The Apple iPod Turns Five

Initial responses ranged from warm to openly dismissive. “Lame” was the final word of a reaction to the player on Slashdot. Others griped that comparably priced players from rivals such as Creative Technology and Archos stored four times as much music or pointed to devices that stored the same amount for far less.

If you, like me, still don’t understand exactly what makes the iPod so great, then you are in the minority. It’s been an incredible five years to say the least, and looking back to the original model is almost laughable. You can see a small timeline here which points out all of the milestones.