If you are like so many other people in the world and technology either scares you, or absolutely baffles you, then you needn't worry about the iPod. The demographics taken all around have shown that kids to adults can master these gray little media players in no time. But there are a few things that you must know about before you go out and buy one. They are popular, and whenever a person asks "what kind of mp3 player do you have?" they are usually asking "is your mp3 player an iPod?"

Don't get swept away by popularity just yet. Make sure you're getting your information first.

1) The first thing you need to know is what kind of music person you are. If you don't have 20 days supply of music, then you do not need to shell out $250 dollars, because there are technically 3 types of iPods that you can choose from.

Original

Shuffle

Each one of these has various storage sizes. The original iPod will be for those of you who have days of music. They hold all the music you can handle. These are the kind of iPods that would also hold back-up files, audiobooks, movies, and so on.

The iPod Nano is smaller, lighter, and would be those who have a lot of music, but wouldn't be listening to it non-stop for days. These are about a hundred and fifty dollars, a little smaller, but pack quite a punch for being as petite as they are.

The iPod shuffle would be for those who don't take their music as seriously as some others, but would like to have a top-of-the-line media player. The iPod shuffle would be closer to those who would use music to work out, and do chores, and stuff like that. It's very small, and can clip to just about any peice of clothing with no weight to drag it down.

2) You have to know price range.

Original: Starts at 250 dollars.

Nano: Starts at $150.

Shuffle: In The Ballpark of 80 dollars.

This can tell you which would make a good gift for you or others.

Marrying these two bits of information will tell you whether or not you're right for the iPod. iPods are great products and should be looked at with serious consideration when wanting to buy a personal media entertainment device because Apple makes some of the greatest digital products available. But you can't go in blindly just because your friends have one or keep telling you that you need one.

I would hate to see someone buy an iPod Original and turn out they don't need 80GB of space, and turn out spending almost 300 dollars on something that could have only needed 80 dollars worth of space.