RANDOM APPLE MEMORY
iPod headphones
Charlotte Henry looks back at the iconic new-style earbuds that shipped with Apple’s first iPod
For millennials, the headphones that accompanied the first iPod were true statement pieces.
Given the recent release of the AirPods Max, available to you for a mere £549, it seems apt to look at one of the first Apple audio products – the original earbud headphones. Released with the first iPod on 23 October, 2001, in their way, these headphones were as iconic as the device they accompanied. For millennials, the iPod was the Apple gateway drug, those headphones the method of consumption. The sound quality the earbuds offered was pretty horrible, but walking around the street with them hanging out of your ears would prompt jealous looks from passers-by as they fiddled with their Discman. Everyone knew what those white headphones meant. They were also a key part of iPod adverts, particularly the 2003 campaign that featured an array of dancing characters, with the bright white headphones standing out against silhouettes cast on brightly coloured backgrounds.