What exactly is an iPod? 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 generation iPod, the smaller iPod nano, and the displayless iPod shuffle. The full-sized model stores media on an internal hard drive, while the smaller iPod nano and iPod Shuffle use flash memory. Like many digital music players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices. In January 2007, Apple announced the iPhone, a device that combined the features of the video-capable iPod with mobile phone and mobile Internet capabilities. 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.



Thus, it can be seen easily that the wide use of the iPod, coupled with its vast storage space (anywhere between 512 MB and 80 GB; the latter compares with some full-size hard drives for PCs) together creates situation in which iPod users are not immune from data loss and the subsequent need for data recovery. Data recovery, you exclaim? Is people's music that important? In fact, it is; however, increasingly commonly, people have been storing data other than music on their iPods. A recent survey conducted by Newsweek magazine reported that of 500 iPod owning-respondents, 492 reported storing music on their iPod. Of these, 342 reported that the iPod contained their most recent and entire music collection. Further, they reported that they would feel ?extreme distress? if they were to lose this collection due to data loss. Of the entire respondent pool, 145 respondents stated that they stored data such as documents, spreadsheets, and other work- and business- related documents on the iPod, elucidating that the iPod's extreme portability and reliability lead to their doing this.

Thus, it is clear that people do store rather important data on their iPods. Apple reports that 55% of all iPods sold contain hard drives, while the rest use flash-based memory, which is far less prone to data loss due to its lack of moving parts and solid-state technology. However, this renders over fifty million iPods the world over prone to data loss. Experts report that iPods are, in fact, more prone to data loss than typical PCs because of their portability and consequent exposure to far more risky situations and unusual circumstances. Underwriters Laboratories LLP, the world's leading product testing agency reports that it has received confirmed accounts of iPods that have unwittingly been exposed to the following hazardous situations: fire, water, floods, earthquakes, dropping from a few feet, dropping from ten to twenty-five feet, dropping from four storeys or more, electrocution, power surges, power failures (within and without the devices), physical damage due to children, pets, and extreme anger, and so on.

As with any hard drive, physical trauma to an iPod may result in data loss. Further, logical failures, though rare for iPods, are also possible; an estimated .5% of all iPods sold worldwide had defective hard drives that are more prone to logical failures. This exposes 500,000 potential users to this problem, creating the need for redressal.

iPods that have experienced data loss are treated in the same manner as that for PC hard drives; first, methods employing software are tried. If these fail, more aggressive methods such as removing the hard drive and attempting to access the data through another system/IDE controller are used; however, the latter are costly and are only done in cases in which the data is critical, as these methods involve considerable expense.

However, it is important for iPod owners experiencing possible data loss to remember that their data is eminently recoverable, except in the rarest and most extreme situations. One can say that even in the bleakest of situations, hope is still alive for their precious music libraries and data collections.