The New Generation Music Gizmo From Apple Computer

The iPod has been made famous by Apple Computer and is the brand of portable media players which, except for the iPod shuffle, is centered on a central scroll wheel and full-sized models have the capability of storing media on an internal hard disk drive. The smaller versions of the iPod, named iPod shuffle and iPod nano, make use of flash memory though all iPods have the added capability of serving as auxiliary storage when connected with a computer. The latest, 5th generation iPods come complete with video players, color screens and bundled software called iTunes, capable of uploading music, photos and videos.

ITunes is a marvelous software package that gives the user plenty to rave about including the ability to serve as a latter day jukebox capable of becoming an all encompassing music library that stores, plays, burns and rips music from a CD as well as having video organization capabilities. An iPod is a most sought after gizmo whose popularity increases every day, being the best selling digital audio player on the market today.

Apple Computer found that the market for digital cameras, camcorders and organizers was well established and there was much demand for introducing a gadget that would answer the needs of good digital audio players. And so they decided to develop a suitable device to meet this segment of the market. On October 23, 2001, it unveiled the first Mac-compatible iPod that could store 1,000 songs and had a hard disk capacity of 5 GB. They have not looked back since, after creating what has now become a must in every music lovers arsenal of audio and video equipment.

How is the iPod Operated?

There are five main buttons that are found on every iPod with the latest models having these buttons integrated beneath the scroll wheel, a highly innovative mechanism that makes the iPod very uncluttered and minimalist. The buttons are basically Play, Center select, Play/Pause, Fast Forward or Skip forward and fast reverse or skip backwards. In addition, there is also a Hold button whose function is eliminating unwanted behavior which may be caused by accidentally pressing a button.

The capabilities of the iPod are diverse as they can play all sorts of audio/video formats like WAV, MP3, M4A/AAC, Protected AAC and AIFF so that the user can play almost all the music they want to listen to, regardless of its storage format. Mass storage is a pivotal feature that allows the user to store numerous songs and besides this feature, the iPod can also store text files to enable users to synchronize their contacts and schedules to derive greater pleasure. As of October, 26, 2004, Apple Computer introduced some changes to the coloring of its iPods, based on the color scheme of Irish rock band, U2's album cover (How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb) resulting in having a black case with red scroll wheels and the signatures of the band members were engraved on the back.

One main criticism of Apple's iPod is that the battery life is only 8 hours and that lithium-ion batteries do not last for too long. In addition, the bass response and equalizer bass distortion tends to take away from some of the pleasure of owning an Apple iPod. Nevertheless, sales are estimated to be in excess of 42 million up to the year 2005, and 14 million were sold in the first quarter of the current year.