< PreviousVINTAGE TECH 50 Edge/ November 2024 The iPod was never meant to last forever, but for a while, it felt like it might. When it launched in 2001, Apple changed everything. MP3 players had been around, sure, but they were either too bulky or too useless. Steve Jobs had a vision: a device small enough to slip into your pocket, but big enough to hold your entire music collection. He put Tony Fadell in charge—who’d already pitched his MP3 player idea to companies like Sony and got rejected. With a team of engineers, some luck, and a lot of pressure from Jobs (he famously dunked a prototype in water to show there was extra space inside), the first iPod was born in less than a year. “A thousand songs in your pocket,” Jobs declared at the launch, holding up the sleek, white device. The world was hooked. Suddenly, you didn’t need a stack of CDs; all your music could live in this tiny thing. People danced in Apple’s ads with those iconic white earbuds, and the iPod quickly became more than just a gadget—it was a symbol. But then came the iPhone, and just like that, the iPod started to feel unnecessary. Why carry two devices when one can do everything? By 2022, Apple quietly discontinued the iPod, ending its 20-year run. The iPod didn’t die. It just evolved into something bigger. But for those of us who had one, it’ll always be remembered for what it was: a little piece of freedom, tucked in your pocket, playing the soundtrack to your life. The iPod’s Last Dance Remembering Apple’s Music Icon Words by Sindhu V Kashyap Edge_Nov2024_50_vintage_13429367.indd 5024/10/2024 13:14Presented by Official Sponsor Scan For More Information 23 & 24 November 2024 | Hudayriyat Island تﺎـــــﻳﺮـــــﻳﺪـــــﳊا ةﺮـــــﻳﺰـــــﺟ | 2024 ﱪـــــﻤــــــﻓﻮـــــﻧ 24 و 23 Untitled-11 123/10/2024 09:45Next >