Intro

 

Music has been an enjoyment of civilization since the beginning. To quench the thirst for music, there have been many transitions of how this art is enjoyed. First, music was only available if there was someone who could compose it.  This lasted for thousands of years but that would all change in 1877 when Thomas Edison invented the phonograph. 2 This new technology helped revolutionize music. This is because the phonograph would give rise to the record player. For the first time in history people could choose what music to listen to rather than being at the mercy of the radio or what other people played. 

 People at this time started to make their own music library at home by collecting albums, yet this still limited how and what people could listen to. This is because record players were not conducive for transport or travel. Records were too blocky and skip too easily if shook. This made records in automobiles impractical.  Advancements would later be made in the form of the eight tracks, tapes and compact disks, yet these innovations were also hindered by the issue of transport. This is largely because they lacked the ability to hold a large amount of music. This meant that a person would have to carry many tapes or CDs to listen to what they want. However, with the release of the iPod all that would change.

This blog will go through the history of the iPod and then show how the iPod’s ability to store songs, use Firewire and allow users to customize playlist made the iPod successful. Although these technological advancements where important to the iPods success, none of them alone could have made the iPod into the standard for MP3 players. It would be the iPod’s ability to unify all of these technologies that helped changed how music is listened to.

1. Photo Pedersen, Martin C. World’s Greatest Art Director. Oct 23, 2011. http://www.metropolismag.com/pov/20111006/worlds-greatest-art-director (accessed Nov 22, 2011).

2. Maes, Jan (Editor),Vercammen, Marc (Editor). Digital Audio Technology, Fourth Edition: A Guide to CD, MiniDisc, SACD, DVD(A), MP3 and DAT . Woburn: Focal Press; 4 edition , 2001.