I remember reading articles at the time running the numbers on what it would cost to legally fill an OG iPod with mp3s at $0.99 a song or $9.99 an album. My memory is fuzzy but I remember it being something like $15,000 to fill an iPod legally with music from iTunes. Many articles concluded that the device was speced for piracy.
I don’t think the storage size was reduced for technical reasons. I suspect a lot of back and forth with the music industry happened to constrain the device to a “practical” size for legally licensed music.
I don’t think the storage size was reduced for technical reasons. I suspect a lot of back and forth with the music industry happened to constrain the device to a “practical” size for legally licensed music.