10 years ago today, Apple released a portable music player that would someday forever change the way we listen to and acquire music. Now, 10 years and 300 million units later, the iPod is the premiere music device, and has expanded into the tablet and smart phone markets, taking both by storm and leaving their competitors in the dust. Let's take a look at some of the iPod's various incarnations and see how far it's come in just 10 short years on the market:

The iPod "Classic"

The iPod wasn't the first MP3 player, but it was the first one to really catch on with the public. The very first model had a 5 GB capacity, (a very meager offering compared to some 64 GB models offered today) could hold up to 1,000 songs, and came in only one color: white. And all this could have been yours for $399, proving that even back then, Apple products have a pretty high price tag. Today, the "classic" model is still available, though the capacity is much larger that the original 5 GB.

The iPod Nano

When the iPod Nano first came out in 2005, it replaced the short-lived iPod Mini as the smaller iPod on the market. Its first release offered 2 or 4 GB models in either black or white,  Today, the Nano is still around in a much larger variety of colors, and much more storage space for songs. However, it's not the smallest iPod out there. That title belongs to...

The iPod Shuffle

Also released in 2005, the iPod Shuffle was the first iPod to not have a screen. It isntead took all the songs on the device and shuffled them in a random order, hence the name. The first 1 GB model sold for $150, could only hold 240 songs and was a little larger than a pack of gum. Today, the Shuffle looks quite a bit different, resembling a small graham cracker more than a stick of gum. But it's still one of the smallest MP3 players on the market today.

The iPod Touch

In 2007, Apple added a touch screen to the iPod, and a lot more. The iPod Touch was created for those users who wanted everything that the recently-released iPhone had, but didn't want to make calls with it. Today, the iPod Touch is still keeping time with the iPhone, doing everything it can do, except mkae phone calls.

Nowadays, Apple is more focused on its iPhone and iPad products, but iPod is where it all started. There's been plenty of changes and innovation in iPod's 10 years, and one can only wonder where Apple will take its iPod next.

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