The iPod turned twenty years old. Let me repeat that: The iPod turned twenty years old. A part of my brain insists on placing it around 2008-2009, but the truth is it precedes Windows XP by barely two days. Designed and marketed in record time, the player took its final form under the utmost secrecy, to such an extent that Apple created the original iPod prototype prioritizing its confidentiality. In other words, it's a gigantic box that doesn't look anything like an iPod…
Let's start with the obvious: No, Apple didn't invent the MP3 player, nor did it invent the hard drive-based MP3 player. Those devices were called jukeboxes, and if we have to talk about a leader in a completely chaotic market, that was the Creative Nomad Jukebox, with an impressive 6 GB of capacity. In the original iPod keynote, the Nomad was one of the devices mentioned, and Cupertino had it in their crosshairs.
Tony Fadell and his team finished the prototype in less than eight months, confirming that time was one of their main enemies. The iPod had to be ready for Christmas 2001, and of course, everyone involved was obliged to keep every aspect of the player secret, including its general appearance. The best proof of this… is the original iPod prototype from 2001.
The iPod Prototype
The folks at Panic.com decided to share a series of high-definition images of this beautiful monster. Tony Fadell himself explained in a brief tweet that it is the Dulcimer/P68 device (P68 was the code name for the iPod project), created before the final format was ready. For confidentiality reasons, all its dimensions were exaggerated, and as you can see in the images, its interior is pure air.
The position of the buttons was also altered, and Fadell added that the wheel didn't work very well on that prototype. If my interpretation of the codes doesn't fail me, the date on the battery indicates September 3, 2001, less than two months before the official launch.
FireWire, audio output, a JTAG, everything is there. The iPod continued on its way to sell 100 million units in less than six years, and completely conquer the market. Today, the iPod as a device is on the brink of extinction, but its legacy is unquestionable, and it all started with this prototype.
Source: Panic.com
