January 31, 2005: Shuffle Launched

Everything is useless until Steve Jobs sees a use for it. After publicly deriding flash based mp3 players by calling them "end up in a drawer" Steve Jobs pulled a 180 that the most accomplished skateboarder would be proud of and introduced the iPod shuffle.

The Shuffle lacked a lot of things but the most notable omission was a screen for navigation. In a classic example of turning a liability into an asset Apple pitched the lack of a screen as a benefit, using the marketing slogan "Give Chance a Chance."

In truth the shuffle was a fairly naked attempt to leverage the iPod brand name in the low priced flash based mp3 player market. The move worked and the sales of the shuffle were brisk. iPod maniacs got their first look at a solid-state iPod in January 2005.