| The first iPod was released only 5,5 years ago but the | | | | the 4th Generation iPods was launched. The iPod mini |
| difference between that one and the one released | | | | took the iPod in a whole new direction - small is |
| earlier in 2006 is really quite astounding as you will now | | | | beautiful. It was only half the size of the original iPod |
| see. | | | | and because of its compact size the face changed |
| 1st Generation iPod | | | | quite dramatically in that the function buttons were |
| The 1st Generation iPod was launched at the end of | | | | rendered obsolete and everything was controlled by |
| October 2001 with dimensions to rival the established | | | | the scroll wheel. It also had to have a smaller screen. |
| competition. It stood 4inches high and less than 3inches | | | | The next step was to make the screen colour and |
| wide with a weight of around 6ounces. This initial iPod | | | | this emerged with the iPod photo. This model had a |
| had a 5GB memory which could hold up to 1000 | | | | larger hard drive and a longer battery life in addition to |
| songs. It also had a high resolution screen and a | | | | the ability to display colour photos and album covers. |
| revolutionary type of control system - the scroll or click | | | | By now Apple had pretty much conquered the digital |
| wheel. However at $400 it was considered a major | | | | audio device market but their next release proved to |
| purchase and at this point the software needed to use | | | | be a step towards taking over the flash drive market |
| the iPod was only available on the Mac. | | | | as well. This happened in January 2005 and was |
| 2nd Generation iPod | | | | named the iPod shuffle. The shuffle was the smallest |
| The 2nd Generation iPod had the advantage of being | | | | model yet and didn't include an LCD screen on the |
| compatible with PCs through a FireWire cable. There | | | | face. However it's 512MB memory was at least twice |
| was also now software for use with Windows which | | | | the size of its nearest competitor and the fact that it |
| opened the iPod up to a lot more users. The actual | | | | actually shuffled the songs so that the user never |
| iPod itself changed very little. The scroll wheel became | | | | knew what was coming next and its very low price of |
| a solid fixture as apposed to a spinning wheel and | | | | $99 meant that the little iPod sold just as well as every |
| there was an extra port for the attachment of a | | | | other model before it. |
| FireWire cable. | | | | The last of the 4th Generation iPods entered the |
| 3rd Generation iPod | | | | market in July 2005 and was the tiniest to date. The |
| The spring of 2003 saw iPod sales really take off as | | | | iPod nano made use of a high capacity flash memory |
| the 3rd Generation was launched. One of the biggest | | | | chip which enabled it to have the considerable |
| changes to this new model was the ability to link it to a | | | | memory of 4GB but still be…well, nano! The |
| PC with a USB cable; the USB port was a lot more | | | | nano had new features as well such as calendars, |
| common on PCs than the FireWire port and so many | | | | address books, world times and games. |
| more people could successfully use an iPod with their | | | | 5th Generation iPod |
| home computer. In addition the 3rd generation iPod had | | | | The newest iPod is the 5th Generation iPod video. This |
| a bigger memory (20GB) and solid function buttons | | | | has the capability of playing music videos, TV |
| below the screen. | | | | programmes and films downloaded from the iTunes |
| At the same time Apple launched the iTunes Music | | | | Music Store. It has all of the features of the nano but |
| Store around the world which provided a legal source | | | | as its full colour screen is bigger the overall dimensions |
| for 1000s of songs. iPod sales went through the roof | | | | are also slightly bigger (not too much though). |
| and the brand became a household name. | | | | As you can see Apple has kept the changes coming |
| 4th Generation iPod | | | | and people have carried on buying and there doesn't |
| However Apple continued to release newer and more | | | | seem to be any evidence to say their latest release is |
| advanced models and at the end of 2003 the first of | | | | their last. |