Apple Ipod has been in the market for quite some time already, but did you know the idea of Ipod was not originally from Apple?

The iPod was almost not released by Apple. The products creator, Tony Fadell, had shopped the idea to Phillips and RealNetworks before proposing the idea to Apple. Fadell found a welcoming environment at Apple, who agreed almost immediately to produce and market the device.

Several limitations were found in the first version of Ipod. There was no remote control, this despite a connector designed for such a purpose. There were no games available for it too.

One month after the domestic launch of the iPod, the iPod was launched in Europe and was accompanied by new peripherals, such as charging adapters, FM broadcasters and a plethora of cases. By the end of 2001, Apple had already sold as many as 125,000 units.

In March of 2002, a 10 GB version of the iPod was released. Along with the new iPod, came a software update that included several bug fixes, and a new equalizer. Just four months later, in July 2002, a new 20 GB version was released, with a major price drop for the 5 and 10 GB versions. This new veriosn is IBM PC compatibled.

Shortly before New Years of 2003, Apple announced that it would ship special edition iPods that would feature text or graphics engraved on the back, as their new marketing strategy. A customer could opt for their own design, or choose the signature of Madonna, Tony Hawk, Beck or the NoDoubt logo on the chrome back. The service cost $50.

As a summary of the year 2002, iPod having sold already 700,000 units thoughout the year.

In June of 2003, Apple shipped its millionth iPod, and by September of the same year, it had sold 1.4 million. Apple replaced MusicMatch on the PC with its own iTunes software thus allowing Windows PC users to use the iTunes Music Store and sync the songs with their iPod.

Apple was preparing to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Macintosh at the end of 2003, that’s the time their new player — the iPod mini get its debut. It was to be outfitted with a new 4 GB hard drive, in stark contrast to the hundreds of megabytes offered by flash based players of comparable prices.

On January 8, 2004, Apple and HP joined forces to co-market the iPod and iTunes Music Store. The new HP+iPod is based on the 4th generation iPod, and was released in September of 2004.

In the year 2004, Apple also released a U2 special edition of their iPod, in all black with a red scroll wheel. The U2 version was bundled with a discount off a digital boxed set of music from the group. To celebrate the launch, the group did its very first advertisement. Apple did not have to pay U2 for their endorsements — U2 figured the iPod was enough recognition.

Later in the year 2004, Apple’s first flash-based MP3 player, Ipod Shuffle was released. Ipod Shuffle is the only flash player that can play encoded AAC files. Unlike other models, the shuffle does not have a FireWire port. Instead, it relies on USB 2.0.

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