July 19, 2004: The fourth-generation iPod brings neat improvements to the favored audio system, together with the Click on Wheel interface just lately launched on the iPod mini.
“The best digital music player just got better,” says Steve Jobs in a press launch on the day the product launches. And but some folks really feel disenchanted by the upgraded music participant.
iPod Click on Wheel reinvents the system (type of)
Apple was flying excessive when it launched the fourth-gen iPod. Earlier that month, the iTunes Music Retailer bought its 100 millionth track. The iPod had moved effectively previous its early adopter standing to turn into a mainstream product with an enormous affect — on Apple and popular culture at giant.
In the meantime, the rumor mill pumped out ceaseless experiences that the fourth-gen iPod would ship a top-to-bottom rethink of the system. Predicted enhancements included a coloration show, help for Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, a brand new physique fashion and as much as 60GB of storage.
Many individuals discovered themselves a bit disenchanted when the system turned out to be a comparatively easy improve. It lacked lots of the eye-catching options that rumormongers beforehand speculated about.
Fourth-gen iPod brings a Click on Wheel
The largest addition was the identical Click on Wheel that Apple launched with the iPod mini earlier in 2004. Relatively than that includes a bodily scroll wheel with separate buttons surrounding it, the iPod Click on Wheel mixed all of the system’s controls. The brand new solid-state, touch-sensitive scroll wheel sat flush with the face of the iPod.
The fourth-gen iPod introduced different small enhancements, too. As an example, it was the primary full-size iPod that could possibly be charged through USB 2.0. This signaled Apple’s transfer away from the award-winning FireWire expertise that had been a key a part of the corporate’s “digital hub” technique of the late Nineteen Nineties.
Lastly, the fourth-gen iPod delivered improved battery life, permitting it to run as much as 12 hours on a single cost.
All of this got here at cheaper worth factors, too. The 20GB model price simply $299; the 40GB model ran $399. Apple later launched a special-edition U2 iPod 4G in October 2004. A particular Harry Potter Version, preloaded with all J.Ok. Rowling’s wizarding audio books, adopted in September 2005.
Did the fourth-gen iPod click on with you? Depart your recollections of this rockin’ system within the feedback beneath.