About the First iPods

Scroll Wheel iPods

• The first two versions of the iPod, released in October 2001 and March 2002, were characterized by the large physical scroll wheel on the front of the device. Unlike the navigation wheel on later iPods, the scroll wheel on these iPods actually physically turned when the user navigated through menus on the iPod. These iPods had four physical buttons positioned around the outside of the scroll wheel and one button in the middle of the wheel. The 2001 iPod was available with a 5 gigabyte hard drive, while the 2002 version had a 10 GB hard drive. Both iPods used FireWire ports for charging and transferring data.
  
  

Touch Wheel iPods

• In June 2002, Apple redesigned the iPod to use a touch-based navigation wheel on the front of the unit. The first touch wheel iPod still used a FireWire port for data transfer and had navigation buttons positioned around the outside of the touch wheel. It was available in 10 and 20 GB versions. Apple redesigned the iPod again in April 2003 when they moved the iPod's navigation buttons to a single row beneath the display. Apple also changed the FireWire port to a proprietary iPod dock connector. The dock connector allowed the iPod to connect to a FireWire or a USB port with the proper cable. The first dock connector iPod was available in 10, 15, or 30 GB storage capacities. In September 2003, Apple released a new version with 20 or 40 GB storage capacities.
  
  

iPod Mini

• In an effort to create a substantially more portable music player, Apple released the iPod mini in April 2004. The mini was substantially smaller than the original iPod models. It also used a scroll wheel, but Apple positioned its navigation buttons directly on the scroll wheel. The iPod mini was originally only available in a a 4 GB version. In Februrary 2005, Apple released a new version of the iPod mini with a click wheel and 4 or 6 GB of storage before phasing out the product line. Apple replaced the iPod mini line with the iPod nano line in September 2005.
  
  

Click Wheel iPod

• Apple took several of the design ideas from the iPod mini and incorporated them into the original iPod in July 2004. The new iPod had four navigation buttons positioned on the navigation wheel itself, like the iPod mini. It also used a new navigation wheel that made an audible clicking sound when the user moved his finger over it. The click wheel iPod was the last iPod with a monochrome display; it was available in 20 or 40 GB storage capacities.
  
  

Color iPod

• The iPod Photo, released in October 2004, was the first iPod with a color display that allowed the user to view album art or personal photos on the device. Apple released several versions of the device throughout 2004 and 2005 before releasing the fifth generation iPod in October 2005, which featured a color screen but was not marketed as an iPod Photo. In September 2007, Apple re-branded the iPod as the iPod classic to differentiate it from the newly released iPod touch. As of March 2011, the iPod classic is still available as a high-capacity, media-focused alternative to the iPod touch.