The iPod is probably the most popular portable MP3 player in the market today. It is not a generic name for MP3 music players, bur rather a brand name that belongs to Apple Computer, Inc.
Early Development
It was Kane Kramer, a British national, who invented the first digital Audio player. He developed and patented his idea of a plastic, portable digital music player way back in 1979. However, he couldn’t afford the price for renewing the worldwide patent and so it expired during the 1980s. Apple itself has acknowledged his role in inventing the device.
It is a fallacy to think that the iPod was the first portable MP3 player. Such devices had been on the market much before the advent of the iPod in 2001. However, Apple was the first to make it hugely popular.
Development at Apple
The iPod device was developed by a group of professionals at Apple who worked on it for about a year before its launch in 2001. The group consisted of Jon Rubinstein who was a senior Vice President of the company, Jonathan Ive, another senior Vice President, Tony Fadell who was a senior engineer, Michael Dhuey, another engineer and finally Steve Jobs, who is the CEO at Apple Computer, Inc.
Development at Other Places
While Apple usually builds its own hardware and software and does not partner with other companies, for iPod it broke the rules. PortalPlayer created the reference design for the device whereas the interface was developed by a company named Pixo.
Surprisingly, the person who named the product, Vinnie Chielo did not work for Apple. He was a freelance copywriter who suggested the name based on a few lines he heard in the movie, 2001 A Space Odyssey.
