If you are hip and with it, you are most likely familiar with the little gadget called the “iPod.” Yet if you came onto the scene when the Walkman was big and checked out when the portable CD players became all the rage, you might be a bit confused as to this little piece of technology. Perhaps you vowed that you would check back in when they finally came out with the last innovation and are ready to promise that there will be no more newfangled gadgets that will require you to purchase more and gadgets and electronics. Of course, you are probably also someone who still has a vinyl record of Quadrophenia and is not willing to part with it.

For those willing to check back in now, the iPod is somewhat akin the Walkman of old. iPods were manufactured to permit the playing of digital audio. Invented sometime in 2001, iPod has now involved including other offerings, such as the tiny iPod nano, a gadget so small that it fits into your wallet or the iPhone which is a combination cell phone and iPod. Many an iPod now also supports video technology, and as a result you are able to not only listen to music but also watch iPod movies. Consider it a Walkman on steroids – you never have to turn over the tape or change it out in pouring rain, and you can watch Star Trek while you’re at it!

iPod software options that are supported are MP3 and WAV files, as well as a host of other audio applications. The video portion supports JPEG, GIFs and others, while some will even play MPEG-4 files! While there are a number of free iPod downloads, the majority of songs will have to be paid for, usually at the rate of about $1 per song in the United States. For those sold on the idea, there are a wide variety of iPod accessories to go along with the gadgets, such as the legendary white earphones, iPod cases, cables that enable television connections, external iPod speakers, and even the automotive interface.

With the surge of cheap iPods that are for sale on the Internet from any of the big auction sites, it is not surprising that more and more eager music lovers are purchasing the gadgets and soon thereafter go scouring the Internet for iPod downloads. If you can tear yourself away from your vinyl records long enough to listen to the exceptional audio quality of these little gizmos, you too will be eager to joint this audio revolution.