---
created_at: '2016-10-24T21:22:19.000Z'
title: Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable Music Player (2001)
url: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/24/business/technology-apple-introduces-what-it-calls-an-easier-to-use-portable-music-player.html
author: daschaefer
points: 305
story_text: 
comment_text: 
num_comments: 234
story_id: 
story_title: 
story_url: 
parent_id: 
created_at_i: 1477344139
_tags:
- story
- author_daschaefer
- story_12783040
objectID: '12783040'

---
[Source](http://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/24/business/technology-apple-introduces-what-it-calls-an-easier-to-use-portable-music-player.html "Permalink to TECHNOLOGY; Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable Music Player - The New York Times")

# TECHNOLOGY; Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable Music Player - The New York Times

__NYTimes.com no longer supports Internet Explorer 9 or earlier. Please upgrade your browser. [LEARN MORE »][1]

__Sections __ Home __Search [Skip to content][2] [Skip to navigation][3] [View mobile version][4]

##  [ The New York Times ][5]

###### [Business Day][6]|TECHNOLOGY; Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable Music Player

__Search

Subscribe Now Log In __0 __Settings

__Close search

## Site Search Navigation

Search NYTimes.com

__Clear this text input

Go

1. Loading...

See next articles

See previous articles

## Site Navigation

## Site Mobile Navigation

Advertisement

Supported by

###  [Business Day][6] | TECHNOLOGY

# TECHNOLOGY; Apple Introduces What It Calls an Easier to Use Portable Music Player

By [MATT RICHTEL][7]OCT. 24, 2001

[Continue reading the main story][8] Share This Page

[Continue reading the main story][8]

Apple Computer introduced a portable music player today and declared that the new gadget, called the iPod, was so much easier to use that it would broaden a nascent market in the way the Macintosh once helped make the personal computer accessible to a more general audience.

But while industry analysts said the device appeared to be as consumer friendly as the company said it was, they also pointed to its relatively limited potential audience, around seven million owners of the latest Macintosh computers. Apple said it had not yet decided whether to introduce a version of the music player for computers with the Windows operating system, which is used by more than 90 percent of personal computer users.

''It's a nice feature for Macintosh users,'' said P. J. McNealy, a senior analyst for Gartner G2, an e-commerce research group. ''But to the rest of the Windows world, it doesn't make any difference.''

Steven P. Jobs, Apple's chief executive, disputed the concern that the market was limited, and said the company might have trouble meeting holiday demand. He predicted that the improvement in technology he said the iPod represented would inspire consumers to buy Macintosh computers so they could use an iPod.

Advertisement

[Continue reading the main story][8]

There are several categories of digital music devices, including players that use flash memory, which are small but expensive. Another competing player relies on magnetic hard drives, which are typically larger in both capacity and size, and thus are enclosed in larger gadgets. The market for all such devices is growing and is expected to be around 18 million units by 2005, according to IDC, a market research firm.

[Continue reading the main story][9]

Advertisement

[Continue reading the main story][10]

The iPod, which will sell for $399 when it becomes available on Nov. 10, is something of a hybrid of existing products. At 4 inches by just under 2.5 inches and just over three-quarters of an inch thick, it is as small as flash players, but it has a 5-gigabyte hard drive, large enough to store 1,000 songs.

Among the features being promoted, the device uses an Apple technology called Firewire to permit songs to be transferred from a computer onto the gadget at a rate of around 1 second a song, substantially faster than other portable players, the company said.

## Newsletter Sign Up

[Continue reading the main story][11]

### 

Please verify you're not a robot by clicking the box.

Invalid email address. Please re-enter.

You must select a newsletter to subscribe to.

Sign Up

You agree to receive occasional updates and special offers for The New York Times's products and services.

### Thank you for subscribing.

### An error has occurred. Please try again later.

### You are already subscribed to this email.

[View all New York Times newsletters.][12]

* [See Sample][13]
* [Manage Email Preferences][14]
* [Not you?][15]
* [Privacy Policy][16]
* Opt out or [contact us][17] anytime

Mr. Jobs said other major advances were its ease of use and a rechargeable lithium battery that runs for 10 hours, making it the most sophisticated battery in any Apple computer or device.

But just how easy MP3 players are to use is a matter of some concern to the record industry. The industry has expressed concern that songs encoded in the MP3 format -- a popular digital format into which songs can be converted and stored -- can be easily pirated or traded freely, as on services like Napster.

Mr. Jobs said the company had taken some steps to protect against piracy in its device. For instance, he said, songs loaded onto the iPod from a Macintosh computer, cannot then be loaded from the device to a different Macintosh computer, a step he said would make it difficult for people to distribute music they own to other users.

The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the major record labels, declined to comment on the iPod.

Susan Kevorkian, a digital music industry analyst with IDC, praised the new iPod design, saying the combination of its ease of use, portability and big storage space would influence competitors. ''This raises the bar,'' she said.

[Continue reading the main story][18]

[

We’re interested in your feedback on this page. **Tell us what you think.**

][19]

## 

* * * * ## What's Next

Loading...

[Go to Home Page »][5]

##  Site Index [ The New York Times ][5]

## Site Index Navigation

### News

* [World][20]
* [U.S.][21]
* [Politics][22]
* [N.Y.][23]
* [Business][24]
* [Tech][25]
* [Science][26]
* [Health][27]
* [Sports][28]
* [Education][29]
* [Obituaries][30]
* [Today's Paper][31]
* [Corrections][32]

### Opinion

* [Today's Opinion][33]
* [Op-Ed Columnists][34]
* [Editorials][35]
* [Op-Ed Contributors][36]
* [Letters][37]
* [Sunday Review][38]
* [Video: Opinion][39]

### Arts

* [Today's Arts][40]
* [Art & Design][41]
* [Books][42]
* [Dance][43]
* [Movies][44]
* [Music][45]
* [N.Y.C. Events Guide][46]
* [Television][47]
* [Theater][48]
* [Video: Arts][49]

### Living

* [Automobiles][50]
* [Crossword][51]
* [Food][52]
* [Education][29]
* [Fashion & Style][53]
* [Health][27]
* [Jobs][54]
* [Magazine][55]
* [N.Y.C. Events Guide][46]
* [Real Estate][56]
* [T Magazine][57]
* [Travel][58]
* [Weddings & Celebrations][59]

### Listings & More

* [Reader Center][60]
* [Classifieds][61]
* [Tools & Services][62]
* [N.Y.C. Events Guide][46]
* [Multimedia][63]
* [Photography][64]
* [Video][65]
* [NYT Store][66]
* [Times Journeys][67]
* [Subscribe][68]
* [Manage My Account][69]
* [NYTCo][70]

### Subscribe

* Subscribe
* __ [Home Delivery][71]
* __ [Digital Subscriptions][72]
* __ [Crossword][73]
* [Email Newsletters][74]
* [Alerts][75]
* [Gift Subscriptions][76]
* [Group Subscriptions][77]
* [Education Rate][78]
* [Mobile Applications][79]
* [Replica Edition][80]

## Site Information Navigation

* [ © 2018 The New York Times Company ][81]
* [Home][82]
* [Search][83]
* Accessibility concerns? Email us at [accessibility@nytimes.com][84]. We would love to hear from you.
* [Contact Us][85]
* [Work With Us][86]
* [Advertise][87]
* [Your Ad Choices][88]
* [Privacy][89]
* [Terms of Service][90]
* [Terms of Sale][91]

## Site Information Navigation

* [Site Map][92]
* [Help][93]
* [Site Feedback][94]
* [Subscriptions][95]

[1]: http://www.nytimes.com/content/help/site/ie9-support.html
[2]: http://www.nytimes.com#story-header
[3]: http://www.nytimes.com#site-index-navigation
[4]: http://mobile.nytimes.com/2001/10/24/business/technology-apple-introduces-what-it-calls-an-easier-to-use-portable-music-player.html
[5]: https://www.nytimes.com/
[6]: https://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/index.html
[7]: https://www.nytimes.com/by/matt-richtel "More Articles by MATT RICHTEL"
[8]: http://www.nytimes.com#story-continues-1
[9]: http://www.nytimes.com#story-continues-2
[10]: http://www.nytimes.com#story-continues-3
[11]: http://www.nytimes.com#continues-post-newsletter
[12]: http://www.nytimes.com/newsletters
[13]: 
[14]: http://www.nytimes.com/mem/email.html
[15]: http://www.nytimes.com/logout
[16]: http://www.nytimes.com/privacy
[17]: http://www.nytimes.com/help/index.html
[18]: http://www.nytimes.com#whats-next
[19]: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfLW30xgZodF1qRAg80oWEGuDpW-1HHaL0g42G3SmvB2f4lCw/viewform?entry.8537735=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/24/business/technology-apple-introduces-what-it-calls-an-easier-to-use-portable-music-player.html
[20]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/world
[21]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/us
[22]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/politics
[23]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/nyregion
[24]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/business
[25]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/technology
[26]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/science
[27]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/health
[28]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/sports
[29]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/education
[30]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/obituaries
[31]: https://www.nytimes.com/pages/todayspaper/index.html
[32]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/corrections
[33]: https://www.nytimes.com/pages/opinion/index.html
[34]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/columnists
[35]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/editorials
[36]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/contributors
[37]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/letters
[38]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/opinion/sunday
[39]: https://www.nytimes.com/video/opinion
[40]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts
[41]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/design
[42]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/books
[43]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/dance
[44]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/movies
[45]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/music
[46]: https://www.nytimes.com/events/
[47]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/arts/television
[48]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/theater
[49]: https://www.nytimes.com/video/arts
[50]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/automobiles
[51]: https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords
[52]: https://www.nytimes.com/pages/dining/index.html
[53]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion
[54]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/jobs
[55]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/magazine
[56]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/realestate
[57]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/t-magazine
[58]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/travel
[59]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/fashion/weddings
[60]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/reader-center
[61]: https://www.nytimes.com/ref/classifieds/
[62]: https://www.nytimes.com/marketing/tools-and-services/
[63]: https://www.nytimes.com/section/multimedia
[64]: https://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/
[65]: https://www.nytimes.com/video
[66]: https://store.nytimes.com/?action=click&contentCollection=NYT%20Store&contentPlacement=2&module=SectionsNav&pgtype=Homepage&region=TopBar&t=qry542&utm_campaign=NYT-HP&utm_content=hp_browsetree&utm_medium=HPB&utm_source=nytimes&version=BrowseTree
[67]: https://www.nytimes.com/times-journeys/?utm_source=nytimes&utm_medium=HPLink&utm_content=hp_browsetree&utm_campaign=NYT-HP
[68]: https://www.nytimes.com/seeallnav
[69]: https://www.nytimes.com/membercenter
[70]: http://www.nytco.com
[71]: https://www.nytimes.com/hdleftnav
[72]: https://www.nytimes.com/digitalleftnav
[73]: https://www.nytimes.com/crosswords/index.html
[74]: https://www.nytimes.com/marketing/newsletters
[75]: https://myaccount.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html
[76]: https://www.nytimes.com/giftleftnav
[77]: https://www.nytimes.com/corporateleftnav
[78]: https://www.nytimes.com/educationleftnav
[79]: https://www.nytimes.com/services/mobile/index.html
[80]: http://eedition.nytimes.com/cgi-bin/signup.cgi?cc=37FYY
[81]: https://www.nytimes.com/content/help/rights/copyright/copyright-notice.html
[82]: https://www.nytimes.com
[83]: http://query.nytimes.com/search/sitesearch/#/
[84]: mailto:accessibility%40nytimes.com
[85]: https://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/infoservdirectory.html
[86]: http://www.nytco.com/careers
[87]: http://nytmediakit.com/
[88]: https://www.nytimes.com/content/help/rights/privacy/policy/privacy-policy.html#pp
[89]: https://www.nytimes.com/privacy
[90]: https://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/agree.html
[91]: https://www.nytimes.com/content/help/rights/sale/terms-of-sale.html
[92]: http://spiderbites.nytimes.com
[93]: https://www.nytimes.com/membercenter/sitehelp.html
[94]: https://myaccount.nytimes.com/membercenter/feedback.html
[95]: https://www.nytimes.com/subscriptions/Multiproduct/lp5558.html?campaignId=37WXW

