iPod’s success can be attributed to many factors, but one of the most significant factors is fabulous design. Its small, portable design with revolutionary menu navigation and never before seen white earbuds made this gadget a household name synonymous with mp3 players.

iPod was not the first mp3 player, it is not the smallest or the cheapest, but the design of the product itself and the ease of control made it most desirable consumer electronics product on the market. Man in charge for the design of the iPod was British designer Jonathan Ive. This Londoner, who was an art and design student at Newcastle Polytechnic, has created the look that makes Apple products instantly recognizable. His design of the original iMac has altered the vision of personal computer. Once gray dull box has become a modern rejuvenated computer for the individual who is not afraid of being different. The same principle he applied to the iBook and later iPod. Minimalism and simplicity were the starting points for iPod. Its small dimensions make it ultra portable. Even iPod family’s largest representatives can easily fit into a pocket without making a large bulge. Fashion was always important aspect of the design. White earbuds are the prime example of the attention to detail and desire for simplicity in design. The decision to make earbuds white came from the wish to make iPod all white, and in return it made it the most recognizable gadget on the planet. Before iPod manufacturers haven’t placed any attention to the color of the earbuds, but this simple change created cultural phenomenon. Earbuds are the only thing person notices when they see someone listening to music, no one sees the player, but the earbuds are right there in the plain sight and can’t be missed. White earbuds made iPod recognizable and became the center of the Apple’s iPod ad campaign.

The design of the menu and the invention of the click wheel reinvented scrolling through the menu. The menu itself is hierarchical and the music is categorized in ways we usually categorize music: by artist, genre, album, etc. For the first time in any mp3 player Apple introduced the capability to create personal playlists which made scrolling through the music more flexible. But without the click wheel this would be unpractical. Up to that point all similar devices had buttons, and to get from one song to the next user had to push the button. This type of navigation was extremely complicated. This is seen most profoundly when user has a couple of hundred songs on the mp3 player and wants to scroll through his collection. The click wheel controls are designed so they can be operated with the thumb while the iPod is carried with the remaining four fingers. This allows single-handed operation. The click wheel is the central input device and almost all the user input goes through this singular control. The third generation iPod moved the play/pause, menu, and track forward and backward controls to separate buttons below the screen, which was changed back in the later generations. The click wheel has many functions: navigating menus, navigating within a track, volume control, rating songs to name a few.

The simplicity of design made iPod a fashion item, and the ease of use established the trust with the users with these two factors Apple just had to wait for the iPod to become the success it is today.