Every once in a while, someone comes up with a technology that changes our lifestyle. Such as the Sony Walkman, 1979 the VHS recorder, 1980's and the world wide web in the '90's are great examples. The latest one to come along was a small digital music player called iPod. No larger than a deck of playing cards and just about as slim as a pencil, the gadget can hold thousands of songs and you can carry your entire CD collection in your back pocket!.

In 2001, Apple developed the iPod, and since then it has been the standard for the digital audio player. If you don't have an iPod, you aren't "with it", and if you have an iPod, you've got to have the latest generation. There has even been a boom of third party manufacturers of iPod accessories that are too numerous to mention them all.

There are several free sites on the internet where you can download music to them and if you can't find them, just ask your

Grandkids. The music venue covers the entire range of the current and historic styles. There are also some of the iPod models that can download movies and even video games. iPod does all these things in a format that is very user friendly thanks to Apple, and I think that is the main reason the iPod is so popular. In fact, people have a tendency to call all mp3 payers iPods, whether they in fact are or not.

Another thing that an iPod can do that a PDA or paper notebook can't. You are also able to use it as a hard disk drive. If you're worried about certain files or info being found on your computer by someone else, this could be a plus. You also have from 5 GB to 30 GB on your hard drive; this makes it usable as an external storage for your laptop when you are in the field.

Listening to music only, batteries last up to 20 hours. Watching movies and TV shows you will have entertainment up to six-and-a-half hours. Pod can has space for 20,000 songs, 25,000 photos, and 100 hours of video — or any combination these. So, you could say that with your iPod in hand you could enjoy the world as a theater.

Apple's competitors actually are making quality products now, which could compete with iPod, but nobody really knows much about them yet because iPod is so very popular. A lot of people just can't be without their iPods, they're stuck to the ears from jogging time 'till bedtime. There are even rumors about a solar-powered bikini that can charge the iPod batteries on the run.

The rules have been changed regarding the way that people purchase and enjoy music. Every hour that you spend listening to iPod is time that you do not listen to the broadcast signals. TIVO is more or less having a similar effect on television. Today the amount of time spent by consumers in front of some kind of screen or device is more than ever, yet more and more, consumers can limit the number of commercials they see or hear.

This might not be comforting news for the broadcast TV and radio stations, but the cable TV stations and the Satellite radio stations have nothing to fear. As for the consumer, the choices for listening and viewing have never been better.

Can you just imagine, any place you are, and any time you want, you can have any type or kind of entertainment at your command as long as you can receive a cell phone signal. Now days, that is just about any where on God's green earth. Oh, did I tell you? You can also surf the web with the new generation iPods.