Steve Jobs: the five Apple products 'that changed the world'

Steve Jobs, the Apple founder and former CEO who died aged 56, leaves a lasting legacy in the form of his revolutionary inventions. Here are the five core Apple products that changed the face of the technology, music and publishing industries.

Steve Jobs' Apple career: in pictures
Steve Jobs 
iPod
In October 2001 the face of the music industry was changed forever with the launch of a small palm-sized gadget called "the iPod".
The rectangular-shaped portable music device had a central-scroll wheel on the front and a small window for song selection. It could be charged with a "docking station" and songs could be loaded directly onto the music player from a computer.
There had been digital music players before, but the fresh look and simplistic usability put the Apple player in a class of its own among portable music devises.
The first iPod was available in 5GB and 10 GB models and could hold up to 1,000 songs. The name iPod for a personal music player was coined by Apple copywriter Vinnie Chieco who supposedly got the idea after watching the pods in 2001: A space Odyssey.
In pictures: Apple iPod - a history
The second generation of the iPod was launched in 2002 with a touch-sensitive scroll wheel. Throughout 2002, 600,000 iPods were sold and by the end of 2003 iPod sales hit the two million mark.
Apple sold its 100 millionth iPod in April 2007 making it the fastest selling music player in history.
To date there have been several iPod versions released including the nano, shuffle and touch. More than 275 million iPods have been sold around the world.

iTunes

In April 2003, just as the third-generation iPod was released, Apple launched its online music store iTunes with 200,000 songs.
Before iTunes, music executives had failed to be convinced about the success of an online music market. But coupled with Apple's hugely-successful iPod - launched just two years earlier - Steve Jobs proved it was a market worth exploring.
The product was an immediate success selling one million songs in its first week and by December it had sold 25 million songs. In 2010 iTune song downloads hit 10 billion.
There have been several updates of iTunes, the most significant being the introduction of film purchase and rentals in 2008. This week, Apple announced that iTunes will be accessibly across all their devices as part of their move into "cloud" computing.

iPhone

The first iPhone was released in January 2007 to a huge fanfare. The phone catapulted Apple ahead of its smartphone rivals with its multi-touch screen. A year later the iPhone 3G was released and the App Store was launched.
In July this year App Store downloads hit 15 billion with the company having launched App subscriptions just a few months earlier in February.

To date Apple have sold 125 million iPhones around the world (as of August 8, 2011). The telephone is still gaining popularity with avid Blackberry-user Barack Obama, the US president, even suggesting he may switch to the iPhone.
Yesterday Apple launched the iPhone 4S with its voice-control function Siri, which promises to revolutionise the way people use their phones (again).
Video: Apple iPhone 4S revealed

Mac

In front of thousands of laughing delegates, a tuxedo-clad Steve Jobs unveiled the first Macintosh computer in January 1984. It started as a small white box in a bag and evolved into the waffer-thin machine it is today.
A year later he was interviewed in Playboy explaining "something called a mouse".
The Mac evolved into two main types of Apple computer; the iMac and MacBook. There are now nearly 60 million Mac users around the world.

iPad

The iPad - a Mac/ iPhone hybrid - was released in 2010. Although still in its relatively early years, the iPad has been a great success; maintaining its market presence where other tablet computers have faltered.
The availability of Apps on the device has been a particular success with many newspapers and magazines having launched versions of their publications for the device. The portable tablet is currently teetering on revolutionising the publishing industry.
To date there have been two iPad versions with 28 million units sold worldwide (as of June 6, 2011).

By Amy on telegraph.com posted by Daves Solomon

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