This post's information is all possible because of collective intelligence. Over the last few years, the site Wikipedia has become more and more popular. There is a wealth of information on this site because its encyclopedia-like entries are created and updated by the public. This is a true example of modern collective intelligence at work. Henry Jenkins (below, in all his glory.) would be proud of all of this.

On to the real stuff now. I printed off the thirteen page Wikipedia entry on the iPod. With this much length, I was bound to find information that you and I both didn't know. The following is some very interesting material on the beloved iPod.

Apple's reasoning for making the iPod was because the company found existing digital music players as "big and clunky or small and useless". These players also had interfaces that were "unbelievably awful". I was quite young at the time, but I am sure this was definitely the case from viewing some of those older players. The first generation iPod was developed in under one year by a team of engineers. The greatness of this device is now clearly known. As of September 2007, there had been more than 150 million iPods sold worldwide. This made it the best-selling digital audio player series in history!

The iPod has been known for its ease of functions and graphical interface. This was not all developed in-house though. Apple originally contracted Pixo to help design and implement the user interface under the supervision of Steve Jobs. The interface has been described as "uncluttered and minimalistic". With time, Apple began to refine this interface on their own. Another way that the iPod is so user friendly is in the variance of file types that it supports. For audio, the devices support MP3, AAC/M4A, AIFF, WAV, and more. For pictures, JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and PNG formats are all supported.

The creation of the iTunes store in 2003 helped pushed popularity of the device as well. Here, one can find a huge collection of mainline and rare music. They can purchase individual songs for 99 cents a piece, or full CD album's for $9.99. Eventually, movies and other forms of media were for sale in the iStore. All of the audio files purchased off of Apple's store contain added encryption. The encryption only allows the file to be put on a few # of computers. For some, this is a negative, but it does help to prevent illegal p2p sharing. One is not limited to the program of iTunes or its store though, there have been many third party applications created that can serve all of these functions for your iPod use.

A few other bits of material you may find intriguing:
-There is a huge market of accessories for the iPod. The main companies for these are Belkin and Griffin.
-iPods originally connected and charged using FireWire. All models now use USB for this.
-The first car company to have iPod integration in their vehicles was BMW.
-There have been three different generations of the earbuds that come along with your iPod. The first two generations have been described as too bulky and not as comfortable.
-iPods have gained popularity for use in education. In the fall of 2004, Duke University offered all incoming freshman an iPod. This has also been done at Abilene Christian University in TX with the iPhone and iTouch models (*see previous post*).

To learn more and use collective intelligence- Wikipedia: iPod entry

Noteworthy Recent iPod News

Lawsuit
Luxpro Corporation recently filed a lawsuit against Apple in Arkansas for supposedly holding a monopoly in the digital media player market. They claim that Apple knocked their own shuffling model player off of the market. Luxpro's player was unveiled in Germany in the year 2005.

According to the lawsuit, "Apple sent warning letters to other companies doing business with Luxpro demanding that they cease doing business with Luxpro. For example, Apple placed significant pressure on InterTAN, a subsidiary of U.S.-based consumer electronics giant Circuit City, to drop Luxpro's MP3 players from its retail shelves."

Luxpro is asking for 75,000 US dollars in return. Apple has supposedly not commented on the suit.

Even in Luxpro won, Apple wins huge. Their own sales in the shuffle players is in the millions compared to a measly 75 thousand. I would hope that these claims are not true. I would think much less of Apple as a company if they conducted business in this manner.

An article about the lawsuit.
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2009 Automobiles
The year 2009 will be a notable year for Apple. Over half of the vehicles driving in the US, will now have iPod integration. This is a much more stable and reliable way to connect your iPod in the car, unlike an FM transmitter. Previously, this was an option in only some of the higher end/luxury models. Several car companies are now making iPod integration standard for all of their models. A large contract that was signed a couple years ago has aided much to this statistic. Apple had signed a contract with US Mazda, Ford, and General Motors to have the majority of models contain "bona fide iPod integration". Things are still looking quite high and up for the iPod and its control of the digital media player market.


A couple articles on this topic to peruse:
1) Apple iPod Integration coming to Ford, GM, Mazda
2) American vehicles offer iPod support
Above: iPod integration in a recent American made Chevrolet model.

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Campus Connection- literally!
Abilene Christian University in my home state of Texas recently had a technology change for incoming freshman. In addition to forms and papers, and parking permits, each freshman received an iPhone or iPod Touch. The choice between the two was theirs. The payment for these was calculated into tuition and student fees.

Students from the school say they get plenty of use out of the devices. Some teachers ask the students to pull them out in class to look up pertinent information. Students also have access to a campus document system on their devices. Through this, they can see syllabi's, spreadsheets, podcasts, and other things. Many students used a 3D campus map and list of their classes to figure out when and where to go at the beginning of the semesters.

This is a very clever and modern approach this school has taken. I hope to see this pop up more throughout the US. This can be a very good way to keep the level of connectedness fair and constant, and it gives the school a way of always being in touch with their learning students.

An article about this technology policy at Abilene Christian.







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The negative side of mp3 player earbuds

Apple CEO Steve Jobs listening with his Apple iPod earbuds.

Many people use earbuds to hear music from their personal audio devices in the modern day. They can give the sense of drowning out the chaos outside of yourself, but not all positives come from this. According to tests and studies, most people listen with earbuds at too high of a volume. An article that was recently placed in the NY Times was titled, "Study Warns of Hearing Loss From Music Players". This information originated from Brussels. This shows that this is a worldwide problem. The following is an interesting excerpt from the article:

It also threatens permanent hearing loss for as many as 10 million Europeans who use them, according to a scientific study for the European Union that will be published Monday.

The report said that those who listened for five hours a week at high-volume settings exposed themselves to more noise than permitted in the noisiest factory or work place. Maximum volume on some devices can generate as much noise as an airplane taking off nearby.

This entire article from the NY Times may be viewed HERE.

For many, including myself, this is shocking and disturbing information. I am now going to be much more aware of volume controls on my earbuds. Since I want to be a classical musician, the last thing that I want to go for me is good hearing!!

Another disturbing bit of information regards the generation that I am in. So many young people have grown up with, and listen to portable music players all the time. This means there will be high occurrences of hearing loss when these people get older. Unfortunately, the loss is gradual and can be most noticeable years after it has happened.

According to John Pavlik in his book Digital in the Media Age, he states, "More than half of teenagers surveyed report at least one symptom of hearing loss. Most parents are unwilling to put limits on the amount of time their children use earbud devices. Adults tend to use earbuds for longer periods of time, but teens tend to turn up the volume higher.

As a rule of thumb, if a person standing near another person listening via an earbud can hear sound from the earbud, then the volume is too loud and can cause hearing loss, either temporary or permanent."

This is very wise information to keep in mind. These earbuds are not only used in mp3 players. People regularly use them for laptops, portable DVD players, cell phones, and other devices. The modern society must become more aware of this news about earbuds (aka- in the ear headphones). If not, we will be suffering from much widespread hearing loss throughout the world in the years to come. Young people who are going into the medical field may want to think about being an "ear doctor". There will most likely be plenty of work to do in the future.

Below: WE DON'T WANT THIS.

More iPod items and options

The iPod Nano Chromatic was recently unveiled by Apple. New/updated features include: 24 hr. battery, new hot colors for the player, a "genius feature" in the playlists that groups similar songs together, and more memory and space for your dollar.

Check these out at the Apple Store (iPod Nano Chromatic), and also a quick article from when the device was released.
Above: A new promotion ad for the new model of the Nano.

There are some very cool innovations that Nike and Apple have collaborated on as well. If one buys a Nike kit and sensor sold by Apple and a pair of Nike+ shoes, they can track all of their workout status through their iPod device. There is a Nike menu that will appear on the iPod, allowing you to do custom and past favorite workouts. One may also do a workout according to distance, time, or burnt calories. Nike has even created Sport Music listening playlists that are great for workouts. During the exercise, your device continually updates you with various information regarding the workout. After workout completion, you can sync your iPod to the computer and store and track information via nikeplus.com.

Some exercise companies have now been manufacturing machines that are compatible with iPod/Nike hardware. In these cases, you simply just use a connector to link to the machine. All info. is tracked and saved to your device. Very cool. Maybe if I purchase some of these cool gadgets it will get me in the gym some more...

Apple website link to Nike/iPod collaborated technology.

Above: Nike/iPod collaboration.

Interesting iPod Technology Add-Ons

Griffin is a technology company that makes all kinds of accessories and add-ons for the iPod.

The iTrip is one of their big sellers. This is a small device that plugs into the bottom of the player. It syncs up with an open FM frequency on the radio in your car/home (wherever...). Now, you can play your iPod music through your speakers using this open frequency. The ticket price is only 50 dollars. The device is capable of auto-tuning to ensure you are connected to a frequency with a strong signal. There are ports on the iTrip which allow you to charge the iPod while using the device. There is also a back lit display for seeing clearly in all situations.

Another handy device that couples or families would especially enjoy is the Griffin PowerDock.

This item is a charging base for the iPhone and any form of the iPod. They plug into the wall, and are available in 2 or 4 slot docks. The body of the charger is made of brushed metal, and the bottom has grippy rubber for stability. This is a very handy, visually appealing way to charge all of your Apple "iDevices".

Above: The Griffin PowerDock (4 slot)

The Griffin Journi is another add-on that caught my eye. This is a personal mobile sound system. There is a slot that your iPod slips into. It is like a new age boom box you could say.
The following is how Griffin describes this device:
"Journi, Griffin's personal mobile speaker system, has great sound wrapped up in a rugged, go-anywhere package. Charge Journi up, slip your iPod into the Dock, and hit the road.
Journi evolved from a simple idea. Apple's go-just-about-anywhere iPod deserves a set of portable speakers that don't sound like they ran your music through a meat grinder. Journi rises to the challenge with great-sounding portable speakers in an ingeniously designed, easy-to-use form factor."
Great for traveling, and a supposed excellent sound quality. Only for 130 dollars. This would be a great addition to your iPod equipment. I could think of many uses or occasions where this item would come in real handy.

Above: The Griffin Journi in upright standing position.

Congrats to Griffin Technology on their great products. There are more on their company website. Check it out...

Independent Artists making it big via the iPod

In a recent article in the NY Times, the iPod was discussed because of how it has spurred some independent and lesser known bands to stardom. The author, Jennifer Lee, compares this to what Oprah has done for some authors in her well known book club. There have been the famed artists like Wynton Marsalis (world great trumpeter) and the band Coldplay featured on Apple ads, but also independent groups such as CSS (a band...not cascading style sheets, sorry), Asteroids Galaxy Tour, and Brooklyn-based Chairlift. With the popularity of Apple and the iPod, when the company uses a band's song on a commercial, it is nearly destined to be a hit. Some of these bands refer to the device that helped them so much as the "iGod" according to Lee.

(Awareness of this article makes me give thanks to our NDSU/USC fan professor)
A link to the article from the NY Times:
Is Apple the Oprah for Indie Bands?


Listen to Chairlift, and watch the new iPod nano commercial here .