October 2001: the iPod cometh

The iPod was not the first digital music player, but in the best traditions of Apple, it found a way to innovate within an established market. Describing existing music players as either "big and clunky or small and useless", with "unbelievably awful" user interfaces, Steve Jobs bought together Apple's best bods - including Jonathan Ive and Jon Rubinstein - to develop and produce the first iPod. Thanks largely in part to its tiny 1.8-inch 5GB hard drive, which allowed Apple to market it as putting "1,000 songs in your pocket", the iPod was able to confound critics who predicted it would fail due to its premium price ($399) and lack of Windows compatibility.