Jason English
Ten Years Ago Today, Apple Introduced the iPod
by Jason English - October 23, 2011 - 9:12 AM

On this date in 2001, Apple rolled out the first iPod. Here’s how the New York Times covered the launch:

iPod.jpgApple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable Music Player
Apple Computer introduced a portable music player today and declared that the new gadget, called the iPod, was so much easier to use that it would broaden a nascent market in the way the Macintosh once helped make the personal computer accessible to a more general audience.

But while industry analysts said the device appeared to be as consumer friendly as the company said it was, they also pointed to its relatively limited potential audience, around seven million owners of the latest Macintosh computers. Apple said it had not yet decided whether to introduce a version of the music player for computers with the Windows operating system, which is used by more than 90 percent of personal computer users.

If you’d like to see how The Times first covered other topics, from the Walkman to Donald Trump, click here.

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Comments (16)

  1. It’s October 23rd, and this is the anniversary we’re celebrating? I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m an Apple person, but isn’t “Weird Al” Yankovic’s birthday a more important anniversary?

    posted by Wolfe on 10-23-2011 at 9:29 am

  2. Thank you Steve Jobs for the IPOD. RIP

    posted by S on 10-23-2011 at 9:30 am

  3. Happy birthday, Weird Al…and Nancy Grace!

    posted by Cheryl on 10-23-2011 at 10:58 am

  4. No wireless. Less space than a nomad. Lame.

    posted by blunckhouse on 10-23-2011 at 11:42 am

  5. @Wolfe and who can forget Mole Day?

    posted by Cait on 10-23-2011 at 1:15 pm

  6. This is the worst article from mental_floss. Stop being Apple fanatics and write something more interesting.

    posted by John Milton on 10-23-2011 at 3:04 pm

  7. John, when’s your birthday? We should plan a Quick 10: 10 Incredible Moments in Wired’s Apple Coverage just for you.

    posted by Jason English on 10-23-2011 at 3:49 pm

  8. @John Milton
    I found the article much more interesting than Paradise Lost.

    posted by DaveP on 10-23-2011 at 5:31 pm

  9. I don’t think the article is so much celebrating Apple as it is about enjoying the knowledge we have now that we didn’t in the past. It is always interesting to read something in hindsight, because the people who wrote it didn’t have the same perspective as we do today. I’m not particularly an Apple fan, but I still found this to be a fun read.

    posted by Resa on 10-23-2011 at 10:13 pm

  10. “…they also pointed to its relatively limited potential audience,”

    Yeah. Right.

    posted by Zane on 10-24-2011 at 9:32 am

  11. @ Dave…perfect.

    posted by graham on 10-24-2011 at 10:10 am

  12. How fitting. I watched UHF yesterday blissfully unaware it was Weird Al’s birthday.

    posted by Bert on 10-24-2011 at 10:22 am

  13. Ahh, I remember this! I was a freshman in college and heard about it. I thought “Why not just burn CDs for free?”

    Oh how times have changed!

    posted by Kerri:D on 10-24-2011 at 1:12 pm

  14. @ John M., this is simply a history lesson.
    @ Dave, good one!

    posted by gus on 10-24-2011 at 3:04 pm

  15. @Bert–what a great movie!

    posted by BWNYC on 10-24-2011 at 3:13 pm

  16. Why is it that if any website posts an article that even slightly praises an Apple product, people bitch and say that they’re Apple fanboys or that they’re being paid by Apple?

    posted by BD on 10-24-2011 at 3:33 pm

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