Amaya Toman In the second half of February 2004, Apple launched its new iPod mini. Thousands of songs could once again fit into users' pockets – even the really small ones. The latest chip from Apple was available with 4GB of storage and in five different attractive colors. The player was also equipped with a touch-sensitive control wheel. In addition to being Apple's smallest music player at the time of its release, the iPod mini soon became the best-selling.
It could be interest you
The iPod mini was also one of the products that symbolized Apple's return to the top. In the year following the release of the iPod mini, sales of Apple's music players grew to a solid ten million, and the company's revenue began to grow at breakneck speed. The iPod mini was also an excellent example of the fact that miniaturization of a product does not necessarily mean unwelcome cutting down of its functions. Apple stripped this player of the physical buttons as users knew them from the larger iPod Classic and moved them to a central control wheel. The design of the iPod mini's click wheel could, with some exaggeration, be considered a forerunner of the trend of gradually getting rid of physical buttons, which Apple continues to this day.
Gallery
Today, the minimalist look of the iPod mini doesn't really surprise us, but it was fascinating in its time. It resembled a stylish design lighter rather than a music player. It was also one of the first Apple products for which then-chief designer Jony Ive really went out of his way to use aluminum. The colorful colors of the iPod mini were achieved by anodizing. Ive and his team experimented with metals, for example, already in the case of the PowerBook G4. However, it soon became clear that working with titanium is financially and technically quite demanding, and its surface still needs to be modified.
Apple's design team fell in love with aluminum very quickly. It was light, durable, and great to work with. It wasn't long before aluminum found its way into MacBooks, iMacs and other Apple products. But the iPod mini had another aspect – the fitness aspect. Users liked it as a companion to the gym or jogging. Thanks to its small dimensions and useful accessories, it was possible to literally carry the iPod mini on your body.
