It wasn’t the first, it wasn’t the biggest, and at launch it wasn’t even compatible with Windows PCs, but you can’t take a trip down MP3 player memory lane without mentioning the iPod. Apple had released a handful of non-computer consumer electronic devices before, including a digital camera, but the iPod, engineered by Tony Fadell with a design by Jony Ive, would change the company, and arguably the trajectory of consumer electronics and mobile devices, forever.
It was a lovely piece of technology, with a slick user interface (something all of the competition sorely lacked) that used an elegant scrolling wheel to navigate menu systems and track listings. It didn’t out-spec anything else on the market, but a brought a level of polish not seen before with consumer level devices, and gave birth to the ubiquitous white earbuds still seen all over the place today, but without the wires now.