Patrick Freyne on the impact of the era-defining gadget

Listen | 22:35
The first and second generation white iPods with the scroll wheel, released in 2001 and 2002, were things of digital beauty. Photograph: Samantha Sin/AFP via Getty
The first and second generation white iPods with the scroll wheel, released in 2001 and 2002, were things of digital beauty. Photograph: Samantha Sin/AFP via Getty

In October 2001, Apple chief executive Steve Jobs debuted the original iPod, the first MP3 player that could hold 1,000 songs and had a 10-hour battery life.

In May the company announced it was discontinuing the iconic device, saying other gadgets have made the iPod redundant.

Patrick Freyne talks to Conor Pope about how the iPod transformed the way we consume music and the impact it has had on the relationship between music, culture and identity.

This episode was originally published in May 2022.