly enough 180 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:41,199 Speaker 1: or attractive enough to hit mainstream success. So Jobs goes 181 00:11:41,240 --> 00:11:45,280 Speaker 1: to his senior VP of Industrial Design, Johnny I've, who 182 00:11:45,360 --> 00:11:48,000 Speaker 1: was not yet a knight of the realm at this time. 183 00:11:48,240 --> 00:11:52,320 Speaker 1: He is Sir Jonathan I've now, and Jobs laid out 184 00:11:52,360 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: what he wanted. He wanted definitive MP three player that 185 00:11:55,880 --> 00:12:02,199 Speaker 1: the average person would want to buy. It had to attractive, 186 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:04,600 Speaker 1: it had to be useful, it had to hold enough 187 00:12:04,760 --> 00:12:09,080 Speaker 1: music to make it worthwhile, and this could really be 188 00:12:09,559 --> 00:12:13,920 Speaker 1: Apple's next big thing. It took Johnny i'ves team a 189 00:12:13,960 --> 00:12:17,760 Speaker 1: little less than a year to design, prototype, and finalize 190 00:12:17,800 --> 00:12:20,680 Speaker 1: the first iPod, which Jobs himself with debut to a 191 00:12:20,720 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: small crowd on October twenty three, two thousand one, and 192 00:12:24,880 --> 00:12:27,960 Speaker 1: Jobs knew he had to win some skeptics over because 193 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,840 Speaker 1: this was a brand new business that Apple was getting into. 194 00:12:31,000 --> 00:12:34,559 Speaker 1: So before unveiling the device itself, he explained that Apple 195 00:12:34,760 --> 00:12:38,880 Speaker 1: was getting into this industry because quote, music is a 196 00:12:38,960 --> 00:12:43,720 Speaker 1: part of everyone's life end quote. He made a business 197 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:47,199 Speaker 1: case for Apple to get into the MP three player business. 198 00:12:47,520 --> 00:12:50,960 Speaker 1: He said, it's not a speculative business. This isn't something 199 00:12:50,960 --> 00:12:53,520 Speaker 1: where we're placing a bet. This is a sure thing. 200 00:12:53,760 --> 00:12:59,440 Speaker 1: Music is important for everyone, and so all he had 201 00:12:59,480 --> 00:13:01,280 Speaker 1: to do is in at the history of the music 202 00:13:01,800 --> 00:13:05,440 Speaker 1: industry and say there's your proof. So he was really 203 00:13:05,480 --> 00:13:08,880 Speaker 1: dismantling criticisms before they could even be formed, which was 204 00:13:08,880 --> 00:13:11,520 Speaker 1: pretty genius. He was also, by the way, totally right. 205 00:13:12,200 --> 00:13:15,560 Speaker 1: So Jobs argued that there was no established leader in 206 00:13:15,600 --> 00:13:18,920 Speaker 1: the digital music player space. He called out a couple 207 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:22,240 Speaker 1: of companies. He called out Creative, which made a model 208 00:13:22,280 --> 00:13:25,880 Speaker 1: called the Zen. Actually owned a Creative Zen way back 209 00:13:25,920 --> 00:13:29,440 Speaker 1: in the day, and he said, well, that one has 210 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:32,160 Speaker 1: had some success, but still a very small company. It 211 00:13:32,240 --> 00:13:36,959 Speaker 1: can't produce these things at scale. Then you had Sony, 212 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: which was a very very large company, but it had 213 00:13:40,520 --> 00:13:44,360 Speaker 1: failed to produce a device that was a hit with consumers. 214 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:48,880 Speaker 1: So Jobs was saying this gave Apple the opportunity to 215 00:13:49,000 --> 00:13:54,000 Speaker 1: swoop in and take the lead spot in a blossoming market. 216 00:13:54,640 --> 00:13:58,360 Speaker 1: And he said that the iPod, the new Apple music device, 217 00:13:58,880 --> 00:14:02,200 Speaker 1: could play the four most popular digital formats for music 218 00:14:02,240 --> 00:14:05,520 Speaker 1: at the time, which were MP three, MP three VBR, 219 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:10,240 Speaker 1: Wave or w A V and ai F F H. 220 00:14:10,280 --> 00:14:14,199 Speaker 1: The wave and ai F formats were for uncompressed audio, 221 00:14:14,559 --> 00:14:19,400 Speaker 1: wave being essentially developed for Microsoft machines, and ai F 222 00:14:19,560 --> 00:14:23,280 Speaker 1: being an Apple development. That means you you end up 223 00:14:23,320 --> 00:14:26,360 Speaker 1: with better sound quality, but the file sizes are much larger, 224 00:14:26,440 --> 00:14:31,000 Speaker 1: so you're able to store fewer files on your device. Now. 225 00:14:31,040 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 1: The original iPod featured a digital screen and had a 226 00:14:35,120 --> 00:14:39,040 Speaker 1: mechanical wheel to scroll through options and song choices. That 227 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,680 Speaker 1: mechanical wheel was flush with the front of the the 228 00:14:43,880 --> 00:14:46,280 Speaker 1: iPods face so in other words, you would put your 229 00:14:46,320 --> 00:14:49,880 Speaker 1: thumb on the surface of this wheel and rotate the 230 00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:52,720 Speaker 1: wheel around in order to scroll through a menu or 231 00:14:52,760 --> 00:14:57,240 Speaker 1: through your music's collection. It had a five gigabyte hard drive, 232 00:14:57,280 --> 00:14:59,680 Speaker 1: which Job said was capable of holding up to one 233 00:14:59,720 --> 00:15:03,440 Speaker 1: thou and songs, although he said like for most people, 234 00:15:03,480 --> 00:15:06,160 Speaker 1: that would be their entire music library, so you could 235 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:09,640 Speaker 1: just have your whole library in your pocket. He also 236 00:15:09,680 --> 00:15:12,280 Speaker 1: said those one thousand songs could be encoded at a 237 00:15:12,280 --> 00:15:15,560 Speaker 1: bit rate of a hundred sixty kilobits. The hard drive 238 00:15:15,640 --> 00:15:18,600 Speaker 1: in the original iPod had a platter that measured just 239 00:15:18,720 --> 00:15:22,440 Speaker 1: one point eight inches in diameter and was point two 240 00:15:22,520 --> 00:15:27,720 Speaker 1: inches thick, so very very thin. The iPod itself measured 241 00:15:27,800 --> 00:15:30,960 Speaker 1: four inches tall, two point four inches wide, and was 242 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:35,120 Speaker 1: point seven eight inches thick. It was, as Jobs put it, 243 00:15:35,400 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: the size of a deck of cards. Now I realized 244 00:15:39,040 --> 00:15:41,800 Speaker 1: I mentioned just a second ago bit rate and I 245 00:15:41,840 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: didn't really clarify what that was. But I do plan 246 00:15:44,880 --> 00:15:47,560 Speaker 1: on doing a Tidbits episode in the near future to 247 00:15:47,720 --> 00:15:52,320 Speaker 1: explain sample rate and bit rate for digital audio. Those 248 00:15:52,360 --> 00:15:55,000 Speaker 1: two factors play an important part in how large an 249 00:15:55,040 --> 00:15:58,400 Speaker 1: audio file is and the audio quality of that file. 250 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,000 Speaker 1: But I didn't want to take up all of this 251 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:02,680 Speaker 1: episode to talk about it, so let's get back to 252 00:16:02,720 --> 00:16:05,840 Speaker 1: the iPod now. To connect the iPod to a computer, 253 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:10,760 Speaker 1: which originally was just limited to Mac computers, Apple built 254 00:16:10,800 --> 00:16:14,920 Speaker 1: in a FireWire port on the iPod. Jobs said it 255 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:18,160 Speaker 1: would take ten seconds to load a CDs worth of 256 00:16:18,240 --> 00:16:22,440 Speaker 1: music onto the iPod, compared to five minutes if you 257 00:16:22,480 --> 00:16:26,360 Speaker 1: were using an old USB cable between a computer and 258 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:29,080 Speaker 1: an MP three player. He also said it could take 259 00:16:29,160 --> 00:16:31,880 Speaker 1: up to ten minutes to transfer the full one thousand 260 00:16:31,960 --> 00:16:35,440 Speaker 1: songs to an iPod, but it would take five hours 261 00:16:35,480 --> 00:16:37,520 Speaker 1: if you wanted to do the same with USB, so 262 00:16:37,560 --> 00:16:41,000 Speaker 1: he was really touting the superiority of FireWire over USB 263 00:16:41,080 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: at the time. Jobs also said that the iPods battery 264 00:16:45,120 --> 00:16:48,240 Speaker 1: would supply ten hours of continuous play, and that it 265 00:16:48,280 --> 00:16:51,320 Speaker 1: would have fast charge capability to regain eighty percent of 266 00:16:51,320 --> 00:16:54,760 Speaker 1: its capacity in one hour of charging, and that the 267 00:16:54,920 --> 00:16:58,320 Speaker 1: FireWire cable would provide not just data transfer, but also 268 00:16:58,360 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: provide power, so you could plug your iPod into your 269 00:17:04,000 --> 00:17:07,920 Speaker 1: computer using the FireWire cable and you could charge your 270 00:17:08,040 --> 00:17:10,960 Speaker 1: iPod while you're also transferring music to it, and all 271 00:17:11,040 --> 00:17:15,200 Speaker 1: this for the low, low price of three dollars. If 272 00:17:15,240 --> 00:17:19,919 Speaker 1: we were to adjust for inflation today, that would be 273 00:17:19,960 --> 00:17:25,600 Speaker 1: about the same as six hundred fifty bucks yells them. Now, 274 00:17:25,640 --> 00:17:29,440 Speaker 1: by the time Apple unveiled the iPod, the company had 275 00:17:29,480 --> 00:17:33,439 Speaker 1: already launched iTunes. They launched iTunes at the beginning of 276 00:17:33,480 --> 00:17:36,400 Speaker 1: two thousand one, and the iPod was announced in October 277 00:17:36,400 --> 00:17:40,160 Speaker 1: of that year. Now, at that time, iTunes was strictly 278 00:17:40,320 --> 00:17:44,879 Speaker 1: a digital music management program. You could put a CD 279 00:17:45,320 --> 00:17:48,199 Speaker 1: into a Mac and you could rip music from that 280 00:17:48,320 --> 00:17:51,440 Speaker 1: c D and make digital files of it and use 281 00:17:51,480 --> 00:17:54,160 Speaker 1: iTunes to organize your music collection, but it would live 282 00:17:54,240 --> 00:17:58,119 Speaker 1: on your computer. iTunes would then become the software component 283 00:17:58,200 --> 00:18:01,719 Speaker 1: to manage iPods, at least on max, and connecting an 284 00:18:01,720 --> 00:18:06,320 Speaker 1: iPod to your computer with iTunes would allow for automatic synchronization. 285 00:18:06,720 --> 00:18:10,920 Speaker 1: So if you had added new music to your computer, well, 286 00:18:11,040 --> 00:18:13,680 Speaker 1: the next time you plug your iPod in, those new 287 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:17,280 Speaker 1: tracks could transition seamlessly to your iPod, so you'd have 288 00:18:17,320 --> 00:18:21,600 Speaker 1: them ready for when you're on the go. The iPod 289 00:18:21,760 --> 00:18:25,879 Speaker 1: was a pretty big departure for Apple, and it was 290 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:30,800 Speaker 1: a success. You know, Apple had experimented with some uh 291 00:18:30,960 --> 00:18:34,280 Speaker 1: consumer electronics outside of computers a bit in the past 292 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:38,879 Speaker 1: and had had let's say, mixed success. The Newton is 293 00:18:39,000 --> 00:18:43,720 Speaker 1: a an infamous flop for Apple, right, but the iPod 294 00:18:43,760 --> 00:18:46,880 Speaker 1: was not a flop, and the following year, in two 295 00:18:46,880 --> 00:18:50,400 Speaker 1: thousand two, Apple updated the iPod. It would ultimately offer 296 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,400 Speaker 1: two models of the iPod, one that had a ten 297 00:18:53,480 --> 00:18:56,840 Speaker 1: gigabyte hard drive, so twice of the size of the original, 298 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 1: and the second would have a twenty gigabyte hard drive. 299 00:19:00,920 --> 00:19:04,199 Speaker 1: They also replaced the old mechanical scroll wheel, so you 300 00:19:04,240 --> 00:19:06,120 Speaker 1: no longer had a wheel that you could physically turn 301 00:19:06,160 --> 00:19:09,400 Speaker 1: around on the face of this iPod, and they replaced 302 00:19:09,400 --> 00:19:13,919 Speaker 1: it with a capacitive sensing touch wheel, so kind of 303 00:19:13,960 --> 00:19:16,040 Speaker 1: like a touch screen in a sense, except it wasn't 304 00:19:16,040 --> 00:19:20,119 Speaker 1: a screen. It was just this round, rounded section of 305 00:19:20,160 --> 00:19:22,880 Speaker 1: the surface of the iPod, so you are no longer 306 00:19:22,880 --> 00:19:26,640 Speaker 1: physically turning a wheel to scroll through stuff. The new 307 00:19:26,680 --> 00:19:31,280 Speaker 1: iPods were also compatible with Windows PCs, which dramatically expanded 308 00:19:31,280 --> 00:19:35,040 Speaker 1: the potential customer base for Apple in the process. Now, 309 00:19:35,080 --> 00:19:38,440 Speaker 1: at the time, there was no iTunes for PC for 310 00:19:38,560 --> 00:19:42,080 Speaker 1: for Windows, so PC users had to rely on software 311 00:19:42,119 --> 00:19:47,160 Speaker 1: called Music Match Jukebox in order to organize their music 312 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:50,960 Speaker 1: collections and send music over to their iPods. The new 313 00:19:50,960 --> 00:19:54,960 Speaker 1: iPod also had a thirty pin dock connector, and then 314 00:19:55,040 --> 00:19:58,119 Speaker 1: you could use a dock that had FireWire or a 315 00:19:58,200 --> 00:20:02,760 Speaker 1: dock that had USB. That was good because FireWire was 316 00:20:03,680 --> 00:20:07,280 Speaker 1: pretty much unheard of on Windows PCs. There were some 317 00:20:07,400 --> 00:20:10,800 Speaker 1: that had FireWire reports, but it was not a standard. 318 00:20:11,000 --> 00:20:14,800 Speaker 1: It was far more common to run into USB connections. 319 00:20:15,320 --> 00:20:19,080 Speaker 1: In two thousand three, Apple introduced iTunes for Windows and 320 00:20:19,119 --> 00:20:25,359 Speaker 1: thus migrated away from Music Match, Jukebox and UM. iTunes 321 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:29,000 Speaker 1: for Windows was pants, meaning it was not good, at 322 00:20:29,040 --> 00:20:31,720 Speaker 1: least in my opinion, at least back in those days. 323 00:20:32,840 --> 00:20:39,639 Speaker 1: It felt bloated and unwieldy. It had massive processor demands. 324 00:20:39,680 --> 00:20:42,560 Speaker 1: It took up too much of your computer memory. At 325 00:20:42,640 --> 00:20:45,840 Speaker 1: least in my experience, I really didn't like using it. 326 00:20:46,160 --> 00:20:47,879 Speaker 1: I'm sure I would have felt differently if I had 327 00:20:47,880 --> 00:20:51,119 Speaker 1: owned a Mac computer instead of a Windows PC, but 328 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:54,639 Speaker 1: on Windows it was a shore. Oh. In two thousand 329 00:20:54,640 --> 00:20:58,560 Speaker 1: three was also when Apple launched the iTunes music store, 330 00:20:59,560 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 1: that that you could actually purchase digital music directly from Apple, 331 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:07,680 Speaker 1: rather than rip it from c D s uh. That 332 00:21:07,720 --> 00:21:11,440 Speaker 1: was the other way you could really get music. There 333 00:21:11,440 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: were some other independent and and studio owned digital music 334 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:19,480 Speaker 1: stores out there, but none of them had really taken 335 00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:22,399 Speaker 1: off in popularity. And of course there was the black 336 00:21:22,520 --> 00:21:29,000 Speaker 1: market piracy trading culture out there. Napster was gone by 337 00:21:29,000 --> 00:21:32,400 Speaker 1: two thousand three. It had been sued out of existence. 338 00:21:32,840 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 1: But it's not like piracy just went away after that. 339 00:21:36,640 --> 00:21:40,680 Speaker 1: But this is when Apple introduced the legit iTunes music store. 340 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:43,800 Speaker 1: It's also when Apple would introduce the fair Play Digital 341 00:21:43,880 --> 00:21:48,240 Speaker 1: Rights Management or DRM solution, which restricted iTunes purchases to 342 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: play only on authorized devices. So this was again back 343 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:55,399 Speaker 1: when music labels had a lot of leverage over Apple. 344 00:21:55,800 --> 00:21:58,440 Speaker 1: All Right, we've got a lot more to get through 345 00:21:58,840 --> 00:22:02,720 Speaker 1: with the evil of the iPod and its eventual demise. 346 00:22:02,840 --> 00:22:05,400 Speaker 1: But before we get into any of that, let's take 347 00:22:05,440 --> 00:22:16,520 Speaker 1: another quick break. Okay, we're up to two thousand four. 348 00:22:16,680 --> 00:22:20,640 Speaker 1: That's when Apple would expand iPod line again. So earlier 349 00:22:20,720 --> 00:22:24,080 Speaker 1: years had seen iPods with you know, larger hard drive 350 00:22:24,200 --> 00:22:28,159 Speaker 1: sizes and that kind of thing, like modest improvements, but 351 00:22:28,280 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 1: two thousand four saw entirely new iPod models. Apple introduced 352 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,680 Speaker 1: the iPod many in two thousand four, and as the 353 00:22:35,760 --> 00:22:40,120 Speaker 1: name suggests, it was significantly smaller than the standard iPod 354 00:22:40,760 --> 00:22:42,320 Speaker 1: and it had a hard drive that could hold up 355 00:22:42,320 --> 00:22:46,439 Speaker 1: to one thousand songs, similar to the original iPod. Apple 356 00:22:46,520 --> 00:22:49,760 Speaker 1: also introduced the iPod Photo, which was an iPod with 357 00:22:49,800 --> 00:22:53,320 Speaker 1: a color digital screen that could display photos on it. Obviously, 358 00:22:53,359 --> 00:22:57,240 Speaker 1: you would transfer the photos from your computer to your iPod, 359 00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,199 Speaker 1: you could scroll through them, and there was also a 360 00:23:00,280 --> 00:23:04,040 Speaker 1: fourth generation standard iPod as well. Two thousand four was 361 00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:09,040 Speaker 1: also when the term podcasting began to catch on. Now, 362 00:23:09,200 --> 00:23:13,000 Speaker 1: the practice had been around for a while, right There 363 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:17,399 Speaker 1: had already been cases of serialized digital audio content that 364 00:23:17,400 --> 00:23:20,639 Speaker 1: people could subscribe to that dated back a few years 365 00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:25,320 Speaker 1: from before two thousand four, But two thousand four was 366 00:23:25,400 --> 00:23:31,040 Speaker 1: where podcasting as a word really emerged. I would argue 367 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: that that really drove home how Apple had nailed the 368 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:38,880 Speaker 1: MP three player technology and the marketing for digital audio 369 00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:43,080 Speaker 1: players because it had become the de facto leader in 370 00:23:43,119 --> 00:23:47,399 Speaker 1: the space and had to find the technology. You know, 371 00:23:47,440 --> 00:23:51,159 Speaker 1: it didn't it didn't invent it, but they refined it 372 00:23:51,240 --> 00:23:54,880 Speaker 1: to a point where that was the standard, so much 373 00:23:54,920 --> 00:24:01,080 Speaker 1: so that an entire medium was named after the iPod podcasting. 374 00:24:01,560 --> 00:24:04,720 Speaker 1: Then in two thousand five, we got the iPod Nano, 375 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,800 Speaker 1: which was an even smaller iPod than the iPod Mini. 376 00:24:08,200 --> 00:24:11,120 Speaker 1: It used flash storage rather than a hard drive, and 377 00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 1: in the early days of digital audio players, flash storage 378 00:24:15,040 --> 00:24:18,800 Speaker 1: was a real limitter and it was really expensive. It 379 00:24:18,800 --> 00:24:22,480 Speaker 1: couldn't hold very much, and it cost a lot to produce. 380 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:25,960 Speaker 1: That's why Apple chose to go with physical hard drives 381 00:24:26,119 --> 00:24:29,280 Speaker 1: for its early iPods. But by two thousand five, the 382 00:24:29,320 --> 00:24:31,639 Speaker 1: capacity was starting to go up and the price was 383 00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:34,639 Speaker 1: starting to come down, so the Nano was available in 384 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:38,879 Speaker 1: two gigabyte and four gigabyte capacity models. It had a 385 00:24:38,880 --> 00:24:43,240 Speaker 1: color screen, and it was smaller than the iPod Mini was, 386 00:24:43,280 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: which in turn was smaller than the standard iPod. A 387 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:49,639 Speaker 1: few months after it debuted, the Nano would replace the 388 00:24:49,680 --> 00:24:54,439 Speaker 1: Mini and Apple would just discontinue the Mini model entirely. Also, 389 00:24:54,480 --> 00:24:57,160 Speaker 1: two thousand five was when the iPod Shuffle came out. 390 00:24:57,840 --> 00:25:02,119 Speaker 1: The iPod Shuffle h is an odd little thing. Most 391 00:25:02,160 --> 00:25:05,480 Speaker 1: models don't have any display at all. Uh In fact, 392 00:25:05,480 --> 00:25:08,439 Speaker 1: it has a pretty simple interface. It's got a power button, 393 00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:12,480 Speaker 1: a play pause button, and controls that allow you to 394 00:25:12,640 --> 00:25:15,360 Speaker 1: change the volume and skip a song or go back 395 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:19,040 Speaker 1: to a song. And the Shuffle could play songs you know, 396 00:25:19,119 --> 00:25:22,600 Speaker 1: in whatever order was organized on the device, or as 397 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:26,720 Speaker 1: the name suggests it could shuffle them randomly, so the 398 00:25:26,720 --> 00:25:30,280 Speaker 1: shovel was even smaller than the nano. It maxed out 399 00:25:30,359 --> 00:25:33,800 Speaker 1: with a one gigabyte hard drive model when it launched, 400 00:25:34,119 --> 00:25:36,680 Speaker 1: or I guess I should say flash drive model one 401 00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:40,800 Speaker 1: gigabyte of storage when it launched. Also in two thousand five, 402 00:25:41,440 --> 00:25:45,119 Speaker 1: Apple introduced a fifth generation iPod that was capable of 403 00:25:45,160 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: playing video. So now we're at the point where you 404 00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:52,280 Speaker 1: could transfer video files to a an iPod, which otherwise 405 00:25:52,359 --> 00:25:55,920 Speaker 1: was modeled like the classic iPod, and you can watch 406 00:25:55,920 --> 00:26:00,400 Speaker 1: those videos whenever you wanted. Where still in that where 407 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:04,120 Speaker 1: you had to physically connect your iPod with your your 408 00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:07,359 Speaker 1: computer in order to synchronize files between the devices and 409 00:26:07,440 --> 00:26:10,359 Speaker 1: to transfer new material to the iPods. So it's not 410 00:26:10,400 --> 00:26:13,000 Speaker 1: like you could just download videos natively to the device. 411 00:26:13,040 --> 00:26:15,959 Speaker 1: You still had to connect it physically to your computer 412 00:26:16,040 --> 00:26:20,600 Speaker 1: to do that. And finally, two thousand five, finally, for 413 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:23,600 Speaker 1: two thousand five, anyway, it was a critical year for 414 00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:27,400 Speaker 1: my profession. See that's the year that Steve Jobs announced 415 00:26:27,440 --> 00:26:33,480 Speaker 1: that podcasts would be incorporated directly into iTunes, so iTunes 416 00:26:33,560 --> 00:26:37,520 Speaker 1: users would be able to subscribe to podcasts and whenever 417 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:41,879 Speaker 1: they synchronize their iPods with their computers, any new episodes 418 00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,240 Speaker 1: of the shows they subscribed to would automatically transfer to 419 00:26:45,320 --> 00:26:49,560 Speaker 1: their iPod, and Apple took podcasting, which at that time 420 00:26:49,600 --> 00:26:52,879 Speaker 1: was still a very young medium, and they pushed it 421 00:26:52,960 --> 00:26:56,520 Speaker 1: further toward the mainstream. The success of the iPod in 422 00:26:56,560 --> 00:27:00,520 Speaker 1: no small way contributed to the early growth of podcasts, 423 00:27:00,560 --> 00:27:03,240 Speaker 1: though it would take more than a decade for podcasts 424 00:27:03,280 --> 00:27:05,920 Speaker 1: to become popular enough so that the average person knew 425 00:27:05,920 --> 00:27:09,800 Speaker 1: what the heck a podcast was. Occasionally I still run 426 00:27:09,800 --> 00:27:11,879 Speaker 1: into people who aren't sure what a podcast is, but 427 00:27:11,960 --> 00:27:14,720 Speaker 1: it's it's more rare these days now. The joke is 428 00:27:14,800 --> 00:27:19,080 Speaker 1: everybody has a podcast. Back then, most people didn't even 429 00:27:19,080 --> 00:27:22,080 Speaker 1: know what the heck podcast was. And it also became 430 00:27:22,119 --> 00:27:24,720 Speaker 1: true pretty quickly that if you wanted your podcast to 431 00:27:24,800 --> 00:27:28,159 Speaker 1: do well, you really had to hold out hope that 432 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:31,919 Speaker 1: Apple was going to feature your podcast on its podcast page, 433 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:34,480 Speaker 1: because that pretty much guaranteed you would see a rush 434 00:27:34,640 --> 00:27:38,320 Speaker 1: of new subscribers. Some of the shows on our network, 435 00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:43,560 Speaker 1: such as Stuff You Should Know, benefited tremendously due to 436 00:27:43,720 --> 00:27:48,280 Speaker 1: Apple featuring the podcast on the iTunes podcast section. Now, 437 00:27:48,280 --> 00:27:50,679 Speaker 1: I also have to point out that if it weren't 438 00:27:50,840 --> 00:27:53,000 Speaker 1: for the fact that Stuff You Should Know is just 439 00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,920 Speaker 1: a really great show with incredibly talented hosts. It wouldn't 440 00:27:57,920 --> 00:28:01,080 Speaker 1: matter for all the promotion in the world, right, It 441 00:28:01,080 --> 00:28:03,680 Speaker 1: wouldn't make a difference. If the show was terrible, people 442 00:28:03,680 --> 00:28:06,679 Speaker 1: wouldn't stay subscribed to it. So I don't want to 443 00:28:06,680 --> 00:28:10,720 Speaker 1: take any credit away from the creators. They are legitimately 444 00:28:11,280 --> 00:28:16,200 Speaker 1: great at what they do, but the iTunes promotion helped 445 00:28:16,200 --> 00:28:18,520 Speaker 1: them out considerably in the early days to get a 446 00:28:18,520 --> 00:28:23,560 Speaker 1: big following. Now, two thousand six was less eventful than 447 00:28:23,560 --> 00:28:27,240 Speaker 1: two thousand five. Apple released updated generations for the iPod 448 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:31,000 Speaker 1: and the Nano and the Shuffle. Nothing really spectacular to 449 00:28:31,040 --> 00:28:35,240 Speaker 1: note here. The new models were obviously improvements over previous generations, 450 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:37,680 Speaker 1: but that was pretty much it. But then in two 451 00:28:37,680 --> 00:28:41,040 Speaker 1: thousand seven we got two things that would be huge 452 00:28:41,400 --> 00:28:45,080 Speaker 1: for Apple now. The really big one was the iPhone. 453 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:50,360 Speaker 1: By this time, Apple's image had really skyrocketed. The popularity 454 00:28:50,360 --> 00:28:54,320 Speaker 1: of the iPod had truly transformed the company, and the 455 00:28:54,360 --> 00:28:58,920 Speaker 1: iPhone would push Apple beyond the stratosphere and into lower 456 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:02,360 Speaker 1: th orbit at least. But that same year Apple also 457 00:29:02,400 --> 00:29:08,040 Speaker 1: introduced the iPod Touch. The Touch was essentially an iPhone 458 00:29:08,480 --> 00:29:12,160 Speaker 1: without the phone part. There was no cellular antenna in 459 00:29:12,200 --> 00:29:15,720 Speaker 1: the iPod Touch, but it featured the same multi touch 460 00:29:15,880 --> 00:29:18,920 Speaker 1: screen as the iPhone. Most of the internal components were 461 00:29:18,920 --> 00:29:22,400 Speaker 1: the same. They would have a camera had it was 462 00:29:22,440 --> 00:29:25,080 Speaker 1: able to run apps, at least apps that didn't require 463 00:29:25,080 --> 00:29:28,200 Speaker 1: a cellular connection, so in many ways it was like 464 00:29:28,240 --> 00:29:31,360 Speaker 1: an iPhone, just without the phone part. And the iPod 465 00:29:31,400 --> 00:29:34,080 Speaker 1: Touch also had WiFi connectivity, so you could use an 466 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:38,120 Speaker 1: iPod Touch to browse the web or message people, and 467 00:29:38,200 --> 00:29:42,320 Speaker 1: you could even purchase digital music wirelessly. You still couldn't 468 00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: synchronize wirelessly. That would come a little bit later. Apple 469 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:49,160 Speaker 1: still offered the original iPod form factor. I mean not 470 00:29:49,200 --> 00:29:51,840 Speaker 1: the original original, because we're not talking about a mechanical 471 00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:56,120 Speaker 1: scroll wheel or anything, but the the form factor that 472 00:29:56,160 --> 00:29:59,400 Speaker 1: we associate with the old school iPods, and from that 473 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:02,040 Speaker 1: point for at Apple would refer to those types of 474 00:30:02,080 --> 00:30:05,920 Speaker 1: iPods as the iPod Classic. By the end of two 475 00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,920 Speaker 1: thousand seven, Apple had sold more than a hundred forty 476 00:30:09,160 --> 00:30:14,720 Speaker 1: million iPods. Like I said, the iPod line transformed Apple, 477 00:30:14,880 --> 00:30:18,920 Speaker 1: but the iPhone was going to be way more disruptive. Now. 478 00:30:18,960 --> 00:30:22,840 Speaker 1: Over the following years, Apple would continue to evolve the Nano, 479 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:26,880 Speaker 1: the Shuffle, and the Touch iPod lines. It would continue 480 00:30:26,920 --> 00:30:30,240 Speaker 1: to support the classic line, but those really didn't change 481 00:30:30,280 --> 00:30:33,840 Speaker 1: too much year to year. In two thousand eight, Apple 482 00:30:33,920 --> 00:30:36,440 Speaker 1: added a feature that let you play a random song 483 00:30:36,520 --> 00:30:39,560 Speaker 1: on your nano's playlist if you just shook your nano. 484 00:30:40,560 --> 00:30:43,880 Speaker 1: I really wonder how many nano's perished as people over 485 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:48,600 Speaker 1: enthusiastically tried to search for a cool random song. In 486 00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:52,320 Speaker 1: Apple changed the nano design. It used to be kind 487 00:30:52,320 --> 00:30:55,760 Speaker 1: of like a thin rectangle. It was much taller than 488 00:30:55,800 --> 00:30:59,800 Speaker 1: it was wide, but the model turned the Nano into 489 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:02,840 Speaker 1: a square. It kind of looks like the watch face 490 00:31:02,920 --> 00:31:06,760 Speaker 1: of an Apple Watch. In fact, the fourth generation iPod 491 00:31:06,800 --> 00:31:10,120 Speaker 1: Touch would have a retina display, so that was a 492 00:31:10,200 --> 00:31:15,320 Speaker 1: very high definition display capable of sharp, vibrant graphics. It 493 00:31:15,400 --> 00:31:18,640 Speaker 1: could also shoot HD photos and videos, and it was 494 00:31:18,680 --> 00:31:21,760 Speaker 1: the first iPod Touch to have a front facing camera, 495 00:31:21,840 --> 00:31:24,400 Speaker 1: which meant you could actually use the iPod Touch to 496 00:31:24,520 --> 00:31:28,960 Speaker 1: make FaceTime calls over WiFi. The fourth generation Touch would 497 00:31:28,960 --> 00:31:31,520 Speaker 1: also get a further update that would allow for wireless 498 00:31:31,600 --> 00:31:35,640 Speaker 1: synchronization with iTunes, so now you no longer had to 499 00:31:35,840 --> 00:31:41,120 Speaker 1: dock your Touch to your computer to synchronize across the 500 00:31:41,160 --> 00:31:46,480 Speaker 1: two devices. The fifth generation Touch got a larger screen 501 00:31:46,720 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: and a lightning DOC connector, which allowed for even faster 502 00:31:50,160 --> 00:31:54,200 Speaker 1: data transfer speeds. And during this time, Apple continued to 503 00:31:54,480 --> 00:31:58,360 Speaker 1: support the iPod Classic models, but the company would ultimately 504 00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:02,720 Speaker 1: discontinue those in stept Tober two thousand fourteen. The iPod 505 00:32:02,760 --> 00:32:06,400 Speaker 1: Shuffle and the iPod Nano would get the same treatment 506 00:32:06,560 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 1: in two thousand seventeen. Now, the reason I'm skipping over 507 00:32:10,000 --> 00:32:12,640 Speaker 1: all that, like I'm going from essentially two thousand eight 508 00:32:12,720 --> 00:32:17,000 Speaker 1: to two thousand four to two thousand seventeen, is because 509 00:32:17,640 --> 00:32:22,880 Speaker 1: the evolution of the devices were the kind of gradual 510 00:32:23,080 --> 00:32:26,960 Speaker 1: like they weren't. They weren't monumental leaps, and it would 511 00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:30,080 Speaker 1: be ridiculous just to go from year to year and say, 512 00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:33,320 Speaker 1: and here's where these minor changes came into play. But 513 00:32:33,440 --> 00:32:37,320 Speaker 1: now five years later, in two Apple is saying goodbye 514 00:32:37,360 --> 00:32:40,280 Speaker 1: to the Touch. And you might wonder why why is 515 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:46,200 Speaker 1: Apple sunsetting the iPod line entirely, Well, it really has 516 00:32:46,240 --> 00:32:48,840 Speaker 1: to do with that pesky iPhone you see, as as 517 00:32:48,880 --> 00:32:53,640 Speaker 1: the iPhones battery life and storage capacity and then ultimately 518 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:58,160 Speaker 1: access to streaming music services increased the demand for a 519 00:32:58,280 --> 00:33:03,400 Speaker 1: standalone music playback device decreased. The Touch held out longer 520 00:33:03,440 --> 00:33:06,480 Speaker 1: than the others because it was essentially a cheaper iPhone 521 00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:09,560 Speaker 1: just without the cellular phone part. You could even do 522 00:33:09,680 --> 00:33:13,160 Speaker 1: WiFi style calls on a Touch. In fact, my buddy 523 00:33:13,200 --> 00:33:16,520 Speaker 1: I as Actor, used an iPod Touch as his mobile 524 00:33:16,520 --> 00:33:18,840 Speaker 1: phone for a short while. I remember him telling me 525 00:33:19,000 --> 00:33:22,000 Speaker 1: about that at c E S and it blew my mind. Now, 526 00:33:22,920 --> 00:33:25,800 Speaker 1: if you look at how much iPods have contributed to 527 00:33:25,920 --> 00:33:30,080 Speaker 1: Apple's revenue, you would see that they really hit their 528 00:33:30,160 --> 00:33:33,920 Speaker 1: peak in two thousand six, not peak sales. They didn't 529 00:33:33,960 --> 00:33:36,760 Speaker 1: hit their peak sales till two thousand and eight, But 530 00:33:36,880 --> 00:33:41,440 Speaker 1: in two thousand six they contributed the most by percentage 531 00:33:41,680 --> 00:33:46,880 Speaker 1: to Apple's overall revenue. In two thousand six, they were 532 00:33:46,920 --> 00:33:50,880 Speaker 1: about of all of Apple's revenue, it just came from 533 00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:54,680 Speaker 1: iPod sales. So so nearly half of all of Apple's 534 00:33:54,720 --> 00:33:59,200 Speaker 1: revenue came from selling iPods in two thousand six. See, 535 00:33:59,240 --> 00:34:01,360 Speaker 1: I told you that I pod really turned things around 536 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:05,479 Speaker 1: for Apple. Now, actual iPod sales, like I said, they 537 00:34:05,520 --> 00:34:09,719 Speaker 1: peaked in two thousand eight, So they sold more iPods 538 00:34:09,760 --> 00:34:11,759 Speaker 1: in two thousand eight than they did in two thousand six, 539 00:34:11,760 --> 00:34:15,520 Speaker 1: they sold fifty four point eight million units. Back in 540 00:34:15,520 --> 00:34:19,000 Speaker 1: two thousand six, they had sold thirty nine point four million. 541 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:22,839 Speaker 1: But in two thousand eight, even though they sold more iPods, 542 00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:27,920 Speaker 1: those sales accounted for just tw Apple's revenue. And remember 543 00:34:27,920 --> 00:34:32,480 Speaker 1: in two thousand six it was of Apple's revenue. That 544 00:34:32,640 --> 00:34:36,239 Speaker 1: tells you a lot right there. Right If a company 545 00:34:36,280 --> 00:34:40,879 Speaker 1: sells fifteen million more units two years later, but those 546 00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:43,720 Speaker 1: sales contribute a smaller amount to the company's total revenue, 547 00:34:44,600 --> 00:34:48,000 Speaker 1: something else is really taking off. That's something else was 548 00:34:48,040 --> 00:34:51,040 Speaker 1: the iPhone. So the iPod was still a mega success, 549 00:34:51,080 --> 00:34:54,319 Speaker 1: but the iPhone was leaving it in the dust. From 550 00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:58,040 Speaker 1: two thousand eight, it was a downward trend. Now, it's 551 00:34:58,080 --> 00:35:02,680 Speaker 1: not like iPod sales inanked immediately, but in two thousand 552 00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:06,040 Speaker 1: nine it dipped from fifty four point eight million units 553 00:35:06,160 --> 00:35:11,000 Speaker 1: to fifty four point one million units, and at that 554 00:35:11,080 --> 00:35:14,600 Speaker 1: point the sales were accounting for around nineteen percent of 555 00:35:14,640 --> 00:35:17,600 Speaker 1: the company's total revenue, because again, the iPhone was just 556 00:35:17,760 --> 00:35:22,000 Speaker 1: a monster. By two thousand fourteen, the sales numbers were 557 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:26,719 Speaker 1: down to fourteen point four million units and accounted for 558 00:35:26,760 --> 00:35:30,200 Speaker 1: about one percent of the total revenue for Apple. Now, 559 00:35:30,239 --> 00:35:33,800 Speaker 1: after two thousand fourteen, Apple would just lump in iPod 560 00:35:33,920 --> 00:35:37,960 Speaker 1: sales with other categories, so it became impossible to see 561 00:35:38,040 --> 00:35:42,160 Speaker 1: how iPod sales and revenue were going. The iPhone had 562 00:35:42,200 --> 00:35:45,960 Speaker 1: really eclipsed everything else, so it's not really a surprise 563 00:35:46,200 --> 00:35:49,319 Speaker 1: that the iPod touch is going away, or that the 564 00:35:49,320 --> 00:35:52,960 Speaker 1: iPod line in general is riding off into the sunset. 565 00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:57,680 Speaker 1: Some folks like yours truly held out for a really 566 00:35:57,680 --> 00:36:01,520 Speaker 1: long time and carried both an MP three player, and yes, 567 00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:06,040 Speaker 1: I eventually abandoned my creative zen for an iPod Classic 568 00:36:06,800 --> 00:36:09,640 Speaker 1: and also carried a smartphone at the same time. I 569 00:36:09,719 --> 00:36:12,400 Speaker 1: was one of those people. I had two devices. That 570 00:36:12,480 --> 00:36:14,840 Speaker 1: was because I didn't want to run down my phone's 571 00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:18,200 Speaker 1: battery while playing music, nor did I want to fill 572 00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:21,840 Speaker 1: up my phone's storage within an enormous music collection. Because 573 00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:26,440 Speaker 1: streaming services really were a thing yet at least not 574 00:36:26,680 --> 00:36:32,279 Speaker 1: a common thing. But eventually streaming services increased capacity and 575 00:36:32,360 --> 00:36:37,480 Speaker 1: better battery life all made standalone MP three players kind 576 00:36:37,480 --> 00:36:40,560 Speaker 1: of obsolete because smartphones could do it all. They could 577 00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:45,600 Speaker 1: act as your music library and a streaming platform and 578 00:36:46,280 --> 00:36:48,600 Speaker 1: a phone and a computer. There was no reason to 579 00:36:48,640 --> 00:36:51,680 Speaker 1: have to carry two of them. Apple is going to 580 00:36:51,719 --> 00:36:55,000 Speaker 1: sell off all remaining iPod touches that are in stock 581 00:36:55,800 --> 00:36:59,479 Speaker 1: and then puff they'll be gone. So if you want one, 582 00:37:00,000 --> 00:37:02,359 Speaker 1: now's the time to buy one before they all end 583 00:37:02,440 --> 00:37:05,560 Speaker 1: up on the aftermarket at ridiculously pumped up prices that 584 00:37:06,239 --> 00:37:09,600 Speaker 1: they are just not worth that they range in price 585 00:37:09,760 --> 00:37:12,760 Speaker 1: from about hundred ninety nine dollars for a thirty two 586 00:37:12,760 --> 00:37:17,120 Speaker 1: gigabyte model up to three dollars for a two hundred 587 00:37:17,200 --> 00:37:21,640 Speaker 1: fifty six gigabyte model. There are a few different colors available, 588 00:37:21,760 --> 00:37:26,799 Speaker 1: though not every color of iPod Touch has all the 589 00:37:26,880 --> 00:37:30,439 Speaker 1: different storage capacities available. Some of them are already out 590 00:37:30,440 --> 00:37:34,040 Speaker 1: of stock, and like I said, once the rest are gone, 591 00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:39,239 Speaker 1: that's it. So farewell iPod. You set Apple on a 592 00:37:39,280 --> 00:37:42,120 Speaker 1: trajectory to become one of the most powerful companies in 593 00:37:42,120 --> 00:37:45,000 Speaker 1: the world, and you lent your name to an art 594 00:37:45,040 --> 00:37:48,560 Speaker 1: form that has become my career. Plus, even though I 595 00:37:48,600 --> 00:37:52,279 Speaker 1: am an Android smartphone user and I used to own 596 00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:55,080 Speaker 1: a creative Zen MP three player, I do have to 597 00:37:55,120 --> 00:37:58,600 Speaker 1: admit that the iPod form factor and its performance were 598 00:37:58,760 --> 00:38:02,640 Speaker 1: top notch. Just wish that darn iTunes software had worked 599 00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:07,280 Speaker 1: better on Windows. That's it for this episode of Tech Stuff. 600 00:38:07,360 --> 00:38:09,759 Speaker 1: If you have suggestions for topics I should tackle in 601 00:38:09,800 --> 00:38:12,640 Speaker 1: future episodes, please reach out to me. The best way 602 00:38:12,680 --> 00:38:15,279 Speaker 1: to do that is on Twitter. The handle for the 603 00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:19,160 Speaker 1: show is text Stuff H s W and I'll talk 604 00:38:19,200 --> 00:38:28,799 Speaker 1: to you again really soon. Text Stuff is an I 605 00:38:28,920 --> 00:38:32,400 Speaker 1: Heart Radio production. For more podcasts from My Heart Radio, 606 00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:35,920 Speaker 1: visit the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever 607 00:38:36,000 --> 00:38:37,520 Speaker 1: you listen to your favorite shows.