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Birth of the iPod

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the little-bit-of-history dept.

b00le writes "There's a little story over at Wired about the genesis of the iPod from the point of view of Ben Knauss, a former senior manager at PortalPlayer, the company Apple Computer approached to help develop its player. There's some nice gossip about The Steve's involvement in the project, the extreme secrecy and so on, but for me, the kicker comes at the end: 'Knauss stayed on until near the end of the iPod's development, but quit shortly before it was released because he had no confidence it would be a success. "It was probably a mistake, but then you have to go with what you think at the time," he said.' "

5 of 346 comments (clear)

  1. Tee Hee by USAPatriot · · Score: 5, Interesting
    ...because he had no confidence it would be a success. "It was probably a mistake, but then you have to go with what you think at the time," he said.' "

    No kidding, he's not alone.

    Here's what our very own illustrious CmdrTaco said at the time, " No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame."

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    Slashdot Moderation: From positive to terrible in 2 "insightful" posts.

  2. Hindsight 20/20 by sebi · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "It was probably a mistake, but then you have to go with what you think at the time," he said.

    I guess it would be easy to make fun of him now. Let us however not forget that one first reaction to the unveiling of the iPod read "No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

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    Hank! White!
  3. It was interesting to note... by CrackedButter · · Score: 5, Interesting


    ...that IBM had an idea which incorporated bluetooth headphones, makes me wonder why Apple didn't do it, and that was in 2001! But don't get on at me for how it would effect the ipod's battery life, the ipod *could* be a little bigger to take a bigger battery and then we could all be happy.

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    Jonathanjk.com
  4. Honest Question by NYTrojan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    This is not meant to offend, I am really curious..

    Obviously the iPod is very popular, but for the life of me I don't see what makes it different from other mp3 players. For those of you who shelled out the big cash for this thing, what makes it so special? Why sets the iPod apart aside from slick marketing?

  5. Sucess in marketing. by H8X55 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    A lot of techs i know have blown off the iPod and are currently using another device to provide portable storage and audio playback. The iRivers are incredibly popular amoung 'i.t. people'. I know a lot of folks rave on about Creative's products as well. I personally like the Neuros.

    From a tech standpoint the iPod lacks some functionality, or has too high a price point for many of us. But from marketing, fashion, and the MTV crowd it is the "it" thing to own. No one can predict these things though. "It" just happens. Like a $45 trucker hat.