A Decade of iTunes: an Interactive Timeline by Apple

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iTunes about to turn 10. Birthday wishes include downloading more songs and buying an iPhone or iPad.

Ten years ago, Apple was gearing up to release its iconic music player and database, iTunes. Now, with April 28 only days away, the company is getting ready to celebrate its second lustrum with a timeline that looks back on all the triumphs of the past years.

Apple has made it impossible to link directly to the timeline, so if you have iTunes currently installed, you can access it by clicking on this link. (It will redirect to your application.) The timeline shows the Top Ten best-selling albums as well as singles for each year. We can also see the launch dates of iTunes in various locations and languages, as well as the releases of both the iPod and the first iPhone. Despite what anyone may feel about Apple, there's no denying that it changed the music industry.

Tomshardware
Tomshardware

Tom's Hardware is the leading destination for hardcore computer enthusiasts. We cover everything from processors to 3D printers, single-board computers, SSDs and high-end gaming rigs, empowering readers to make the most of the tech they love, keep up on the latest developments and buy the right gear.

5 Comments Comment from the forums
  • echondo
    Some of the most horrible software I have ever used, no idea why people use it.
    Best of luck Apple with the next 10 years! You'll need it, you scum bags.
    Reply
  • house70
    Years ago, it wasn't Apple's hardware that drove me away from them; it was this huge failure named iTunes. Made me realize that all the hype behind Apple's "just works" slogan was just that: hype. The incredible resource-hungry bloat that was iTunes prompted me to look for alternatives, with better functionality and no system freezes.
    Reply
  • velocityg4
    Apparently Apple and Toms forgot that iTunes came out January 9, 2001. I used it then with Mac OS 9. What is being celebrated is 10 years of the iTunes music store with iTunes 4.0 on April 28, 2003.
    I mark this release as the downfall of iTunes. It was this great streamlined program where I could setup a massive MP3 library that could quickly function on old computers. To this bloated behemoth doing all media work and a hub for syncing iDevices.
    Now they even try to discourage people with giant libraries by defaulting you coverflow and hiding the side bar, status bar and column browser. Coverflow is only a neat gimmick for small libraries. All views besides on with the column browser, side bar and status bar are useless on massive libraries.
    Then with all the bloated crap they added to iTunes. They never added one severely needed feature for enthusiasts. Namely a server version of iTunes. One where client machines can connect to a central database and add music made available to client machines. With each client being able to manage their own playists and iDevices. Home sharing does not quite cut it.
    If someone can name an alternative music player with a column browser like iTunes and server abilities compatible with OS X and Windows I would love to know.
    Reply
  • ojas
    Loved the subtitle, and hey, itunes has barely changed in 10 years.
    Reply
  • g-unit1111
    I can't stress enough how much I hate iTunes 11.0, my next system I'm going back to using the previous version.
    Reply