The 'Spirit Of The iPod' Lives On In The Apple Watch
Apple finally discontinued the last iPod in 2022 after a dominant two-decade run that saw the music player develop into a powerful ecosystem of products, but the 'spirit of the iPod' lives on in the Apple Watch. The first iPod debuted in 2001 and was the second massive success — the all-in-one translucent iMac was the first — that brought Apple back to prominence after the dark years in the 1980s and early 1990s. At the time, it was limited in scope. The first iPod only supported a maximum of 1,000 songs, was limited to use with Mac computers, and required FireWire for syncing and charging. As the product developed, though, iPods became smaller and more powerful. The end result was the iPhone and iPad, which bridged the gap between mobile and desktop computing. Although the iPod's success and development affected Apple's entire product strategy, the natural evolution of the iPod was always the Apple Watch.
Though the last iPod standing hasn't been a best-seller — the iPod touch didn't even have a product tab on Apple's website and was last updated in 2019 — there is a sense of nostalgia associated with the devices. For many people, the iPod was the first handheld piece of tech that could fit both in the palm of their hand and in their pocket. Especially for the younger generations, the iPod traveled with them through their childhood, just as vinyl, cassettes, and CDs traveled with generations before. The selling point of an iPod in the 2020s was that it could be completely disconnected from the internet, providing distraction-free content consumption. Although there isn't a direct replacement to the iPod in Apple's lineup, the Apple Watch checks off many of the same boxes.
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