i-PODS

iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple and launched in October 2001. Devices in the iPod range are primarily digital audio players, designed around a central click wheel — with the exception of the iPod shuffle, which uses buttons because of its size. As of October 2005, the line-up consists of the video-capable fifth g eneration iPod, the smaller iPod nano, and the display-less iPod shuffle. The iPod line used to contain the iPod mini, until being discontinued for the introduction of the iPod nano. The full-sized model stores media on an internal hard drive, while the iPod nano and iPod shuffle use flash memory due to their smaller size. Like many digital music players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices.
Apple's iTunes software is used to transfer music to the devices. As a free jukebox application, iTunes stores an entire music library on the user's computer and can play, burn, and rip music from a CD. It can also transfer photos, videos, games, and calendars to the models that support them. Apple focused its development on the iPod's unique user interface and its ease of use, rather than on technical capability. As of April 2007, the iPod had sold over 100 million units worldwide. This makes the iPod the best-selling digital audio player series in history. Some users have reported concerns that the shuffle function is not as random as it should be, that the iPod plays tracks from a given artist or album more often. Apple has stated that the shuffle function does play songs in a random order and that any pattern is a coincidence

Now that you can buy movies from the iTunes Store and sync them to your iPod, the whole world is your theater. With a 30GB or 80GB iPod in hand, those movies fit comfortably next to TV shows, new iPod games, podcasts, audiobooks, photo albums, and, of course, an entire library of music — up to 20,000 songs, in fact. Now starting at $249, iPod is a pocket-size prodigy.
Watch this space
How much can your pocket hold? That’s up to you and your iPod. It holds up to 20,000 songs, up to 25,000 photos, and up to 100 hours of video — or any combination of each.1 So you can browse movies on the iTunes Store, download the ones you want (Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, perhaps?), then sync it to your iPod. Same goes for TV episodes, new iPod games, 99¢ songs, best-selling audiobooks, and an entire universe of free podcasts, including captivating tours to zoos, museums, and French chateaus.