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How the iPod was really born

Wired News puts all the misinformation to rest about how the iPod entered the world with the Straight Dope on the iPod's Birth. It's an interesting read for those of you who may not know the full story. Inspired by a tiny 1.8-inch hard drive that Toshiba had no plans for and the desire coax people into buying more Macs, a digital music dynasty was born.

Bonus tidbit: We have everyone's favorite marketing honcho, Phil Schiller, to thank for the iPod's signature scroll wheel and the more distinguishable feature that makes the iPod's menus scroll faster the longer the wheel is turned. And the name iPod? It actually came from an earlier Internet kiosk project that Apple had already abandoned but still held the registered name for.

In case you needed reminding, the iPod's 5th birthday is coming up next week, which explains why the Mac web is paying even more attention to the iPod than usual.

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iPod Family

Wired News puts all the misinformation to rest about how the iPod entered the world with the Straight Dope on the iPod's Birth. It's an...
 

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Alex

what day is its birthday?

October 17 2006 at 9:34 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Stuart

Apple declared the "i" in iMac to stand for "Internet". Apple later adopted the "i" prefix across its consumer hardware and software lines.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IMac

October 17 2006 at 5:39 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Michael M.

Nice finding. I have always wondered how this began... And btw, does anyone know what the "i" in every Apple product means?? (iPod, iTunes, iChat, etc...)

October 17 2006 at 4:12 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Stuart

I'll have to wish mine a happy birthday then, I've the first generation 5gb with a real scroll wheel model. I was asked a few times on a train "What is that?".

October 17 2006 at 11:29 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
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