Wired News takes a close look at how the the iPod was born, shifting through all the rumor, innuendo, and misconstrued “facts” nobody’s bothered to correct over the years. For example, the iPod was conceived because Jobs wanted to help spur sales of Macs and wanted something to make people buy more computers.

Instead of basing the player on a cheap flash memory chip which could barely hold ten songs, they went all the way and used a small hard drive.

”It was about being very focused and not trying to do too much with the device — which would have been its complication and, therefore, its demise. The enabling features aren’t obvious and evident, because the key was getting rid of stuff.”

And did you know the iPod name wasn’t created especially for the iPod? It was made for an internet kiosk and then appropriated for the device.

Straight Dope on the IPod’s Birth [Wired]