Origin of the iPod

In an age when portable media players are readily available, we sometimes forget where these costly and convenient devices began. The iPod evolved from a simple music playing device to a gadget that now also offers video to users who chose to have this option. The introduction of the Nook Color will - eventually - make paper obsolete, potentially saving the earth from choking to death on CO2 and all the other contaminants we spew into the atmosphere which -supposedly- are killing our planet.
Before many of these futuristic, user-friendly, handheld devices came to exist their clunky, and not so user-friendly family gave us entertainment while unknowingly inconveniencing us. Before the walkman, walked with us, the monstrous boom box stereo dominated the airwaves on corners throughout our city, bringing the beat to the street.
One hip brother could be credited with the invention of the walkman and that person is my father. According to him he is the sole creator of the idea which later materialized the walkman which eventually became the iPod.
As a cycling enthusiast, he circled miles of pavement throughout New York. From Brownsville to Bear Mountain his two tires and long legs took him to and fro. Although he enjoyed his daily journeys, taking in all he could as he zoomed from location to location, he found one thing was missing - good tunes.
In the early 70s it was impossible for someone to portably take music along with them when they ventured out of their households or workplaces. Then all of a sudden, as if a bolt of lightning had struck him, my father was jolted with an idea. By bringing the strength and functionality of a book bag together with his own stereo boom box, he developed the beginnings of what would become today’s generation’s portable media device. Together with a pair of headphones that was all he needed. This ingenious idea - first of it’s kind, to my knowledge- changed the game of “handheld” music.
Rolling through neighborhoods with a “box of boom” stuffed into a small sack over his shoulders my old man revolutionize technology without thinking much of it. Keeping his new found discovery to himself and his friends they rode the streets of Brooklyn, ears stuffed with audio buds, taking in the view without a care in the world.
Making it happen without knowing what was to develop next for generations to come. Thanks Dad. Only if you worked for Sony back then, I wouldn’t have to worry about my student loan.