IPod

iPod is a brand of portable digital audio players designed and marketed by Apple Computer. (Hewlett-Packard also markets the product under the name Apple iPod + HP, but announced on July 29 2005 they would stop reselling it in September 2005, when existing stock is projected to be depleted). 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 the smaller iPod nano and iPod shuffle use flash memory. Like most digital audio players, an iPod can serve as an external data storage device when connected to a computer.

iTunes integration

Apple Computer endorses only one official method for synchronizing with the iPod: iTunes. But several projects addressed synchronization of the iPod with other players, most notably the ml_iPod plugin for Winamp, that allows users to manage their iPod content through Winamp, and even allows functionality not available through iTunes, such as the copying of music off the iPod.

Related Topics:
ITunes - Ml_iPod - Winamp

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iTunes Music Store

Main article: iTunes Music Store.

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Introduced on April 28, 2003 the iTunes Music Store (iTMS) is an online music store run by Apple and built into iTunes. The music bought from it can be downloaded onto the iPod and the store has become the dominant online music service, helping the sale of iPods.

Related Topics:
April 28 - 2003 - ITunes Music Store - ITunes

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Apple encrypts the AAC audio files using the controversial FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) system, so that only authorized computers (up to five) and unlimited iPods can play them. However the files can also be burned to CD in MP3 format, at which time those DRM restrictions are removed.

Related Topics:
AAC - FairPlay - Digital rights management

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No portable music player other than the iPod can play the DRM-enabled files sold on the iTMS, and no other DRM scheme is compatible with the iPod (such as protected WMA). Competitors accuse Apple of using iPod, the iTunes Music Store, and FairPlay to lock iPod users into using iTunes exclusively (and vice versa), creating a vertical monopoly (see iTunes Music Store).

Related Topics:
WMA - Vertical monopoly - ITunes Music Store

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Steve Jobs has stated "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."

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