[ghaff]

In all fairness, the initial iPods were nothing to write home about and, as I recall, iTunes didn't even run on anything except Macs--then a rather niche hardware platform. Of course, iPods improved relative to the competition but it was really the iTunes store and Apple's ability to fundamentally change how music was sold that really had the impact.

[Bud]

This sounds like the perspective of someone who didn't actually use early iPods and definitely didn't use Sony Discmans and Walkmans and other predecessors.

Because folks who actually used all that stuff know that the iPod was a quantum leap, even in its first few generations. 5GB of storage, MUCH better battery life than any competing device of any kind, and FireWire 400 felt fast enough back then that it was like actually being on fire.

[Frogolocalypse]

Indeed. I had a walkman in the 80's. I still remember not being able to walk too quickly with my discman.

As soon as the ipod came out, I bought one for my girlfriend as a birthday present. She has never used any other system for listening to or acquiring music since. It obviously switched to the smart-phone, but still...

[elsonrodriguez]

The first iPod provided unprecedented amounts of storage in a form factor that actually fit in your pocket. They accomplished this by buying out the world's initial supply of tiny hard drives for over a year and change. This kept would-be competitors at bay, making every other 5GB MP3 player look like a giant brick by comparison.

Most of the people who were shitting on the iPod never held one in their hands.