<p>At the height of its powers the pocket-sized music player known as the iPod shifted tens of millions of units each year, helping Apple to conquer the globe and transforming the music industry.</p>.<p>But that was the mid-2000s -- a lifetime ago in the tech industry. After years of declining sales, the US tech giant announced on Tuesday it was stopping production after 21 years.</p>.<p>"Clearly this was one of the products that Apple launched that completely changed our lives," Francisco Jeronimo of analysis firm IDC told AFP.</p>.<p>Social media was awash with emotional tributes under the banner "iPod RIP".</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/technology/its-curtains-for-ipod-as-apple-discontinues-iconic-music-player-1108279.html">It's curtains for iPod, as Apple discontinues iconic music player</a></strong></p>.<p>"Noooo, iPod touch, you were too pure for this world!" tweeted entrepreneur Anil Dash.</p>.<p>"Goodnight, sweet prince. You won't be forgotten," tweeted Apple enthusiast Federico Viticci.</p>.<p>The device began life in 2001 with the promise of "putting 1,000 songs in your pocket".</p>.<p>At $400 it was hardly cheap.</p>.<p>But its 5GB of storage outstripped the competition, its mechanical wheel was instantly iconic and it allowed a constant stream of music uncoupled from conventional albums.</p>.<p>In the following years, prices came down, storage space grew, colours and models proliferated and sales exploded.</p>.<p>"It didn't just change the way we all listen to music, it changed the entire music industry," Apple founder Steve Jobs said of the iPod in 2007.</p>.<p>Few would disagree.</p>.<p>Digital music was still in its infancy and closely associated with piracy.</p>.<p>File-sharing platform Napster had horrified the industry by dispensing with any idea of paying the record companies or musicians.</p>.<p>Against this background, Apple managed to persuade record company bosses to sanction the sale of individual tracks for 99 cents.</p>.<p>"We folded because we had no leverage," Albhy Galuten, an executive at Universal Music Group at the time, told the New York Times on Tuesday.</p>.<p>For years, bands from AC/DC to the Beatles and Metallica refused to allow Apple to sell their music.</p>.<p>But the industry has since found a way to stay hugely profitable and even embrace technology like streaming.</p>.<p>It was the first legal model for digital music, industry expert Marc Bourreau told AFP.</p>.<p>After the initial shock to the system, he said the industry has learnt to embrace -- and monetise -- technology.</p>.<p>"People are now spending money in ways they weren't before," said Bourreau, highlighting money from streaming.</p>.<p>"By this logic, the music industry is doing just fine."</p>.<p>But the writing was on the wall for the iPod as early as 2007 when Jobs launched the iPhone.</p>.<p>With theatrical flair, he told an expectant audience the new product was an "iPod, a phone and an internet communicator".</p>.<p>He was lighting a fire under his own product even though at the time it accounted for roughly 40 percent of Apple's revenue, according to analysis by Statista.</p>.<p>Five years later, the iPod's revenue share had plunged below 10 percent and it was being outsold by the iPhone.</p>.<p>People no longer needed both products in their lives, and Apple no longer needed both in its portfolio.</p>.<p>"I don't see why people would buy music players in the future," said Jeronimo.</p>.<p>"Music players are now a feature of other devices - in cars, smart speakers, watches, even in smart glasses."</p>.<p>The iPod and all its imitators seem likely to follow the Sony Walkman into a long twilight of nostalgic fandom and eBay listings of products from a bygone era.</p>
<p>At the height of its powers the pocket-sized music player known as the iPod shifted tens of millions of units each year, helping Apple to conquer the globe and transforming the music industry.</p>.<p>But that was the mid-2000s -- a lifetime ago in the tech industry. After years of declining sales, the US tech giant announced on Tuesday it was stopping production after 21 years.</p>.<p>"Clearly this was one of the products that Apple launched that completely changed our lives," Francisco Jeronimo of analysis firm IDC told AFP.</p>.<p>Social media was awash with emotional tributes under the banner "iPod RIP".</p>.<p><strong>Also Read | <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/technology/its-curtains-for-ipod-as-apple-discontinues-iconic-music-player-1108279.html">It's curtains for iPod, as Apple discontinues iconic music player</a></strong></p>.<p>"Noooo, iPod touch, you were too pure for this world!" tweeted entrepreneur Anil Dash.</p>.<p>"Goodnight, sweet prince. You won't be forgotten," tweeted Apple enthusiast Federico Viticci.</p>.<p>The device began life in 2001 with the promise of "putting 1,000 songs in your pocket".</p>.<p>At $400 it was hardly cheap.</p>.<p>But its 5GB of storage outstripped the competition, its mechanical wheel was instantly iconic and it allowed a constant stream of music uncoupled from conventional albums.</p>.<p>In the following years, prices came down, storage space grew, colours and models proliferated and sales exploded.</p>.<p>"It didn't just change the way we all listen to music, it changed the entire music industry," Apple founder Steve Jobs said of the iPod in 2007.</p>.<p>Few would disagree.</p>.<p>Digital music was still in its infancy and closely associated with piracy.</p>.<p>File-sharing platform Napster had horrified the industry by dispensing with any idea of paying the record companies or musicians.</p>.<p>Against this background, Apple managed to persuade record company bosses to sanction the sale of individual tracks for 99 cents.</p>.<p>"We folded because we had no leverage," Albhy Galuten, an executive at Universal Music Group at the time, told the New York Times on Tuesday.</p>.<p>For years, bands from AC/DC to the Beatles and Metallica refused to allow Apple to sell their music.</p>.<p>But the industry has since found a way to stay hugely profitable and even embrace technology like streaming.</p>.<p>It was the first legal model for digital music, industry expert Marc Bourreau told AFP.</p>.<p>After the initial shock to the system, he said the industry has learnt to embrace -- and monetise -- technology.</p>.<p>"People are now spending money in ways they weren't before," said Bourreau, highlighting money from streaming.</p>.<p>"By this logic, the music industry is doing just fine."</p>.<p>But the writing was on the wall for the iPod as early as 2007 when Jobs launched the iPhone.</p>.<p>With theatrical flair, he told an expectant audience the new product was an "iPod, a phone and an internet communicator".</p>.<p>He was lighting a fire under his own product even though at the time it accounted for roughly 40 percent of Apple's revenue, according to analysis by Statista.</p>.<p>Five years later, the iPod's revenue share had plunged below 10 percent and it was being outsold by the iPhone.</p>.<p>People no longer needed both products in their lives, and Apple no longer needed both in its portfolio.</p>.<p>"I don't see why people would buy music players in the future," said Jeronimo.</p>.<p>"Music players are now a feature of other devices - in cars, smart speakers, watches, even in smart glasses."</p>.<p>The iPod and all its imitators seem likely to follow the Sony Walkman into a long twilight of nostalgic fandom and eBay listings of products from a bygone era.</p>