What Is the iPod?
Every few years, there is an invention that revolutionizes its industry. The iPod did this for the portable media industry. Before the iPod was created, people would listen to music on portable CD players, which had a tendency to skip, or on portable cassette players, which did not have a great sound quality. The iPod has allowed people to listen to portable high-quality audio and view video files.
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History
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Apple released the iPod in October 2001. It provided a contrast to other digital players, because it was not so big that it was too clunky to use. The original price tag for an iPod was $400. Portable media experts predicted that this price was too high, but consumers surprised them by quickly making the iPod the top digital media player. The first iPods had between 5 and 10 GB of memory and a scroll wheel that allowed users to select the songs they wanted to listen to.
Significance
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Before the iPod was released, the only digital media players were either too big or too small to be used regularly while on the move. The iPod has made it possible for people on the go to use the player at any time, thanks to its LCD screen and thin size. However, even more significant, is how the iPod has changed the music industry. Record labels have had to adjust the way they market their products. Instead of selling only CDs, music labels now put as much effort into selling MP3 files that can be purchased on iTunes and listened to on an iPod.
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Types
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Since the first iPod was created, there have been many different kinds of iPods created and distributed by Apple. The iPod Classic was the first kind of iPod to be created. The iPod Mini had a small screen that displayed the names of the songs being played. The iPod Nano comes in nine different colors and can be shaken to shuffle the playlist. The iPod Shuffle is the only iPod with no screen. It includes 4 GB of memory but plays no videos, only music. The iPod Touch allows users to view movies, listen to music and download different applications that range from games to social networking.
Size
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There are different sizes of iPods, but none of them is particularly large. The largest iPod is the iPod Touch. It is about 4 inches tall and about 2 1/2 inches wide. Its screen is nearly as large as the iPod Touch itself. The smallest iPod is the iPod Shuffle. Because the iPod Shuffle is the only iPod without a screen, it has been designed to be much smaller than the other iPods. The iPod Shuffle is about the size of a thumb.
Benefits
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One of the reasons for the success of the iPod is that it provides benefits to the consumer as well as to the provider of information to be consumed. Consumers like these devices because it allows them to take all of the media they want with them on the road. It allows them to watch their favorite television shows on an airplane, watch movies while waiting in the hospital or listen to music while walking to the office. Similarly, the television, movie and music companies benefit from these devices, because they have provided a way to sell more content in addition to CDs and DVDs.
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