The rise of touchscreen smartphones ultimately led to the iPod's downfall. It made it easier to entwine these disparate spaces into a single personalized soundtrack throughout the day. The iPod expanded listening beyond the constraints of the home stereo system, allowing the user to plug into not only their headphones, but also their car radio, their computer at work, or their hi-fi system at home. Yet, two decades later, the digital music landscape continues to rapidly evolve. And with more than 400 million units sold since its release, there's no doubt it was a success. Its personalized listening format revolutionized the way we consume music. The iPod boasted the ability to 'hold 1,000 songs in your pocket'. An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Conversation: On October 23, 2001, Apple released the iPod - a portable media player that promised to overshadow the clunky design and low storage capacity of MP3 players introduced in the mid-1990s.
