6M views · Apr 3, 2006 · 9:13 · 1 HN recommender · 7 mentions · discussed 2010–2022
Steve Jobs introduces the first iPod at a small Apple event in 2001. He positions it as a music player and ties it to the Apple brand.
Why Hacker News points people here: HN commenters use it to compare against later Apple launches, to show how low-key the debut was, and as an example of a great product speech.
“his announcement of the ipod was an incredible speech”HN comment, 2016
“his announcement of the ipod was an incredible speech”
Incredible speech tying together tech, art, music and Apple
o u said steve jobs: really his announcement of the ipod was an incredible speech .. it ties together tech+art+music+apple and his vision appears pretty fresh. this video
“Compare the iPad launch video from today with the original iPod launch”
Original iPod launch for comparison with the iPad launch
The iPod wasn't another MP3 player. It was the MP3 player, featuring the most songs in the least amount of space. For mobile devices, this makes a big difference. Compare the iPad launch video from today with the original iPod launch: this video The iPhone was the first phone capable enough and attractive enough for third-party applications. It came two years ahead of competition. The iPad comes after the Kindle, and alongside plans from Microsoft and others to launch their own tablets.
“People trust the Apple brand...iMac, iBook, iPod, " - Steve Jobs introduces the iPod at the 2001 Music Event.”
Jobs introducing the iPod, mentioning trust in the Apple brand
"People trust the Apple brand...iMac, iBook, iPod, " - Steve Jobs introduces the iPod at the 2001 Music Event. this video
“the iPod announcement was pretty low key”
Low-key iPod announcement, not an obvious hit at the time
Seems strange to leave out the iPhone product announcement, especially since the iPod announcement was pretty low key ( this video ), and was not an obvious hit at the event. Compare that to the iPhone announcement where everyone went wild right then and there, and truly felt like the culmination of Steve's vision of what computing should become (the iPod in retrospect seemed more like a side project that didn't really "mesh" with his general philosophy on computing).
“It's remarkable how small the room was.”
Apple was floundering at the iPod launch; the room was small
Apple was still floundering when they inro'd the iPod. this video It's remarkable how small the room was. But I don't think it was small due to exclusivity.
Citation for the iPod naming lineage
This has been the case since 2007 with "iPhone"...which mimicked the naming for "iPod" since 2001 [0]...which mimicked the naming of "iMac" since 1998 [1]. All of these, of course, go back to Steve Jobs' introduction of "Macintosh" in 1984 [2]. [0] this video [1] link [2] link
“count how often Steve says music before he says mp3.”
Jobs says music before mp3, showing Apple positioned the iPod as a music player
> There's a circus about them that permits them to stomp out history And how do you think they would do that? Apple sometimes uses a bit of hyperbole to describe itself ( link ), but I don’t think Apple ever claimed "Apple invented the mouse" or they had "the first mp3 player" or "the first smartphone". I also have never met anybody who made such claims, only people saying there are people who make such claims. It also would be weird for them to do so. Their marketing differentiates their products from the competition, and has been doing that for years. The competition sells MP3 players, the iPod was a _music_player_ or just the iPod (look at this video , and count how often Steve says music before he says mp3. [1]); the iPhone an iPod with touch controls, a revolutionary mobile phone, and a breakthrough internet communications device ( link ), the iPad just the iPad. [1] There’s a claim in hat video that Apple invented FireWire. I think that is mostly correct. They were the driving force there.
