Are you part of the Ipod generation yet? Even though still a fairly recent addition to society, it would seem that Ipods are destined to become as much a part of everyday technology as a video recorder or microwave oven. This article will take a brief look at Ipods and how they have evolved through their brief history.



The first Ipods were made available to an unsuspecting public in October 01, as a simple portable music player. They have evolved over the passing years, with recent models including video storage and playback amongst many other tricks. Pretty impressive from something which is less than a quarter inch thick including its own screen. Equally impressive is the size of the storage available on these little marvels-Apple's own ?1000 songs in your pocket? slogan seeming inadequate.

In order to transfer music to the Ipod, apple supply their own software, known as Itunes. The software is installed on a PC or Mac and facilitates the transfer of files back and forth between the two, in a very simple to use interface. Itunes also ingeniously connects to the internet to allow users to download content from the itunes website-whether it be music, TV shows or even Movies. The only drawback is the cost, with the users having to pay on a per download basis. It can add up pretty quickly, but most people still agree it's still a ways cheaper than the old way of buying overpriced CDs at your local Sam Goody.

As mentioned, some of the newer versions of Ipod now support the transfer and playback of video, not just as MP4 however, which is the norm-the newer Ipods also support the Quicktime format, making it extremely easy to convert any files which don't initially work etc. A very clever touch by Apple.

In yet another master stroke, Apple regularly updates the Itunes platform. Now it includes conversion software for PC users, enabling them to convert files from WMA into the Itunes standard. This goes a long way to helping windows users get on board, as Ipods are sometimes seen as a toy aimed solely at Mac users.

There's really never been a better time to get involved with the Ipod generation. Isn't it about time you joined the revolution?