This time of year, back in 2001, Apple unleashed the little product that would be credited with saving the company from utter ruin, and became an unstoppable force in the portable music player market.  The first iPod came on the heels of an announced 22% drop in revenue for Apple Computer, long the last-place contender in the home computer market.  With floundering Macintosh computer sales, a new operating system that had only a small dedicated group excited, the company needed something to put it back on top, which their little music player did.

The iPod spawned iTunes, and the iTunes music store which is now one of the most popular channels for digital music distribution, not to mention television and recently movie content.  The iPod has seen numerous models and form factors (standard, mini, nano, shuffle) and sales show little sign of slowing.  In fact 8.7 million units shipped just during the company's recent fourth fiscal quarter.  iPod sales last quarter actually total more than the entirety of Apple Computer made back in October 2001.

Love it or hate it, the iPod is hard to deny as being the 800 pound gorilla in the corner in the portable player market.  Companies like Creative, Archos and now Microsoft have been working hard to unseat the king of the hill but have thus far been unsuccessful. 

Check out CNet's coverage of the 5th birthday of the player that came to dominate the digital music world.