You see, if you lived back in the 1980's, the Sony Walkman was the coolest thing on the planet. Now if you did live back then, you probably owned one of these. This product was the rave. This product was everywhere, in the airports, the malls, on buses, everywhere. You would see the kids in the back seat of the family car, listening to their own thing, using the Sony Walkman. Their parents would be listening to something else (Dean Martin or Perry Como), which the kids hated.

A phenomenon is a term that implies that something is here today and then gone tomorrow. The Walkman was beyond a phenomenon, it was a mainstay. It was a staple of the society in which it was introduced. If there was a time capsule created to represent the 1980's, the Walkman would have to be included. If you were to not include it, would be the same thing as discussing technology of the 21st century and leaving out the part about the internet.

Now for the next generation of personal entertainment devices, from the Walkman to the iPod. I am not sure how you could avoid not knowing about the Apple iPod, unless you happen to be living in that time capsule we talked about earlier. So, you have seen them, they are everywhere (sound familiar?). If you ask 10 people to explain what an iPod is, you'll likely receive 10 different answers; and all of them will likely contain some element of fact and logic. Introduced by Apple Computers in 2001, the iPod is technically defined as a portable music player; and even this doesn't do it justice. Today it is so much more.

Now the Walkman was really for the kids, that is who mainly used it. Not today and the iPod. It is not just for kids anymore. You see more than just kids walking around with these little white wires sticking out of there ears.

The Apple iPod is a truly amazing product. It has crossed the demographic consumer lines. You see people of all ages wearing these things: from the teachers, the kids (big and small) to the senior citizens, the athletes who manage to keep the ear buds in place despite doing whatever there sport happens to be.

Now, don't panic if you haven't entered the iPod country yourself. There are so many to chose from: the iPod classic, iPod shuffle, iPod nano, the iPod mini and so much more. And lets not forget about all the iPod accessories that go along with this. Though the iPod are so incredibly popular, there are still enough people out there who haven't tried one yet. And there are still people out there who have the iPod and haven't even taken it out of first gear yet. Why is this?

The reason is because technology can seem confusing and despite its small size, figuring out the in's and the outs of the iPod can seem intimidating and time consuming. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The iPod is built around the reputation of Apple which is base things on simplicity and ease of use. Just like the Mac computer. The iPod is as easy to use as a DVD player, or maybe even easier.

In closing here are some facts about the Apple iPod that you may not be aware of. I am sure you know this that the iPod is the #1 selling digital music device. What does it take to be the #1 selling device in this competitive marketplace? Here are some facts. Since 2001 there have been 110 million devices sold world wide. That is:

18 million devices/year
1.527 million/month
50,228/day
2093/hr
35/min

Now if that does not make you go WOW, to the Apple iPod popularity, I am not sure what would. It's no wonder, given these awesome sales total, that the question most people ask these days isn't: are you getting an iPod, but rather: where is your iPod?