Advincula, Jerome Englcom Descriptive essay: The Ipod

Have you ever had a walkman or a portable CD player? Do you even know what those things are? Do you like to listen to music or to watch movies in a screen not bigger than the palm of your hand? Have no fear, the Ipod is here (It has been here for quite some time now).

Fortunately, for us born in this century, we have a gadget that can perform different tasks for different reasons; one of my favorite reason is that it kills time like a group of Jewish-American soldiers called “The Basterds” killing Nazis in a Nazi-occupied France. The Ipod, it all started with three things. One, our love for music that we wish we could listen to it anywhere we go at anytime we want. Two, our fondness to kill time when we get bored or at least something that could keep us pre-occupied when we’re not doing anything. Three, let’s face it, none of us would like the Ipod if it can’t even fit in our pocket, figuratively and literally.

The Ipod is a symbol of innovation and development; as technology progresses so does it. The very first Ipod I saw was pixilated, gray-colored, and thick. It was bigger that the Ipod Nano but smaller than the Ipod Classic, although it was fatter. Even though it was big and thick, its storage capacity was little. I don’t even know what Ipod they called it (Ipod Jurassic?) but still people bought it. Today, the latest Ipod is called the Ipod Touch. It boasts a touch screen, WiFi, video playback ability, and more. Generations away from its predecessors in terms of capabilities in just a short span of time compared to the first Ipod.

There are four kinds of Ipod available in the market today. 1.) The Ipod Shuffle is the smallest of all. It doesn’t have a screen so that means that you can’t pick your song; that’s why it’s called the Ipod Shuffle. It’s all randomized and shuffled. Its maximum memory available is 4 GB and minimum is 2 GB, that’s quite a lot compared to its size. It can only play music files. Its height is 45.2mm, width is 17. 5mm, and depth is 7.8mm. It’s very light and small. 2.) The Ipod Nano is a thin but long Ipod. Its height is 90. 7mm, width is 38.7mm, and depth is 6.2mm. It’s the only Ipod, as of now, that has a camera that is capable of shooting videos but its memory isn’t really accommodating for it. It also has an FM tuner for people who like to listen at the radio. It can play movies and music. It’s available in 8GB and 16GB memory. 3.) The Ipod Classic is a little bulky yet it’s still pretty stylish. It has a rectangular body. Its height is 103.55mm, width is 61.8mm, and depth is 10.55mm. It can play music and videos. It has a bigger screen than the previous Ipod mentioned. It has a massive memory of 160GB, perfect for those movie maniacs. 4.) The Ipod Touch is the most technologically advanced Ipod; it’s also the biggest. Its height is 110mm, width is 61.8mm, and depth is 8.5mm. It almost got everything you need to survive in the 21^st century. If you like the idea of touch screen and think the round white thing in Ipods is primitive, then this is the Ipod for you; yes, it features a touch screen. It has music and video playback, games, applications, web browser, and (most importantly) WiFi. It has the largest screen among all Ipods because it covers almost all of its body. It’s available in 8GB, 32GB, and 64GB.

The development of the Ipod has been fast. It keeps up with the demands of the people yet careful in making its older versions absolutely obsolete. The Ipod isn’t like the walkman that in the end, gave up and stopped walking; it continually adapts with technology as technology progresses.

The Ipod can also be an expression of your personality or an extension of yourself. You have the liberty of choosing the movies and song you like to put in it; that is what puts the “I” in Ipod. That is also what makes every Ipod unique. The Ipod you choose could also tell something about yourself. The Ipod Shuffle could tell that you are a spontaneous, happy-go-luck person. It’s also good for people who don’t want to carry things in their pocket. The Ipod Nano is for more of the all-around type of person. The Ipod Classic is for the pragmatic type. It’s perfect for DJ’s, movie maniacs, and everyone else who needs a lot of memory space. The Ipod Touch is for the tech savvy and flashy people. You’re showing that you’re updated and the internet is important to you.

You could use the Ipod to watch movies, to listen to music, to use as a storage device, to surf the web, to listen to the radio, to use it as a mirror (except for the Ipod Shuffle and and The Ipod Nano), and many more.

The Ipod has many uses. It’s constantly being updated that’s why people never get tired of it. If it were to become stagnant just like the walkman, it wouldn’t have been able to come this far.