The iPod is Apple's new portable digital audio player. The iPod was officially announced on the 23th October 2001, following much hype, rumour, and speculation regarding exactly what it was.
Apple achieved this hype by stating they were releasing a new product that was "not a Mac", and then scheduling an invite-only product announcement on the 23rd.
Between rumours of the return of the Newton, PDA stories, possible home CD/DVD players, and AirPort-powered iTunes devices, many many theories were put forth.
However, Steve put those theories to rest on Tuesday afternoon.
The iPod is the about the "size of a deck of cards" It fits in the palm of your hand, is about the size of a credit card and less than an inch high.
Size and weight:
(First generation)
Height: 4.02 inches / 102 mm
Width: 2.43 inches / 61.8 mm
Depth: 0.78 inches / 19.9 mm
Weight: 6.5 ounces / 185 g
It holds thousands of audio files with its hard drive, and can also be used as a portable, bootable, FireWire disk.
Lithium polymer battery that fully charges in just over an hour.
Plays up to 10 hours with 20 minute skip protection.
Synchronizes with iTunes for the Macintosh, and Musicmatch Jukebox for Windows. Yes, there is now an official 'Windows Edition' iPod formatted to FAT32 as opposed to the Macintosh addition's HFS+.
Can transfer a CD's worth of mp3s between a Mac and itself in less then 10 seconds (FireWire is simply cool).
Has a scroll wheel for interacting with the UI.
Can be changed via the included power adapter or over FireWire.
Also, you can get laser engraving on the back.
The iPod is available now!