Apple's goodbye to MP3 player reminds us why iPod became an instant classic

Everything changed when Apple's iPod arrived in 2001

When I bought my first Walkman as a teenager in the late 1980s, it was a great development from carrying a large “boombox” stereo on my shoulders. Anyone who wasn’t alive at the time won’t understand just how liberating it was to suddenly be able listen to music while walking, jogging or travelling, or even just in different rooms of the house.

As other formats arrived, I kept returning to the Walkman because it was so much more reliable than portable CD players and more affordable than MiniDisc players. I was as in love with the device