Kane Kramer 1979
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Born | 23 April 1956 |
| Age 68 |
Mr Kramer b.1956 of Hitchin, Hertfordshire, invented and built the device in 1979 – when he was just 23.
His invention, called the IXI, stored only 3.5 minutes of music on to a chip – but Mr Kramer rightly believed its capacity would improve.
![Ipod Ipod](https://madeupinbritain.uk/britimages/Ipod.jpg)
His sketches at the time showed a credit-card-sized player with a rectangular screen and a central menu button to scroll through a selection of music tracks – very similar to the iPod.
Patent
He took out a worldwide patent and set up a company to develop the idea.But in 1988, after a boardroom split, he was unable to raise the £60,000 needed to renew patents across 120 countries and the technology became public property.
In Court
![IXI IXI](https://madeupinbritain.uk/britimages/IXI.jpg)
Apple used Mr Kramer’s patents and drawings to defend itself in the legal wrangle in 2007.
A staggering 163 million iPods have been sold since the device was launched by Apple in 2001.
At the height of popularity, 100 was snapped up worldwide every minute.