The
generic brand iPod refers to a class of portable digital
audio players designed and marketed by Apple Computer.
(Hewlett-Packard also markets the product under the
name Apple iPod + HP.) Devices in the iPod family offer
a simple user interface designed around a central scroll
wheel. Most iPod models store media on a built-in hard
drive, while a lower-end model, iPod shuffle, relies
on flash memory. Like most digital audio players, an
iPod device can serve as an external data storage device
while connected to a computer.
Name
Apple refers to the player and the technology as iPod,
without use of the definite article the. The Apple web
site reflects this usage (for example, "iPod incorporates
the same touch-sensitive Apple Click Wheel that debuted
on iPod mini"), which resembles Apple's use of
the word iMac. Other names Apple use in their technology
with "i" in front of it include iSight, iChat,
iTunes, and iBook.
History
Tony Fadell first conceived of iPod outside Apple: he
had difficulty finding funding for an MP3 player he
had designed. When he demonstrated it to Apple, the
company hired him as an independent contractor to bring
his project to fruition, putting him in charge of assembling
the team that developed the first two generations of
the device. Apple's Industrial Design Group under Jonathan
Ive designed the subsequent incarnations.
Apple
originally released the iPod as a product exclusively
usable by Mac users, but the company added Windows compatibility
as demand increased. As of October 2004, iPod dominated
digital music player sales in the United States, with
over 92% of the market for hard-drive players and over
65% of the market for all types of players. iPod has
sold at a tremendous rate, moving over ten million units
in a total of three years. The device has had a significant
cultural impact in terms of its take-up. Additionally,
research (http://www.ipodlounge.com/ipodnews_comments.php?id=P5915_0_7_0_C)
suggests that iPod has served as a sort of "gateway
drug" or had a "halo effect", encouraging
PC users to switch to other Apple products, such as
Macintosh computers.
Software
iPod can play MP3, WAV, AAC/M4A, Protected AAC, AIFF,
Audible audiobook, and Apple Lossless file formats.
It cannot play Ogg Vorbis, FLAC, Windows Media Audio
(WMA), or RealAudio files. The Windows version of iTunes
can transcode WMA files without copy protection to AAC,
MP3, or WAV format for later transfer to an iPod.
Apple
designed iPod to work with the iTunes media library
software, which lets users manage the music libraries
on their computers and on their iPods. iTunes can automatically
synchronize a user's iPod with specific playlists or
with the entire contents of a music library each time
an iPod connects to a host computer. Users may also
set a rating (out of 5 stars) on any song, and can sync
information with a host.
In
addition to music-playing and file-storage capabilities,
iPod has PDA functions: the unit can store a copy of
information from the address book and iCal applications
on the user's Mac, and can also display notes, though
users cannot edit any of this information on the iPod.
All
generations of iPod also feature games. 1G and 2G iPods
have a game called "Brick", a clone of the
old arcade game Breakout engineered by Apple co-founder
Steve Wozniak. 3G and 4G have "Brick" as well
as three other games:
"Parachute",
a game in which the user controls a turret and attempts
to shoot down pixelated paratroopers and the helicopters
which release them. Parachute clones the Apple II game
"Sabotage" by Mark Allen.
"Solitaire", a simple card game resembling
the solitaire card game called "Klondike".
"Music Quiz", a more recent addition, came
standard starting with the iPod mini and 4G iPods and
became available to 3G iPods through a free software
update. "Music Quiz" plays a portion of a
random song and prompts the user to identify it from
a list of 5. A song drops off the list every several
seconds and the faster users choose the right song the
more points they get.
Hardware
Except for the iPod shuffle, all other models of iPod
offer FireWire connectivity, although Apple has recently
stopped including FireWire cables with iPod mini and
iPod photo models in favor of the Hi-Speed USB (USB
2.0) connectivity introduced earlier with the 3G iPod.
iPods recharge their internal batteries using FireWire
or USB bus power (only 4G and higher) while connected
to a computer or to an iPod AC power adapter. Both USB
and FireWire-based power adapters exist. The iPod shuffle
generally uses a USB power adapter.
The
first three generations of iPod use two ARM7TDMI-derived
CPUs running at 90 MHz, while later models have variable
speed chips with a peak of 80 MHz to save battery life.
iPod uses ultra-thin 1.8 in (46 mm) ATA hard drives
(with a non-standard connector) made by Toshiba, or
in the case of iPod mini, one-inch Compact Flash hard
drives made by Hitachi. iPod has a 32 MB flash ROM chip
which contains a bootloader, a program that tells the
device to load the operating system from another medium
(in this case the hard drive). All iPods have 32 MB
of RAM, a portion of which holds the iPod OS loaded
from the firmware and the vast majority of which serves
to cache songs loaded off the hard drive. For example,
an iPod could spin the hard disc up once and copy about
30 MB worth of upcoming songs on a playlist into RAM,
thus saving power by not having the drive spin up for
each song.
Unlike
a CD player or some competitors (such as the Rio Karma
and the iAudio M3), the iPod cannot play songs without
a short gap between songs. The processors found in most
portable players, including the iPod, lack the speed
to process the headers in lossy (MP3, OGG, etc.) files
in the short period of time necessary to obtain gap-free
playback. The iPod does not play pre-encoded music gaplessly;
however, when encoding CDs in iTunes, users have the
option to merge individual tracks into one long, single
track. This alleviates the problem somewhat, but does
not provide a flawless solution.
Newer
iPod accessories include memory-card readers, FM tuners,
and voice recording modules. Well-known iPod accessory
manufacturers include Belkin. Some of the accessories,
like the speaker systems made by Bose and the in-car
audio interfaces for BMW, make use of the docking connectors
found at the bottom of the iPod and have the user dock
the unit in the device. These connectors provide control
and information as well as a path for the sound-signal
and power to run the iPod or accessory. Note the lack
of user-replaceable battery; while an owner can replace
the battery by doing a little bit of soldering, this
will void any warranty and lacks official Apple support.
(The Neistat Brothers made a short film called "iPod's
Dirty Secret (http://www.ipodsdirtysecret.com/),"
calling attention to this fact, after which Apple made
available a battery replacement service for $99.)
Earphones
All iPods come with "earbud"-type earphones
with distinctive white cords, a color chosen to match
the design of the original iPod models. The white cords
have become symbolic of the iPod brand, and advertisements
for the devices feature them prominently. (Like most
included earphones, these stock white earbuds class
as fairly low-quality, so many users choose to replace
them immediately.) Some third-party manufacturers sell
white earphones (for example: White Sony EX71, Etymotic
Research ER-6i) marketed as replacements for the iPod's
earphones, though they also work with other devices.
Creative Labs (with the Zen Touch and Zen Micro digital
music players) and Sony (with the PlayStation Portable)
released strikingly similar white earbuds after the
iPod became successful.
Compatibility
The original iPod had compatibility only with Macintosh
computers running Mac OS 9 or Mac OS X, but on July
17, 2002 Apple began selling a Windows-compatible iPod,
with its internal hard drive formatted as FAT32 instead
of as HFS Plus. (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2002/jul/17ipod.html)
Apple released a Windows version of iTunes on October
16, 2003 (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003/oct/16itms.html);
previously, Windows users needed third-party software
such as Musicmatch Jukebox (included with Windows iPods
before the release of the Windows version of iTunes),
ephPod, or XPlay to manage the music on their iPods.
The
most recent generation of dockable iPods removes the
Mac/Windows distinction; these iPods ship with their
hard drive formatted for use with a Macintosh, and the
user can reformat it for Windows use after purchase.
An iPod with its hard drive formatted as HFS+ operates
only with a Macintosh, because Windows does not recognize
HFS+, but since the Macintosh can handle FAT32, an iPod
formatted as FAT32 can operate with a Macintosh as well
as with a PC. HFS+ leaves slightly more space available
to store data, and it lets the iPod serve as a boot
disk for a Macintosh computer.
On
January 8, 2004, Hewlett-Packard announced that they
would license iPod from Apple to create an HP-branded
digital audio player named colloquially as the HPod.
The following day, Carly Fiorina, then-chairman and
CEO of Hewlett-Packard, unveiled the new, blue iPod-based
device at the 2004 Consumer Electronics Show. While
a blue iPod never made it into production, the current
HP model, completely identical to the Apple iPod, sells
as the "Apple iPod + hp". Retailers of this
model include (among others) the retail giant Wal-Mart,
which includes a disclaimer explaining that it will
not work with its own online music service.
The
iPodLinux project has successfully ported an ARM version
of Linux to run on iPods. It currently supports first
through third generation iPods, and features simple
installers for Mac OS X and Windows. A SourceForge project
exists for the project (http://ipodlinux.sourceforge.net/),
and copious documentation appears online. [4] (http://www.ipodlinux.org/Documentation)
The
iPod uses standard USB and FireWire mass-storage connectivity,
and therefore any system with mass-storage support can
mount it and use it as an external hard drive. The iPod
will also charge from any powered USB port, regardless
of software support. A special database file serves
to list the songs available to play, however, so users
require a program such as iTunes to upload songs. As
of 2005 only gtkpod offers such functionality for Linux
and other UNIX variants. Apple has not yet released
a Linux version of the software used to flash the firmware
of the iPod.
Design
Jeff Robbin headed the iPod firmware team at Apple.
His team integrated the core firmware from PortalPlayer
with the user interface library developed by Pixo. (The
founder of Pixo had worked on the Apple Newton, a personal
digital assistant formerly produced by Apple.) The Pixo
libraries provide the user interface, though iPod photo
has incorporated some visual elements from Mac OS X,
such as the animated "Aqua" style progress
bar. The user interface of most iPods (with the exception
of the mini and photo models) uses "Chicago",
the font used on the original Macintosh computer from
1984. iPod mini uses the "Espy Sans" font,
previously seen in eWorld, the Newton, and Copland.
Due in part to the higher resolution of its display,
iPod photo uses the Myriad Pro typeface, Apple's corporate
typeface.
Use
iPods
(other than iPod shuffle) have five buttons:
'Play/Pause'
'Menu' (which backs up one level in the menus)
'Previous' (which skips back through tracks in play)
'Next' (which skips forward through tracks in play)
'Select' (the button in the center of the scroll wheel;
this selects a menu or a song to play).
(Note that fourth-generation iPods — and the Mini
and Photo models — incorporate these buttons into
the "click wheel" scroll wheel.)
A
'Hold' switch also exists on the top of the unit. Setting
this switch to display red will make the buttons unresponsive,
so that users do not press them accidentally. The scroll
wheel also cannot change the volume in Hold mode.
Holding
down the 'Menu' button for two seconds will turn off
the display's backlight. Holding down the 'Play/Pause'
button for two seconds will turn the unit off.
If
the iPod becomes unresponsive, the user can force it
to reset. On a 3G or earlier iPod, slide the switch
on the top of the unit to 'Hold' then back the other
way, then hold down the 'Menu 'and 'Play/Pause' buttons
for six to ten seconds until the Apple logo appears.
On a 4G (click-wheel) iPod, toggle the 'Hold' switch
as above, then hold down the 'Menu' and 'Select' buttons.
Users
can place iPod into FireWire Disk Mode, in which it
behaves like a FireWire hard drive without any of the
additional iPod functionality. On a 3G or earlier iPod,
reset it then hold the 'Previous' and 'Next' buttons
until the display reads "Disk Mode". On a
click-wheel iPod, hold 'Select' and 'Play/Pause'. Reset
the unit again to return it to normal functionality.
iPod's
firmware contains a diagnostic menu. On a 3G or earlier
iPod, reset it then hold 'Previous', 'Next', and 'Select';
on a click-wheel iPod, hold 'Previous' and 'Select'.
Release the buttons after a few seconds, and the unit
will chirp and briefly show a backwards Apple logo before
displaying the diagnostic menu. Navigate through the
menu with the 'Previous' and 'Next' buttons (not the
scroll wheel), and select items with the 'Select' button.
Press 'Play/Pause' to exit a test. (Apple has never
publicly documented the functionality of the diagnostic
menu.)
An
iPod unable to start (due to either a firmware or a
hardware problem) displays the "sad iPod"
image (http://www.peachpit.com/content/images/exr_0819ipod/elementLinks/figure7.8.gif),
reminiscent of the sad Mac icon of earlier Macintosh
computers.
Models
iPod Mini (left), first generation iPod (right)Apple
currently markets five kinds of iPod: the original iPod,
iPod mini, iPod U2 Special Edition, iPod photo, and
iPod shuffle. Some of these models can come with different
capacities (a higher capacity allows the storage of
more music) or with different designs.
There
have been several revisions since the original model
of iPod, leading to the existence of four distinct generations.
While all iPods have roughly the same size and the same
capabilities, the design has undergone several revisions
since its first introduction to the market. Four distinct
generations of iPods exist, commonly known as: 1G, 2G,
3G, and 4G (these designations do not relate to the
Power Macintosh G3, G4 or other Macintosh model designations
— do not confuse such designations with the storage
capacity of any given model of iPod).
Within
any generation of iPods, various models with different
sizes of hard drives have come onto the market at different
price points. During the third generation, three sizes
of iPods have co-existed in the marketplace at any given
time, priced at US $299, $399, and $499. Currently,
Apple markets only one version of the iPod: with a 20-gigabyte
hard drive for $299. Note that Apple claims that 1 gigabyte
of storage will hold 250 4-minute songs encoded with
the iTunes software at 128Kb/s AAC. Encoding songs at
higher bit rates will take up more space on the hard
drive. One can scale this proportion up; the current
20-gigabyte iPod can hold roughly 5000 songs by Apple's
definition. Note that physical capacity of any hard
drive slightly exceeds the actual formatted capacity.
First
generation
The Original 5GB iPod.First announced on October 23,
2001, the original iPod cost $399 with a 5 GB hard drive.
(http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2001/oct/23ipod.html)
Critics panned the unit's price, but iPod proved an
instant hit in the marketplace. Apple announced a 10
GB version ($499) in March 2002, and a 20 GB version
in July (introduced at $499 along with a price drop
of $100 for the other two models).
Apple
designed a mechanical scroll wheel and outsourced the
implementation and development to Synaptics, a firm
that also developed the trackpad used by many laptops,
including Apple's PowerBooks. The 1G iPod featured four
buttons (Menu, Play/Pause, Back, and Forward) arranged
around the circumference of the scroll wheel. Although
superseded by non-mechanical "touch" and "click"
wheels, the circular controller design has become a
prominent iPod motif.
Second
generation
A 2G iPod.The 2G iPod replaced the mechanical scroll
wheel with a touch-sensitive, non-moving one (also made
by Synaptics) which could detect the motion of the user's
finger circling
Third
generation
A 20 GB 3G iPod with included dock, earphones, and beltclip
carrying case.On April 28, 2003, Apple CEO Steve Jobs
introduced an "ultrathin" iPod series. Slightly
smaller than their predecessors, they had more beveled
edges. Over the life of the 3G iPod series, Apple produced
10 GB, 15 GB, 20 GB, 30 GB, and 40 GB sizes.
These
iPods use a 30-pin connector called the Dock Connector
— longer and flatter than a FireWire plug. This
allows them to fit more easily into the new iPod Dock
which Apple introduced at the same time. The iPod Dock
came bundled with all but the least-expensive iPod,
and also retails separately.
The
3G iPod featured touch-sensitive buttons located below
the display. The new buttons featured red backlighting
(controlled by the same preference as the screen backlight),
allowing easier use in darkness.
With
the 3G iPod, Apple stopped shipping separate Mac and
Windows versions of the unit. Instead, all iPods now
shipped with their hard drives formatted for Macintosh
use; the included CD-ROM featured a Windows utility
which could reformat them for use with a Windows PC.
These iPods also introduced Hi-Speed USB connectivity
(with a separately-sold USB adapter cable).
When
purchased through the online Apple Store, the iPod featured
custom engraving: a purchaser could have two lines of
text laser-engraved on the back (for an additional charge,
although currently free).
Although
past models proved widely popular, after the release
of the 3G model Apple's iPod sales skyrocketed, with
a combination of effective advertising and celebrity
endorsement making iPods a fashionable item.
Fourth
generation
Newsweek CoverIn July 2004 Apple released the fourth
generation iPod. In a new publicity route, Steve Jobs
announced it by becoming the subject of a Newsweek magazine
cover.
In
the most obvious difference from its predecessors, the
4G iPod carries over the click wheel design introduced
on the iPod mini. Some users criticized the click wheel
because it does not have the backlight that the 3G iPod's
buttons had, but others noted that having the buttons
on the compass points largely removed any need for backlighting.
The
4G iPod, slightly smaller in size (about 1 mm less)
than the 3G, introduces the ability to charge the battery
over a USB connection. Currently, the 4G is available
at 20 GB, costing $299. Apple discontinued the 40 GB,
$399 model in February 2005.
Apple
claims that updated software in the new iPod allows
it to use the battery more efficiently and increase
battery life to 12 hours, and minor changes such as
the addition of a "Shuffle Songs" item on
the top-level menu make it more convenient for users.
After many requests from users asking for these improvements
to be made available to earlier iPods as well, Apple
on February 23, 2005, released a firmware update which
brings the new menu items to 1G through 3G iPods.
The
4G iPod comes bundled with cables to connect it to FireWire
and USB ports. Both the iPod U2 Special Edition and
the iPod photo can be considered enhanced versions of
the fourth generation iPod.
Apple
entered the market for "mini" form-factor
digital audio players in January 2004, with the introduction
of iPod mini, competing directly with players like Creative's
Zen Micro and Digital Networks' Rio Carbon. iPod mini
has largely the same feature set as the full-sized iPod,
but lacks support for some third-party accessories.
Its smaller display has one fewer lines than previous
models, limiting the on-screen track identification
to title and artist only. iPod mini uses Microdrive
devices for storage.
First
generation mini
On
January 6, 2004, Apple introduced iPod mini. It had
4 GB of storage and a price of $249 (at the time, only
$50 below the 15 GB third-generation iPod). Critics
panned it as too expensive, but once again it proved
overwhelmingly popular, and Apple Stores had difficulty
keeping the model in stock.
iPod
mini introduced the popular "click wheel"
that was later incorporated into the fourth-generation
iPod: the touch-sensitive wheel means that users can
move a finger around it to highlight selections on the
screen, while the unit's Menu, Back, Forward, and Play/Pause
buttons are part of the wheel itself, letting a user
press down on part of the wheel to activate one of those
functions. The center button still acted as a select
button.
Apple
initially made iPod mini devices available in five colors:
silver, gold, blue, pink, and green. Silver models have
sold best, followed by blue ones.
Second
generation mini
In
February 2005, the second-generation (http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300850)
iPod mini came on the market with a new 6 GB model at
$249 and an updated 4 GB model priced at $199. Most
notably, both models featured an increased battery life
of up to 18 hours. In addition, they featured richer
case colors (though Apple discontinued the gold color)
and other minor aesthetic changes. Also, the 2G iPod
minis did not include the AC adapter or the FireWire
cable bundled with previous models.
iPod
U2 Special Edition
U2 iPodOn October 28, 2004, Apple released iPod U2 Special
Edition. Black on the front with a red click wheel (the
colors of U2's latest album, How to Dismantle an Atomic
Bomb), it features the signatures of U2 band members
engraved on the back. Apart from the design, the iPod
U2 Special Edition replicates the 20GB 4G iPod. The
iPod includes an iTunes Music Store coupon redeemable
for $50 off the price of "The Complete U2",
a "digital boxed set" featuring 400 tracks
of U2 music. (http://www.apple.com/ipod/u2/)
Apple
released iPod photo (renamed from iPod Photo, with a
capital P, less than a month after its launch) on October
28, 2004. It features a color screen and the ability
to store and display JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and PNG images.
One millimeter thicker than the standard fourth-generation
iPod, iPod photo can also play music for up to 15 hours
per battery charge. iPod photo originally came in 40
GB and 60 GB versions, which cost $499 and $599 respectively.
On
February 23, 2005, Apple discontinued the 40 GB model,
introduced a lower-priced 30 GB model, and dropped the
price of the 60 GB model. However, unlike the first
iPod photos, the lower-priced 60 GB and the new 30 GB
models lack the dock, FireWire cable, carrying case,
or AV cables (accessories valued at approximately $120).
(http://www.apple.com/ipodphoto/)
On
March 22, 2005, Apple announced the $29 "iPod Camera
Connector" which promised users of iPod photo instant
transfer of images from a USB-compatible digital camera
to the iPod photo. Unlike Belkin's Digital Camera Link,
Apple's unit supports instant image viewing on the iPod
photo after transfer without having to connect the iPod
photo to a computer first.
To
manage their photo library on the iPod photo, Macintosh
users use iPhoto and PC users use Adobe Photoshop Album
or Elements. None of these applications comes bundled
with the iPod photo, although new Macintosh computers
ship with iPhoto.
iPod
shuffle
Main article: iPod shuffle. (http://www.apple.com/ipodshuffle/)
An iPod shuffle with earphones.Apple announced iPod
shuffle at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January
11, 2005 with the taglines "Life is random"
and "Give chance a chance". iPod shuffle introduced
flash memory (rather than a hard drive) to iPods for
the first time. The shuffle comes in two models: 512MB
(up to 120, 4-minute songs encoded at 128 kbit/s) and
1GB (up to 240). Unlike other iPod models, iPod shuffle
cannot play Apple Lossless or AIFF encoded audio files—possibly
due to the iPod shuffle's smaller processing power.
The shuffle has a SigmaTel processor. One review (http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,1778968,00.asp)
regards it as having one of the best-sounding audio
systems of all the iPod models.
iPod
shuffle has no screen and therefore has limited options
for navigating between music tracks: users can play
songs either in the order set in iTunes or in a random
(shuffled) order. Users can set iTunes to fill iPod
shuffle with a random selection from their music library
each time the device connects to the computer. iPod
shuffle weighs less than one ounce and approximates
in size to a pack of chewing gum. Like the rest of the
family, iPod shuffle can operate as a USB mass storage
device.
Battery life
Apple designed iPod with an internal lithium ion battery
that users cannot easily get at to replace. Like most
lithium-ion batteries, the iPod battery lasts roughly
500 full recharge cycles. In other words, the battery
will continue to have a useful life through the equivalent
of five hundred complete discharges and recharges; through
time and use, the life of the battery will generally
decrease until eventually it does not hold a charge
for very long. Apple has published guidelines on its
web site for maximizing the life of an iPod battery.
(http://www.apple.com/batteries/ipods.html)
In
late November 2003, film-makers and Apple enthusiasts
The Neistat Brothers produced a short movie, downloadable
online, which expressed anger because the battery on
their early-model iPod had failed after eighteen months
and because the iPod became unusable. The movie depicted
the Brothers vandalizing Apple ads in the New York City
area with graffiti proclaiming that "iPod's unreplaceable
battery lasts only 18 months." (http://ipodsdirtysecret.com)
The movie met with some criticism, with other iPod users
pointing out that their iPods had lasted longer than
18 months, and some critics suggesting that the brothers
had attacked Apple solely for the sake of publicity.
(http://www.billpalmer.net/com000047.html)
Shortly
before, Apple Computer had introduced a battery replacement
scheme ($99) for out-of-warranty iPods (http://www.macminute.com/2003/11/14/ipodbattery),
and offered users the option to extend the warranty
of their iPods ($59).(http://www.macminute.com/2003/11/21/ipodapplecare/)
In addition, other companies are offering battery replacements
for as little as $50, or users can purchase a battery
(at ipodbattery.com, for example) for around $30 and
replace it themselves. (http://www.ipodbattery.com/ipodinstall.htm)
Some
other digital audio players also have non-replaceable
batteries. However, users with a relatively small amount
of technical expertise can open the majority of them
and insert batteries such as those found on the Internet.
This saves money and does not run the risk of damaging
the player - which does exist with the iPod. Battery-servicing
constitutes one of many commonly-stated drawbacks of
the iPod.
iTunes
Music Store
No
portable music player other than iPod can play the DRM-enabled
files sold on Apple's iTunes Music Store. Apple encrypts
these AAC audio files (.m4p) using their proprietary
FairPlay system in such a way that only authorized computers
(up to five) can decrypt and play them.
Steve
Jobs has stated that this restriction aims to increase
the sale of iPods: "We would like to break even
[or] make a little bit of money [on the iTunes Music
Store] but it's not a money maker." Users can circumvent
the restriction by burning protected files to an uncompressed
audio CD and then re-ripping and encoding them as unprotected
files, though this can become tedious and causes a loss
of audio quality with each iteration. (It may also violate
the DMCA in the U.S.)
As
such, Apple has carefully controlled licensing of the
FairPlay encryption used in iTMS music files, and the
iPod does not support other DRM-protected formats (such
as the DRM-protected version of WMA), so iPod users
who wish to purchase DRM-protected music online must
do so through iTunes or circumvent the DRM of the files
downloaded from the other store (which, again, may involve
illegality). Music purchased from other online stores
will not play on an iPod in protected form.
In
July 2004, RealNetworks debuted an application named
Harmony, which used a technological workaround to allow
iPod users to convert files purchased from RealNetworks'
RealRhapsody service into a FairPlay-compatible format
which an iPod could play. Apple responded by accusing
RealNetworks of "adopt[ing] the tactics and ethics
of a hacker to break into the iPod."(http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20040729-4051.html)
Apple later released a firmware upgrade that rendered
fourth-generation iPods and iPod mini incapable of playing
files converted with Harmony. RealNetworks has vowed
to develop another workaround.
Alternately,
one can circumvent the copy-protection with a third-party
software program named Hymn, or with Apple's own Compressor
software included with Final Cut Pro. Also, an anonymous
developer has developed iOpener, a program that will
find protected AAC files on a user's computer and convert
them to AAC files without encryption. [17] (http://www.hymn-project.org/download.php)
In
March 2005, Jon Johansen ("DVD Jon") released
a program called PyMusique ([18] (https://fuware.net/pymusique/))
that allows iTMS customers to purchase songs without
DRM restrictions.
The
iTunes Music Store sold its 400 millionth song in April
2005(http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/may/10itms.html).
Third-party
accessories
iPod has created a large and growing after-market accessory
industry; in the 2005 Macworld keynote, Steve Jobs referred
to it as "the iPod economy".
Third-party
software tools supporting iPod include:
RhythmBox,
a GNOME-based iTunes clone.
gtkpod (http://gtkpod.sourceforge.net/), a specifically
iPod-targeted GTK-based iPod manager for several operating
systems.
ml_ipod (http://mlipod.sourceforge.net), an open-source
plugin for Winamp (http://www.winamp.com) that adds
iPod support.
EphPod
(http://www.ephpod.com), a Windows application that
duplicates many of the features of iTunes, but also
allows uploading of files from iPod to computer. EphPod
can be downloaded for free, but is not open source.
Griffin
Technology (http://www.griffintechnology.com) makes
several iPod accessories, including the iTrip, iBeam,
iTalk, PodPod, and Earjam.
naviPod (http://www.tentechnology.com/) by TEN Technology
is a 5-button infrared remote control for the Apple
iPod.
The
inMotion Speakers by Altec Lansing act as a charging
station as well as a dock while turning the iPod into
a speaker system. The designers have made the iMmini
variation on these speakers for compatibility with the
iPod mini.
BMW
releases the first iPod automobile interface to come
from an automotive company. The interface allows drivers
of late-model BMW vehicles to control their iPod through
the built-in steering wheel controls and the radio head
unit buttons. The iPod attaches to a cable harness in
the car's glove compartment.
The
Macworld Expo in January 2005 announced that by spring
2005, more auto manufacturers such as Mercedes Benz
and Ferrari will include similar systems.
A
wide variety of other third-party products also exists
and more appear every day, from voice recorders through
games and other iPod-based software to various connection
devices and adapters
A
large accessory market has grown up around the iPod,
including cases and tattoos such as those made by Hotromz
(http://www.hotromz.com/) which feature unusual cases
made from faux fur, feathers, organic hemp fiber and
mohair; or by foof (http://foofpod.com/), who offer
fabrics made from tweed, corduroy and kimono obi.
iPod sales
In its first quarter results of 2005, Apple reported
that it had sold 10,000,000 iPods in all. (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2005/jan/12results.html)
iPod currently dominates the digital audio player market,
frequently topping best-seller lists. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/new-for-you/top-sellers/-/electronics/all/ref=e_hp_tn_2/103-3541352-3631820)
In its fourth quarter results of 2003, Apple reported
earnings of $106,000,000, its highest revenue for Q4
in 9 years. (http://news.nasdaq.com/news/newsStory.aspx?&cpath=20040301%5CACQDJON200403011156DOWJONESDJONLINE000696.htm)
Hewlett-Packard, in contract with Apple for the sale
of an HP-branded iPod, has reported sales as "going
extremely well", but did not release figures. Apple
has acknowledged that HP-iPods made up 6% of fourth
quarter sales. (http://www.macobserver.com/article/2004/11/17.4.shtml)
