In 2001, Apple Inc. launched 21st century portable media players under the iPod brand. The new iPod lineup features iPod classic with hard drive, iPod touch with touchscreen, iPod nano with video display, and iPod shuffle without display. Apart from them, the classic iPod range includes iPod mini and iPod photo.

These digital music players can be used as external data storage devices, but their capabilities vary by model. Music is transferred to the device with the help of iTunes software from Apple Inc. One can store music collection and also play, vibrate or split music from CD with this software. In addition to that, photos, games, videos, and calendars can also be transferred to iPods that support such functions. Apple iPods are easy to use.

The iPod has made history by selling 110 million units worldwide since September 2007. Apple CEO Steve Jobs decided to develop a portable music device that was easy to use. He assembled his team of hardware and software engineers and released the product on October 23, 2001. This digital device used to have a 5GB hard drive capable of storing at least 1,000 songs. Apple took the support of Portal Player and Pixo to develop this product. Later, Apple continued to develop refined versions of the iPod.

iPods have the ability to display many audio file formats like MP3, Protected AAC, Audible Audiobook, etc. while file formats like JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and PNG can be viewed with iPod photo. Similarly, upgraded versions of iPods can play most advanced file formats. Although Apple does not support Microsoft’s WMA format, a converter for the Windows version of iTunes is provided. When an iPod is associated with a computer, music libraries or playlists are automatically or manually synced with iTunes. 5G iPods come with a click wheel to control the volume and 5 buttons used to play, stop and go to the next track etc.

In order to provide songs for iPods, Apple launched an iTunes store that can be accessed through iTunes. The rate per song varies from country to country. The buyer can buy as many songs as he wants and enjoy the protected content. This store was very successful immediately after its launch and then Apple released videos for sale also in 2006. Purchased songs were downloaded with additional encryption of AAC format as FairPlay DRM system. Later, DRM was released to stop the manufacture of pirated CDs.

In 2007, Apple lowered its fees for iTunes Plus songs and also for DRM-encoded tracks. Since the iPod doesn’t play songs from its rival’s DRM technologies, it has limited its user to the iTunes Store only. With this, Apple made limited profit, but then allows you to play music from online stores such as eMusic or Amie Street. In 2007, Apple launched the iTunes WiFi Music Store which allows the user to download songs from their iPhone or iPod. Media downloaded from iTunes stores are transferred from iPods to computer with the help of software called iTunes 7 or higher.

The sound quality on the iPod can be improved with the equalizer, but keep in mind that high volume can cause bass distortion. The use of hardware in iPods such as microcontrollers, batteries, audio chips, etc. it depends exclusively on the version of the iPods. Upgraded iPods are available with more advanced technology. These days many accessories for iPods are marketed not only by Apple but also by other parties. These accessories can allow a user to have FM radio tuners, wired remote controls, etc.

iPods have also marked their importance in the field of education, since they allow the user to download information, lesson plans, etc. Apple is continually working to bring updated versions of iPods.