British Man conceives of iPod-like device over 20 years before Apple

We've all heard the name Steve Jobs, the marketing genius and head of Apple, but how about the name Kane Kramer?  No, it's not the oddball neighbor of Seinfeld, but rather a British inventor who conceived of an iPod-like device way back in 1979 - more than two decades before the first iPod hit the market!

Not only did Kramer, 52, patent his idea along with rough sketches that are eerily similar to the iPod, he also foresaw the rise and prevalence of digital music (keep in mind that this was years before CD's were even introduced). Unfortunately, Kramer ran out of funds and could not renew his patent in 1988.

Kramer dubbed his device he PIXYS (I know, just doesn't roll off the tongue like 'iPod') and he even went as far as thinking through how to get music files onto the device with his iTunes-like program called IXI that used telephone lines to load and distribute music files.  Check out the IXI .pdf

On top of these predictions, Kramer was also right on mark that digital music would be open to mass piracy.

Apple themselves have acknowledged Kramer as the father of the iPod when they flew him to California and used his drawings and patents to defend its company against a lawsuit filed by Burst.com.

Check out some of Kramer's sketches below.

Also, you can check out his website to see what he's got in the works now.