Diffusion of the iPod

 The iPod, a portable MP3 player originating just after the dawn of the new millennia in 2001, dawned just mere months after Apples introduction of iTunes, a platform to purchase, sell, and download music. Apple, wanting to get into the portable device category sought after a market less saturated than digital cameras and camcorders- coming to the realization that the portable music playing devices of the time were useless and poorly designed and in the need of an innovative makeover- and who better to do that than Apple? The original iPod debuted with a sleek design and the capability to hold 1,000 songs, pre-packaged with headphones and a charger. 

The iPod immediately performed well with its primary adopters, quickly becoming the leading MP3 player among all markets, adored by athletes for its lightweight feel and headphone compatibility while working out, as well as casual use for its ease and quality while also looking unique and sleek. After earning a reputation as a respected entertainment device, the iPod eventually came to be accepted as a business device, used by government departments, major institutions, and international organizations  turning to the iPod line as mechanism for business communication and training, such as the Royal and Western Infirmaries in Glasgow, Scotland, where iPods were used to train new staff.

At their peak in 2009, eight years post its original release, the iPod saw 24 million quarterly sales. However, its success began (and continues) to fall as the inclusion of the iTunes Store as well as other music sharing/downloading vessels such as 8tracks, Spotify, and Soundcloud gained popularity and became accessible through the time's increasing popularity of smartphones. 

All MP3s, but especially through the popularity of the iPod, standardized the social norm of wearing headphones in public. Even on campus now, walking to class many of my peers will walk with their head down and headphones in, mind unfocused on the world around them as they sink into the mundanity of their own music and own worlds. I'm willing to bet you've tried to say "Hello!" to a friend you see on the street who becomes completely oblivious due to having their headphones in. 

Personally, having an iPod from a young age allowed me to find an individual identity in my music taste and grow as an artist myself by being able to find new music as well as play the songs which influence my style now over and over again. However, I will be the first to admit I was one of the kids who would sit on the bus with their headphones in, not talking to anyone and getting myself lost in the music while staring at my small town out the window. Is that because of my access to a distracting device, or the fact that I did not really have friends... the world may never know!