By Akriti Rana and Nimish Dubey


The serial killer smartphone has struck again and this time has taken an iconic gadget away from us, forever. After removing mainstream cameras, gaming consoles and most of the music players out of the tech picture, the deadly smartphone wave has claimed yet another victim. It was a tiny musical gadget which had managed to survive all these years of smartphone domination. It did not have a truckload of takers by the end but still invoked a feeling of nostalgia in some and for many, was the most affordable window to the iOS world.


We are talking about the iPod. After more than two decades of existence, Apple has finally pulled the plug on the iPod. The brand has officially discontinued the iPod, the gadget that put ‘1,000 songs in your pocket'. That line may sound routine now, but two decades ago, it was revolutionary. It was one of the most popular devices of its times, but many facets of it and its life were unknown to most people. So now that the iPod is officially resting in peace, let us remember it by telling you ten lesser-known facts about the dearly departed gadget:  


1. The iPod was not an original Apple iDea 


The words iPod and Apple may go together like bread and butter but it might surprise you to know that the idea of an iPod was not an original one. It was Tony Fadell, an American engineer who first came up with the idea of a portable music player with storage in 1999. He even had a company called Fuse to develop the portable music player but unfortunately he could not get enough funding to get the project going on his own. He later joined Apple in 2001 as the Senior Vice President of the - yes -  iPod division. Talk of divine justice.  


2. The iDea was rejected, twice!


It may be hard to believe considering how popular the iPod went on to become, but the idea of the iPod was initially rejected not once but twice before it got to Apple. After Fuse failed, Tony Fadell shared the idea of the portable music player with storage with RealNetworks and Philips, both of which rejected it. Bizarre, right?


3. Born of a DJ's need 


Necessity is the mother of invention might sound cliche to some. But it was exactly this very sentiment that led to the invention of the iPod. Before he was hailed as the great engineer that he is and ‘the father of the iPod’, Tony Fadell was actually also an amateur DJ who was tired of carrying all his CDs to his shows. Hence, he wanted a portable music player with enough storage that could carry all his music collection. Of course, being an engineering wiz, he came up with the perfect solution! 


4. A Space Odyssey opened the door for its name 


The name, ‘iPod’ was inspired from a phrase from Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey. It was freelance copywriter Vinnie Chieco who suggested the name after watching the movie. The phrase, “Open the pod bay door, Hal1”, was the inspiration behind the name. And because iMac and iBook already existed, they decided to add “i” and named the legendary music player, iPod. 


5. Apple made the iPod, with help from folks from Fuse, Philips and General Magic 


Even though Fadell was hired by Apple in 2001 to work on project iPod which was codenamed P-68 back then, Fadell had to hire his own team to work on the project. This is because all of Apple’s engineers and resources were focused on the iMac line which left Fadell with no other option but to hire more people for his team. He chose the ones he had worked before with and hired some engineers from his own startup company Fuse while also getting veteran engineers from Philips and General Magic.


6. Taking the Steve Jobs Air Bubble test! 


Steve Jobs was a person of bold statements and this nature of his was one of the reasons why the first iPod was as compact as it was. When Jobs was presented with the first prototype of the iPod, he was said to have dropped it into an aquarium in front of engineers. No, he did not do so to test its water resistance! Jobs did this to show them air bubbles leaving the device indicating that there was internal space that could be saved and hence, the device could be made more compact. We do not know if the prototype survived, but what a way to "make space"! 


7. The iNspiration for the iPod design was a product made in 1958


The idea of the iPod did not breathe its first at Apple and neither did the design. The design of the iPod was actually inspired from another device that already existed. It was taken from the 1958 Braun T3 transistor radio, which was a creation of Dieter Rams, a renowned German designer. 


8. Designed and developed in less than a year


Apple was pretty swift in getting the iPod out. It took the company less than a year to design, develop and finish the iPod. Tony Fadell joined Apple in 2001 and in the same year, on October 23, 2001, Jobs announced the ‘Mac-compatible’ music player with 5GB hard drive that lets you carry ‘1,000 songs in your pocket’. The true Fast and Furious in real tech life. And to think folks had rejected the idea twice.  


9. That 'Don’t Steal Music' sticker 


Apple has been quite an advocate of intellectual property rights and has always advised users to not steal or copy content as it does not benefit the creator. This idea goes all the way back to the OG iPods, which often came with plastic sticker warning, “Don’t Steal Music”, advising users not to illegally download their music from shady sources. Piracy was a massive deal in those days. 


10. The OG iPod had an Easter egg


The original iPod not only put a thousand songs in your pocket, but a game as well. A game called Breakout (inspired by Pong) invented by Apple’s co-founder Steve Wozniak was included on the device as an Easter egg which could be accessed by holding down the center button on the “About” menu. Users basically had to keep hitting the bricks on the ceiling whilst landing the ball on a horizontal bar on the base, keeping the ball from hitting the ground. A truly OG game on a truly OG device.