The Evolution of iTunes – 2001 to 2010

It’s been nine years since Apple Inc. started the mobile media revolution with the iPod and iTunes software. iTunes, specifically, has transformed the way that the world stores, organizes, downloads, and listens to music from their personal computers.

In the early days, iTunes was about as sturdy as a house of cards (it still ran on OS9). Today, this magical software offers users the ability to rent movies, watch TV shows, download any of 140,000+ applications for their iPhones, iPod Touches (or iPad), listen to the radio, download podcasts, and manage media collections of a virtually infinite size, all from a robust and intuitive user interface.

In 9 years, iTunes has gone from an incredibly simple design to one of increasing aesthetic complexity and appeal. Only Apple has the ability to make huge amounts of media look good in an application and create a unified, universal, and usable design. The evolution of the iTunes software marks the progress of application interface design, organization, content management, and media consumption in the modern world.

This post is a photographic collection of the evolution of the iTunes software from 2001 to 2010, version 1 to version 9.

iTunes 1

iTunes 1 allowed users to import, compress, and burn CD’s in order to manage and organize their entire music collection. iTunes 1 also came with the iTunes visualizer for…no real purpose, other than to look trippy.

iTunes 2

iTunes 2, released just 9 months after version 1, allowed iPod’s to be synced with an iTunes library. New features included a crossfader, equalizer, and better CD burning. Traction was beginning to pick up for iTunes, however, it was still a Mac-only application.

iTunes 3

iTunes 3 took progressive steps in the audi-playback area, adding sound check (to play all songs at the same volume) and smart playlists. iTunes 3 was the first version to require OS 10.1.4 or higher.

iTunes 4

iTunes 4 was a major upgrade to the application in the release of the iTunes Music Store. The music store allowed users to search and buy any song from an initial library of 200,000 songs for just 99 cents.

Six months later, in the same year, iTunes was announced for Windows.

iTunes 5

iTunes 5 improved the search function of the application. Parental controls, smart shuffle, and iPod Nano support are just a few of the improvements made in the new version.

The iTunes Music Store by now had over 2 million songs for purchase.

iTunes 6

iTunes 6 was released very quickly after version 5 with the addition of movies and TV shows for purchase in the iTunes Music Store. This obviously prompted users to question the use of the word “Music” in the name of the store. Support for Nike+ was added.

iTunes 7

iTunes 7 brought some major user interface changes, including coverflow and different visualization methods for viewing music collections. This of course, is the iTunes version that was updated to support the iPhone and iPod touch. By this point, over 3.5 million songs were on the iTunes store with over 1.5 billion sales, making iTunes the largest music store.

iTunes 8

iTunes 8 introduced the Genius Playlists feature which automatically suggests related songs to the one a user is listening to. HD TV shows also made an entrance in the iTunes store. iTunes 8 also introduced album visualization, which displays a users music and video library based on the album/box art.

iTunes now holds over 8.5 million songs, 30,000 TV episodes, and 2,500 films, 600 of which are in HD.

iTunes 9

iTunes 9 introduced such new features as iTunes LP, home sharing, genius mixes, and a redesigned iTunes store. Improved iTunes syncing also allows iPhone and iPod touch users to manage and organize their apps, right from iTunes.

The iTunes Store remains the world’s most popular online music, TV and movie store with a catalog of over 11 million songs, over 50,000 TV episodes and over 7,500 films including over 2,000 in stunning high definition video.

What’s Next?

Apple has regularly pushed the innovative features of iTunes since 2001 all the way to 2010. From a very simple music storage application, to the worlds largest media store that connects with the iPhone and iPod lines of mobile devices, iTunes has, and will remain for the foreseeable future, the number one media library application for computer users.

What features would you like to see in iTunes 10? What has your experience been with iTunes thus far? Share your thoughts below in the comments!