History of iTunes
If you don't know what iTunes is, you have been living under a rock since 2000. In 1999, SoundJam MP was released by a company known today Casady & Greene, which shut down in 2003.
At the time, SoundJam MP was the second audio focused application for Mac OS, next to Audion, developed by a now popular Mac OS X developer company named Panic. Apple first approached Panic about working together on Audion to create a audio focused application that came bundled with the operating system. However, Panic had been talking to AOL and was never able to meet with Apple about the bundled audio application. Apple then moved to SoundJam MP, bought it, , removed a few features, revamped the interface, and named it: iTunes. By version 2, there was complete support for Mac OS X and the original iPod.
Version 4 released the iTunes store. Possibly one of the greatest decisions Apple has ever made. Apple quickly acquired rights from various record companies to sell their music, and give them a percentage of the profit. Apple also introduced iTunes cards, which were pushed out to thousands of stores across the United States. The cards could be redeemed for credit on the iTunes store, rather than being charged to your credit card.
When Apple added support for Microsoft Windows, iPod sales shot up dramatically. Apple became champion of the MP3 world. More and more features began rolling out, ratings, TV Shows and Movies, Cover Flow, Multiple languages, International iTunes Stores, Rentals, and then, Apple released the App Store for iPod Touch and iPhone.
The App Store update was just as successful as the release of the iTunes Store it's self, companies not even associated with music began developing applications for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Games, Social Networking tools, Medical tools, GPS and turn-by-turn, MS Exchange, and more were now all on the iPhone, and all of it had to be done with iTunes.
Though there are copies and competition of the iPods and iPhones there is surely nothing quite like iTunes.
JD
JD Remington
Reader Comments (1)
Very nice article!!! Learned a few things here and there. Overall good article!