It was one of the first major portable mp3 products... It also has the backing/easy integration with iTunes, which was the first successful pay-per-song website.

Put simply, consumer mass. There were MP3 players well before the iPod, and even large capacity ones. Archos had a 20GB version in like 2000, but the thing was the size of a paperback book. The iPod came out in 2001, and had the largest capacity per unit size of any device out there (it's thesize of a deck of cards if you've never seen one). The iPod is now in its 4th design generation, and has a Mini and Shuffle version as well. Something like 10 million of the buggers have been sold in the last 4 years, with about 4 million just in the last 4 months. There is nothing that even comes close in terms of unit sales. Most, if not all of the iPods sold will work with these adapter kits. The common interface of these iPods makes it all possible. All of the iPod competitors have different interfaces, and few support a remote control at all (which may in fact be the #1 reason). Plus, an iPod interface in the long run is probably a lot more profitable than CD changers. Changers are commodity items, but iPods are still special.

Business 2.0 (maybe Fast Company--I can't remember) had an article last fall about the iPod economy. Accessories alone were $50 mln per year, and that was before Christmas. iPod users are fanatics, and an iPod interface might be the competitive advantage that sells your car over a competitor's similar model. I am one of those iPod fanatics, and it is very appealing to me that I could interface mine with my car.

For me, the iPod is the device I've wanted since I was old enough to love music. I wore out several Walkman players in middle and high school. I couldn't make mix tapes (and later mix CDs) fast enough. On my iPod, I have everything I like, and there's room for more. And I can get to the beginning of any song easier than the FF-REW cycle of yore.

Media revolution!

http://ipodder.sourceforge.net