Farewell iPod Thanks For 21 Fabulous Years
If you love your iPod or if you owned one in your youth, Apple’s latest announcement may come as a shock.
On May 11, 2022, Apple announced that they have ceased production of the iPod touch. After 21 remarkable years, Apple finally pulled the pin on the last surviving member of the iPod family, a device that Steve Jobs said would revolutionise the music industry more than two decades ago.
Jobs was, of course, accustomed to making bold conjectures, but there was little expectation that Apple’s digital music player would actually shake up the music industry, but it did!
The turmoil that this created wasn’t entirely bad because it created a fertile ground for new business opportunities. In fact, many of the well-established services that we now enjoy, like Spotify, YouTube and Amazon, are benefactors of that tumultuous period.
But as the digital landscape evolves, so do consumers and sadly, the iPod has fallen out of favour. I’m sure Apple recognises the significance of its decision to axe such an important icon. Much like the MacIntosh and iPhone, the iPod was quintessentially Apple. Retiring such an important pillar from the Apple family is a brave move … at least to me. I wonder what Jobs would have done.
