The October 23, 2001 Apple introduced the first iPod , with 5 GB of music storage on a device smaller target than a deck of cards. Here are the events that led to the great discovery of Apple , and how his fortunes changed dramatically 12 years ago with the launch of the music player .
Apple chose to present your portable music device uninviting event on campus in Cupertino. And both the press and fans of Apple iPod received with skepticism . The experts were then asked why Apple was introduced in the business of music players .
A glint in the eye of Jobs
Apple 's relationship with digital music started innocently and with events in 1999 seemed to have nothing to do with each . That year , Steve Jobs discovered the potential of an almost obsolete technology : FireWire technology . The FireWire bus standard could transmit data at incredible speeds compared to typical of the era .
Apple realized that with FireWire , Mac users could transfer videos taken with digital cameras (already used that standard ) and edit them on your computer . That was when Steve Jobs decided that incorporate siguiende generation iMac FireWire ports .
Apple tried to partner with Adobe to develop an application for creating and editing simple video , but Adobe refused. At that time , Apple decided to create iMovie and convert to Mac in the center of its strategy , being used as the core of the expanding universe of digital content.
In the late 90s , digital music had become big news and exchange Napster music illegally brought the issue to holders worldwide . Aside from legal issues , most of the tech industry realized that the future of music distribution on the Internet was .
Around 2000 , Apple realized that there was a big hole in its strategy to enter the music business . To fill this gap , Apple bought the rights to SoundJam MP , an MP3 player for Mac well known, and hired three of its creators to work at Apple. One of them, Jeff Robbin , lead the development of a digital music application born of the Apple brand.
Robbin 's team simplified and added SoundJam burning CDs to create iTunes, which was released in January 2001. Like iMovie had done with FireWire cameras , the aim was to allow iTunes users to transfer songs from it to an MP3 player. Now just needed that player.
The need of the iPod
Behind every successful product, there is a problem in finding your solution . The problem of inspiration , in the case of the iPod , was the sorry state of the MP3 player market in the late 90s.
The portable MP3 players were on the market since the mid -90s, but thought Apple offered users a mediocre experience . Steve Jobs had a strong enough term for them : "shit" . Everyone at Apple agreed with him.
The Flash memory based players could only store songs on a CD. The hard disk players have more capacity, but they were too big, heavy and navigation between the content was not comfortable to be handled from hundreds or thousands of songs.
In addition , most MP3 players using the USB 1.1 to transfer music from the computer to the player , causing up to 5 minutes waiting to transfer the contents of a CD to the device. When the transfer was of thousands of songs this time out could last for several hours.
Considering the state of the MP3 player market , Jobs decided that Apple should try to create your own MP3 player , one that works well with iTunes and could potentially attract more users to the Mac platform this task commissioned Jon Rubinstein , previously vice president senior hardware.
Rubinstein began searching for ideas on how to proceed with this task. From the beginning he had two ideas in mind : fast FireWire interface transfer problems resolved , and a special 1.8-inch hard disk and 5GB capacity , manufactured by Toshiba , which could turn the Apple device in the smallest of market so far.
With most Apple engineers engaged in projects related to the Mac , Rubinstein sought help outside the company to determine the viability of the Apple player . Through personal contacts , Rubinstein heard about a man with the qualities and experience needed for the job , which did not hesitate to call in January 2001 .
Exploring the possibilities
One January day, Tony Fadell was mounted on a chairlift when his phone rang . It was the call of Job Rubinstein. Inviro to Fadell to visit Apple and discuss the power project , but remained discreet about the details.
Rubinstein felt that Fadell was the ideal choice to explore the possibilities of the Apple player as was experienced in the field. He had worked at General Magic ( on an operating system for PDAs called Magic Cap) and then at Philips Electronics , where he led the development of a handheld computer based on Windows CE called Nino .
At Philips , Fadell had seen the potential of audio players in a meeting with Audible, a seller of audio books online that would carry the digital audio products to Nino . Fadell considered himself a music fan , enjoyed playing music at any event for hours , and fantasized that one day would not have to carry all your CD collection from one event to another .
He began to wonder if the Audible approach could be the solution to their problems and began brainstorming on how to combine digital audio with music . Fadell Philips explored but that idea was not supported by the management team there. After a brief stint at RealNetworks, Fadell the left to create his own company called Fuse Systems.
Fuse developed a digital jukebox that could rip discs to an internal hard drive , but the company struggled to find funds in the days when the capitalists saw more possibilities for your money on software than hardware. Fadell Rubinstein received the call just as Fuse ran out of money.
Fadell began their first talks with Apple in February 2001 , thinking at first that Apple wanted to build a PDA . Then , Apple offered Fadell a six weeks hardware consultant . Just sign depues , Rubinstein revealed Apple 's true intentions .
"Apple thought they could bring to market an MP3 player better and I was asked to do some designs," Fadell said in an interview with U.S. Macworld " How could be built , what kind of components would it cost , and do all the research and basic design of what would become the iPod . "
Apple matched to Fadell with Stan Ng, a marketing veteran of Apple , to help them integrate into the company culture . Over a period of six weeks , Fadell met with almost everyone he knew in the handheld industry keeping secret their ultimate goal . Studied the products of competitors and concluded that it was necessary ultraportable device with greater capacity and autonomy.
Fadell three prototypes prepared future design Apple player , foam made with an example of graphics stuck to them . With fishing weights given to each model approximate the actual weight tended each of the models .
" It was very , very difficult ," says Fadell . "I only had six weeks and I was really the only one who did all the work . "
When his contract ended in mid- April 2001 , Fadell presented their prototypes to Apple executives , including Steve Jobs, in an important meeting . Fadell first proposed his two less promising models (one with flash and one with removable memory ) and hid the third in one of the ornaments of the conference table . Fadell As expected, the model chosen by Jobs was the third.
During the same meeting, the global senior vice president of product marketing , Phil Schiller , introduced the models of a player with the now familiar scroll wheel . Schiller thought the idea was the perfect solution to the problems of interface navigation .
Other MP3 players wore buttons more or less forced to move from one item to another in a list of songs , which was tedious if we did from thousands of songs. With the wheel , a turn of the same allowed to browse through the list at any speed that the user would like , especially since Apple allowed the scroll speed accelerate our movement based on turns.
A Steve Jobs liked the ideas he saw and offered a job Fadell at Apple to continue its work . After a period of uncertainty , Fadell joined Apple full time in April 2001. The iPod project , then called " P -68 " had officially begun .
Building a Team
With the portable music project running Apple , Fadell needed to specify a release date . After some consultation with the marketing department of Apple , Fadell decided that the iPod should be sold during the Christmas season of 2001, only six months left margin to form the team , product development , manufacture and put in the market.
Although Apple's financial dominance is evident today , 2001 was an uncertain year for the company. The recent financial crash of the tech companies was very much on everyone's mind , and Apple had a narrow escape from financial bankruptcy . The company remained focused on the line of Macs and had few resources to devote to other projects.
Fadell knew I had to finish fast for Apple iPod not cancel the project before his birth , having to justify their existence by the economic burden imposed on the company. He also felt that if you did not put out the iPod as soon as they could , other competitors could come forward and corner the market.
To build the core development team , engineers hired Fadell his previous companies , Fuse , General Magic and Philips . "We were able to incorporate other Apple engineers and resources , because they were already at maximum workload, " commented Fadell . "We can not kill the Mac to create the iPod , right? "
Apple placed Fadell 's team , which consisted of 25 permanent staff plus some staff, in what was considered the Siberia of Apple : one of the oldest buildings in the campus (which in fact was later demolished forcing move to equipment for renewal ) .
The iPod development team worked on an open cubicle in a noisy environment and fun. Fadell tells how one of its engineers accidentally put a screwdriver into a lithium polymer battery explision and causing a small fire that forced a inversigación by the FBI while Apple 's legal team would stare .
Specifying the details
The birth of the iPod iicon launch date approaching, Fadell 's team (pictured below ) did not have time to develop internally all components of the iPod . While power supply and screen design served the Apple experience , the heart of the iPod ( specific chip for MP3 playback ) had to take a San Jose company called PortalPlayer .
Another company called Fostex was responsible for making the famous Apple headphones . Fadell went for that design to be more portable, more durable and hassle because hairstyle as with the classic headphones .
Meanwhile, Jeff Robin , the programmer responsible for the development of iTunes , began working to end the iPod software . With very little time to debug the new operating system and integrate the MP3 chip PortalPlayer , Robin Pixo sought help from a Cupertino company that created the iPod operating system ultimately .
Robbin 's team , which included Tim Wasko interface designer , had to create the user interface software and iPod music playback , in addition to the version of iTunes to be launched along with the iPod at launch.
Both teams spent long hours (18 to 20 hours a day, seven days a week ) working to finish the iPod , which caused side effects in Fadell 's personal life since his girlfriend left him then.
As with all its products, Apple wanted the iPod was visually appealing and , for this, ordered the same exterior design team Jonathan Ive.
Outer beauty iPod
The birth of the iPod IITras dozens of prototypes, the team I've got a preliminary design : a housing simple, the size of a deck of cards, made of stainless steel and polycarbonate covered with white on the front .
Two elements dominated the front of the iPod : simple rectangular screen , and a new (and now iconic ) physically revolving wheel . The physical appearance of the iPod was similar enough to the Braun T3 portable radio , one of the best designs Ive.
Ive designed the iPod with a completely neutral aperiencia with a stainless steel white housing that easily distinguish most gadgets to date in which prevailed the black and gray.
The iPod had no tab to remove the battery , and on / off and no screws. Well sealed Apple iPod's internal magic and made it harder for users to access inside. But somehow, the inability to access the interior guaranteed performance.
The finishing touches
Everything about the iPod was new to Apple . Considering that until then had sold only computers, it was not clear how they had to sell an MP3 player these features, as it was intended for a different audience than the Mac
To label the iPod box demanded special consideration because it was deemed a consumer audio device that had to meet a commercial laws different from Macs.
The best thing was that the name did not limit your choices to the music , which later allowed him to evolve with new features without having to change it. A Steve Jobs liked , so it stayed .
After much work , the Apple marketing team was able to gather all the features in a campaign that became especially emphasis on style and fashion rather than their technical characteristics. Later show that the strategy was successful .
Against adversity , iPod
The attacks of September 11, 2001 were carried out during the final stages of development of the iPod . While these were happening , a team of key prototypes Apple iPod transported from Taiwan to the United States, and were able to land just before the country's government shut entire national airspace . The prototypes arrived on time .
The events of that day seemed to compromise the team's goals . However, Apple employees adopted a common thought at the time: If they stopped working in what for them was a passion , were accepting defeat. Fadell says the persevering spirit of iPod group was essential to avoid a delay that would have made Apple losing the 2001 Christmas season .
The iPod team met the deadlines and the first iPod began selling in November 2001 . Until today , Apple has sold over 300 million iPods worldwide .
