@jwz I had Rockbox in 2001. It ran only on the Archos Jukebox Recorder. Making it cross-platform took a few years more, and IIRC, the iPod ports landed fairly late (in the past decade or so, I think).
Mastodon is the best way to keep up with what's happening.
Follow anyone across the fediverse and see it all in chronological order. No algorithms, ads, or clickbait in sight.