IPod Mini

The iPod mini is where the iPod became a fashion object. Announced in January 2004, it squeezed the original's 1,000 songs into a 4GB player half the size, weighing 3.6 ounces, in an anodized aluminum body offered in silver, gold, pink, blue or green. It also brought the touch-sensitive Click Wheel, built for one-handed navigation. At $249 it was not cheap for the capacity, and the trade-off against a roomier hard-drive iPod was real, but choosing your color turned a music player into something personal in a way the white original never was.