Comment by duskwuff
> The killer feature of the iPod was the iTunes music store.
That wasn't launched until 2003, two years after the iPod, and it took a while for all the big music labels to sign on. (Hell, it took until 2010 for the Beatles to show up.) The iPod was a success even without the music store; while it wasn't the only portable digital music player on the market, or even the first, it was the first good one.
The first couple of generations of the iPod were a modest success, and then more as a fashion accessory than as a practical device. Lots of cultural cred, but the sales figures were pitiful compared to the subsequent generations.