Changed the Way We Listen to Music



That first iPod actually went on sale on November 10, so maybe that's the actual 10-year anniversary. But the whole iPod ecosystem was a work in progress and took more than two years to construct.

For one thing, iTunes – designed to find, manage and play MP3 tracks on a Mac – actually was unveiled 10 months before the iPod, on January 9, 2001. A Windows-compatible iPod took another nine months after the original. And the iTunes Store, which enabled everyone to buy legal music for 99 cents each, didn't open its virtual doors until April 28, 2003. Prior to that, you ripped your own CDs or, much to the chagrin of the record business, stole them from Napster and its file-sharing ilk.

I still have my first iPod. It's a 20 gb model with the click wheel and a 120gb I bought myself a few years ago. Still use the 120 gb every day in the car.