What is an iPod?

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By Daniel Dwase...

An iPod is a portable music media player designed and marketed by Apple Computer with a huge capacity, a rechargeable battery that lasts between eight to ten hours of playback and it's currently the world's best-selling digital audio player.

It uses a simple user interface designed around a central scroll wheel (with the exception of the Shuffle) and stores media on a built-in hard drive that serve as an external data storage device when connected to your computer.

Discontinued versions of the iPod include two generations of the popular iPod Mini and four generations of the full-sized iPod, all of which had monochrome screens except for the fourth-generation iPod with color screen.

As of October 2005, the lineup consists of the 5th generation iPod, which has video playback capabilities, the iPod Nano which has a color screen, and the iPod Shuffle MP3 player; all three models were released in 2005.

iPod uses iTunes for uploading music, photos, and videos. iTunes is a music software application that stores a comprehensive library of the user's music on their computer,and can play and rip music from a CD.

The most recent incarnations of iPod and iTunes have video playing and organization features.

iPod's are easy-to-use, it's stylish and has dominated the MP3 market that has led to a large market specifically dedicated to iPod Accessories.

What is an iPod Mini?
The iPod Mini was a smaller version of Apple Computer's iPod portable audio player.

Operation of the iPod
All iPods, except the iPod shuffle, have five buttons. A Hold switch also exists on the top of the unit to prevent accidental button presses.

Capabilities of the iPod
iPod capabilities of the 5th generation version plays .m4v and .mp4 MPEG-4 video file formats. iPod Shuffle plugs directly into a USB port, without a dock connector and has no Firewire support.

Compatibility of the iPod
With the advent of the windows-compatible iPod, Apple switched iPod's default file system to FAT32 because FAT32 is the only file system that can be used natively with both Mac OS and Windows.

iPod Models
Identify the different types of iPod models currently marketed by Apple Computer bearing the iPod name.

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