iPOD APPLE

INTRODUCTION

     The iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple and launched on October 23, 2001. The line-up currently consists of the hard drive-based flagship iPod classic, the high-end touchscreen iPod touch, the mid-level video-capable iPod nano, and the entry-level screenless iPod shuffle. Former products include the compact iPod mini (replaced by the iPod nano) and the high-end spin-off iPod photo (re-integrated into the main iPod classic line). iPod classic models store media on an internal hard drive, while all other models, aside from the Microdrive-based mini, use flash memory to enable their smaller size. As with many other digital music players, iPods, excluding the iPod Touch, can also serve as external data storage devices.

Apple's iTunes software is used to transfer music to the devices. As a jukebox application, iTunes stores a music library on the user's computer and can play, burn, and rip music from a CD. It also transfers photos, videos, games, and calendars to those iPod models that support them. Apple focused its development on the iPod's unique user interface and its ease of use, rather than on technical capability. As of October 2007, the iPod had sold over 119 million units worldwide (stated in The Beat Goes On conference) making it the best-selling digital audio player series in history.

The name iPod was proposed by Vinnie Chieco, a freelance copywriter, who (with others) was called by Apple to figure out how to introduce the new player to the public. After Chieco saw a prototype, he thought of the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey and the phrase .Open the pod bay door, Hal!, which refers to the white EVA Pods of the Discovery One spaceship. Apple researched the trademark and found that it was already in use. Joseph N. Grasso of New Jersey had originally listed an iPod; trademark with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office in July 2000 for Internet kiosks. The first iPod kiosks had been demonstrated to the public in New Jersey in March 1998, and commercial use began in January 2000. The trademark was registered by the USPTO in November 2003, and Grasso assigned it to Apple Computer, Inc. in 2005.