It has been exactly five years since the iPod was launched. <i>Newsweek</i> reporter Steven Levy has covered Apple and the computer industry practically since its infancy, so he is uniquely qualified to put the iPod half-decade in some kind of instant historical context in his new book, <i>The Perfect Thing</i>. That perfect thing is, of course, the iPod.

How Steve Jobs Came Up With 'The Perfect Thing'