Who needs an iPod anymore anyway?
The “grandfather of the iPod” is leaving Apple just days before the official launch of the iPad. But the man behind the iPod is a different story.
Tony Fadell has been called by some the mastermind behind the shiny hard drive that plays music. He served as Apple's senior vice president of the iPod division before resigning in 2008 for personal reasons. But he stayed on as a personal advisor to Steve Jobs.
According to the The New York Times history was almost made by another company before Fadell fell into Apple's lap:
Though Mr. Jobs gets the lion’s share of credit for innovation at Apple, Mr. Fadell played a key role in the company’s resurgence. He first envisioned a hard-drive-based digital music player in the 1990s and brought the idea to Seattle-based Real Networks, where he reportedly clashed with Real’s chief executive, Rob Glaser, and left after six weeks. Mr. Fadell then approached Apple in 2001, and history was made.
Fadell is reportedly leaving his employer of nine years to work on the environment and green technology.
