The Apple iPod For Windows Begins A New Legacy – THG.RU

Introduction

In June of this year we took a look at the D-Link Roq-It in our article MP3 Hard Drive To Portability, and we started that article with a discussion of the advancements that have been made in hard drive-based MP3 player technology. One of the things that we explored was Apple’s lack of support for Windows for its iPod players. Soon after this article was published, Apple announced that it was not only going to upgrade the iPod by offering new models with bigger hard drives, but that it was also going to release the new iPod for Windows. (This is not to imply that our article had any effect on Apple’s decision.)

Previous to this announcement from Apple, it was possible to use an iPod with a Windows-based PC by using various utilities from the Internet or XPlay from Mediafour, which allowed use of the MAC compatible iPod with Windows. (Many readers wrote to let us know that they were already using their iPod with Windows.) Still, many wanted a more complete solution, and with the company’s announcement of the availability of iPod for Windows, Apple has made these users very happy.

Apple’s marketing strategy and practices have a history of being somewhat unpredictable and shaky. In the past, Apple has dropped the ball, or has been out of sync with the market when good opportunities to advance its products have come along. Since we normally cover the PC-oriented market, we sometimes tend not to devote much attention to what Apple is doing. With Steve Jobs at the helm, marketing strategy and product releases appear to have improved, and Apple seems headed in the right direction. However, this still isn’t something that will have all PC users jumping for joy.

Last year when others asked me what one product I would consider to be the product of the year, I was quick to answer, “The Apple iPod.” Although I had not purchased an iPod until three weeks ago, when I had the opportunity to demo the unit at various trade shows and play with it at retail stores, I became convinced that with the iPod’s design, Apple was really onto something.

In evaluating products like this, I try to look at the product on many different levels. What kind of experience does the unit provide? What kind of performance does the unit offer? What value does the unit offer? What kind of user interaction is required to use the product? Is the product optimally designed for its possible use? Does the unit have quality construction? Does the performance live up to expectations?

When looking at a product of this type, it is important to examine it with a critical eye, since it generally will involve a sizeable investment, and that its practical use needs to justify the price and meet the user’s expectations. Added to this is the factor that potential customers might tend to shy away from Apple products because of Apple’s past.

This review of the Apple iPod was done without any assistance from Apple. I purchased an Apple iPod at a local CompUSA retail store for my own use. After spending some time with it, I thought I could provide a more objective review of the positives and negatives of the iPod for Windows. (Yes, there were a few things that I didn’t like about the iPod, but these are fairly minor glitches!)

Whether you are an Apple products enthusiast or think that the iPod is nothing more than marketing hype, I encourage you to read this review and take an objective look at the technology and usability behind the iPod. You might be surprised by what you will find. I think we were even surprised by our final verdict.

I also want to thank Harald van Arkel from www.chipmunk.nl, who worked with me to provide the pictures of the internal portions of the iPod, since I didn’t want to void the warranty on my newly purchased iPod by disassembling it. Harald was brave enough to have already disassembled his iPod, and provided us with the excellent disassembled iPod photos that you’ll see in this article. Many thanks to Harald for his assistance with these pictures.

A New Design Approach For Apple With iPod

Apple has become famous for many of its previous products’ unique and trendy designs. With the iPod, Apple used a new design approach that took advantage of outside design and engineering talent. PortalPlayer developed the reference design for iPod. PortalPlayer was founded in 1999 and includes a group of high profile Silicon Valley executives and investors, including renowned venture capitalist Gordon Campbell.

PortalPlayer had already developed a reference base platform for a variety of audio devices. Apple’s selection of PortalPlayer is rumored to be because it provided excellent sound quality over other currently available solutions. One of the design goals for iPod was to build a device primarily from off-the-shelf components, while providing the highest quality of sound available.

From the box right down the clip that is used to contain the Firewire cable when it is not in use, Apple was conscientious about the details of the iPod. We have been looking at products for some time, and not often does one come along that is this far ahead of the curve. Apple was firing on all cylinders with the design of the iPod.

Much of the specifics that surround the design and construction of the iPod are covered in top-secret and restrictive non-disclosure agreements, which prohibit many of the key players in the development of iPod from speaking publicly about the iPod project. However, the end result speaks for itself: Apple had an uncanny vision for the design and form factor that are the iPod.

The design of the iPod uses the following: a hard drive from Toshiba; a lithium polymer battery from Sony; a dedicated MP3 decoder and controller chip from PortalPlayer; a Wolfson Microelectronics Ltd. stereo digital-to-analog converter; a flash memory chip from Sharp Electronics Corp.; a Texas Instruments 1394 firewire interface controller; and a power management and battery charging IC from Linear Technologies Inc. It is interesting that Apple did not elect to use an ASIC or other custom chip to integrate all the functions it needed onto one piece of silicon, which might have saved space and battery life. Due to the NDAs that are in place, we can only guess why Apple chose this route. One possible reason is that the chip integration would go against the design philosophy of using primarily off-the-shelf components.

When looking at the overall cost of the components, it is obvious that the hard drive is 50% of Apple’s total cost for the iPod. While sales figures on the iPod are a bit sketchy, it has been reported that Apple sold more than 125,000 in the fourth quarter of 2001, and with the addition of the new iPod for Windows, they are well on their way to doubling that number, and may have already done so.

Inside The iPod

We gave you a brief glimpse of the outer design of the iPod. But what does the inside of the iPod look like? Due to iPod’s design being rooted in off-the-shelf components, its compact inside is more of a marvel than its outside appearance. We do not encourage disassembly of your iPod, as if you do so, it will void the iPod warranty. Also, the iPod was not designed to be disassembled and put back together like a Lego product, and taking an iPod apart without destroying it is no small feat.

The metal back of the iPod is attached quite securely. In order disassemble the unit, you first have to slide off the plastic front until you are able to remove the metal back by taking it off one of the longer sides.

This shows the iPod, which now is a compact package consisting of the PCB, the hard drive and the battery which is visible on the top. Photo courtesy of Harald van Arkel.

The lithium polymer battery by Sony is one of the key features of the iPod. Lithium polymer battery technology has the ability to be formed into just about any shape, and does not suffer from the chemical reactions that are found in other battery technologies. This advantage gives the iPod the ability to last ten hours from a single charge.

As you can see in this photo, being able to mold the battery to fit over the top of the hard drive in the iPod gives it a clear advantage, reducing the overall size of the unit. Photo courtesy of Harald van Arkel.

The lithium polymer battery that powers the iPod is replaceable. Although that process isn’t simple, Apple’s choice of using connectors to detach it from the unit shows that it is possible. The iPod uses the Sony UP325385 A4H lithium polymer battery that Sony claims will last more than 500 charging cycles. According to the information we were able to find on the UP325385 A4H, you should never let the battery drain completely down, and you should top off the charge frequently. We were not able to locate a source for purchasing a replacement battery for use with the correct connector, so we can’t estimate how much a replacement battery will cost. However, due to the special technology that is used, it is most likely that it will not be inexpensive.

Here is the Sony UP325385 A4H lithium polymer battery that is used in the iPod. Note that the connector that is used to attach the battery to the iPod can be replaced, but we have not been able to locate the battery with the correct connector. Photo courtesy of Harald van Arkel.

Inside The iPod, Continued

With the battery removed, it is now possible to flip the Toshiba PCMCIA hard disk out of the iPod. The choice to use the Toshiba PCMCIA hard disk is not really a surprise. While there were other options (limited by size), such as the IBM Microdrive, the Toshiba PCMCIA hard disk appears to be a good choice for this form factor. The MK5002MAL from Toshiba offers quite a compelling case for use in the iPod. At a very light 55 grams, it nicely fits the weight requirements that Apple had targeted for the iPod.

The MK5002MAL uses a one disk/ two head design with an average access time of 15ms, which is more than enough to feed the 32MB of cache found in the iPod. The drive spins at 4200 RPM, which is very impressive for a form factor that is this small. Toshiba rates the MK5002MAL with a five-year life, which means it should last as long as your iPod does. Currently, Toshiba offers this drive in 5GB, 10GB, and 20GB sizes, which mirrors the same capacity sizes in which Apple offers the iPod. From what we have been told, the drive in the Windows version of the iPod is formatted using FAT32, so it might be possible to replace or clone the original iPod hard drive and replace it with a larger one. We found that these drives are difficult to get your hands on, and if you can, they are expensive, costing as much as a new iPod. At least for the moment, this will keep the upgraders away.

The iPod uses a standard Toshiba MK5002MAL PCMCIA hard drive. This would appear to be an excellent choice, as it does not weigh much and has a good level of performance for a device like the iPod. Photo courtesy of Harald van Arkel.

With the hard drive now out of the way, you get a look at the heart of the iPod, which is the all-important circuit board. As you can see, there isn’t really much to see, due to the highly integrated and compact design of the iPod. One thing that we did notice is that the TI 1394 chip looks like it is one of the biggest chips on the board.

Once you peel the battery and hard drive out of the way, you get down to the heart of the matter, the main circuit board of the Apple iPod. We didn’t really see a lot here, but it is obvious that pretty much all the space that is available is used, so it will be hard to shrink the iPod to make it any smaller. Photo courtesy of Harald van Arkel.

iPod From The Outside

When looking at the outside of the iPod, perhaps the first thing that you notice is its compact size. With a size of 4.0″ high by 2.4″ wide by .78″ deep, it is not much bigger than a bar of soap. The iPod is housed in a polished metal back with a see-through plastic top that is designed both for looks and to offer a level of protection for the display.

Below the display is the scroll (navigation) wheel, which allows you to scroll between selections on the display. To select an item, you click the button located in the center. Around the navigation wheel that is located in the center, you have four other buttons: Menu; Skip Forward; Skip Backward; and Play/ Pause. We found the action of the scroll wheel to be good, but we have seen several reports on the Web that some users have experienced problems with the scroll wheel, which led Apple to revise the design to a touch sensitive wheel that is non-moving. We found the button action to be good, not mushy like those of many other devices in the same product class.

A look at the top of the Apple iPod.

The display on the iPod offers back-lit, 160-by-128-pixel resolution with a 0.24-mm dot pitch. This gives the iPod seven lines of text with twenty-two characters across. One of these lines of text is sacrificed for its use as the status bar located at the top of the screen, which tells the user which mode the iPod is in, which menu the user is looking at, and how much battery life is left, in graph form. The display on the iPod is brilliant, clear, and easy to read. The iPod offers the ability to adjust both the contrast and the length of time the back light stays on. We found the two inch diagonal liquid crystal display to be far ahead of many of the displays on similar models, and we really did like the choice of white LED backlighting, which makes the iPod easy to read in low-light situations.

Perhaps one of the best features of the iPod that is often overlooked in many reviews is the brilliant two-inch diagonal liquid crystal display with white LED backlighting, which makes the iPod easy to read in low-light situations.

iPod From The Outside, Continued

There is not a lot to see on the bottom of the iPod. The polished metal on the bottom of the unit is suitable for engraving, and if you purchase your iPod direct from the Apple store, for an additional charge you can have your iPod laser-engraved with up to two lines of text, with 27 characters per line. An engraved iPod is the perfect personalized gift for the computer person in your life. The only things on the back of the iPod are the serial number and various regulatory logos. During prolonged disk access, while downloading 2GB of MP3 files to the iPod for example, the bottom of the unit will get a little warm to the touch, which is not really noticeable during typical use of the iPod.

A look at the back of the iPod.

On the top of the Apple iPod is the 1394 Firewire port, headphone jack and the hold button. The 1394 Firewire port is of the standard six pin type, and the iPod is able to be charged when connected to a standard six pin Firewire connector. If you are using the standard, smaller four pin Firewire connector, Apple was nice enough to include an adapter, which allows you to connect the iPod to a four pin Firewire port, but be aware that because the four pin port does not supply power, it will not recharge the unit.

Apple does also include an adapter, which allows you to plug the standard six pin firewire cable into this AC brick to charge the unit from a standard wall outlet. Apple also offers a traveler kit to connect the iPod to power receptacles in other countries. This kit, which Apple calls the “World Travel Adapter Kit,” is additional and not included with the iPod, but it is available, and that is what matters most. While we are on the subject of the Firewire port, it should be noted that Apple includes a six pin Firewire cable that is 70 inches in length. We also noticed that the iPod doesn’t include a dust cover for the Firewire port. While the 10GB and 20GB models do include this cover, the 5GB models do not. This was puzzling and we think this feature should be included on all models.

The headphone jack is the standard type that you find on devices such as this. The headphone jack is not able to be reconfigured for digital output as you will sometimes find in other devices. (More on the headphones/ ear buds in a moment.) The hold switch is a sliding switch that allows you to hold the unit in its current mode; when slid into the hold position, the unit ignores all input from any of the unit’s other buttons that are pressed.

A look at top of the Apple iPod. Perhaps the most interesting thing is that Apple chose not to include a cover over the 1394 Firewire port in the 5GB models, while it does offer this for the 10GB and 20GB models. We are not sure if this was just an oversight by Apple, or something that is only included in the newer models. Still, without the port cover, you are going to want to be careful to keep this area free of dirt and debris.

iPod From The Outside, Continued

Our 5GB iPod included a pair of ear bud-style headphones with 18-mm drivers using Neodymium transducer magnets. Normally we would just discard the included headphones or ear buds for something better. In the case of the iPod, however, these ear buds put out some great sound. The secret to this is Apple’s use of Neodymium transducer magnets, which are made from a rare earth magnet, which produce some incredible sound. The quality is first rate and will rival some more expensive headphone products.

A close-up look at the neodymium transducer magnet ear buds that are included with the 5GB iPod.

The 10GB and 20GB versions of the iPod include a corded remote that can be attached to your jacket or shirt, which allows you to control the iPod “remotely,” rather than with the input buttons that are on the iPod itself. While not included with the 5GB version of the iPod, it is available for purchase in iPod’s Remote and Earphones set, which costs about $40 US. While it might be described as a novelty item, this does allow for some additional flexibility that could be valuable in certain situations. The earphones that are included in this package are an enhanced version of the ones shipped with our iPod. They appear a little smaller and have a tad better bass response than the ones that were included with the 5GB iPod.

The 5GB iPod does not include a case, as its big brothers, the 10GB and 20GB versions, do. The number of specialized cases available for the iPod staggers the imagination. In addition to the Carrying Case with Belt Clip offered by Apple, numerous third-party manufacturers make a cases for the iPod. We found cases to fit nearly any situation, lifestyle, or need. Perhaps one of the most confusing decisions that you will make is which case to purchase for your iPod. From what we have seen, it is common for iPod users to purchase several different cases over the life over their iPod in an effort to find the case that best suits the way that they use their iPod.

Here is an example of one of the third-party cases that is available for the iPod, along with the iPod Remote and Earphones set. The iPod remote is not included with the 5GB iPod.

How Do I Get My Music On The iPod?

Perhaps Apple’s biggest challenge with the iPod For Windows was how to get the music onto the iPod. Normally, if you are an Apple user, you would use iTunes to handle this chore, but iTunes does not exist for the PC, so Apple either had to port iTunes to the PC or find an experienced partner with a similar program that could be tuned to be used with the iPod. Apple took the latter approach and worked with the folks at Musicmatch to provide the software interface that is needed to drive the iPod.

iTunes is the way Apple interfaces and manages the iPod. After looking at it, it was obvious that iTunes does a lot of things very well. If you are a PC user, you are out of luck; no Apple iTunes for you.

iTunes is a very intuitive and easy to use program for managing music on the Apple iPod. The user interface that iTunes offers is more polished and perhaps a bit more robust than Musicmatch is on the PC. We liked its ability to handle many features in what we consider to be a more logical nature than Musicmatch. At least for the moment, it is unknown if Apple will later port iTunes to the PC, but since it is free for any MAC, we doubt that you will see iTunes on the PC anytime soon.

Since we don’t have iTunes for the PC, we used Musicmatch Jukebox Plus, which is included with the iPod for Windows. Version 7.1 of Musicmatch Jukebox Plus includes an interface, which allows you to manage the iPod from within Musicmatch. Since Musicmatch is very popular and has been reviewed to death elsewhere, we are not going to spend a lot of time talking about its features. It is enough to say that Musicmatch includes most of the features that you have come to expect, and the bonus is the new Apple iPod manager.

Musicmatch Jukebox Plus 7.1 is the included software interface for PC users to manage their iPods. While it isn’t quite as intuitive as iTunes is on the MAC, it does get the job done and has been refined to work similarly to iTunes when it comes to managing the iPod.

The Musicmatch Jukebox Plus 7.1 software for use with the iPod is perhaps a little bit rough around the edges in the way that it interfaces with the iPod. Unlike other reviews that we have read, we didn’t have a problem with Musicmatch. We were able to move our MP3 files to the iPod using the Firewire interface on both our Dell Latitude C810 with it’s Firewire port, and our Asus P4TE system with an Adaptec DuoConnect Firewire Interface. Neither system had a problem with the Musicmatch software or with transferring out MP3 files to the iPod. Since each of these Firewire controllers uses a TI chipset, we didn’t notice any performance difference between the two platforms.

How Do I Get My Music On The iPod?, Continued

Moving files to the iPod is a pretty easy task. You have the option to just drag music files out of your Musicmatch library onto the iPod, or better yet, you can set your iPod to sync with your Musicmatch library upon connection. Depending on how you want to manage your music, syncing your library may or may not be a good idea.

Musicmatch will also help you get your contacts and appointments from your Palm Desktop or Outlook into your iPod, which includes a basic contact manager and appointment application. Both of these applications are pretty basic and are included for the convenience factor only. They are not really designed to be robust applications.

While we are on the subject, the iPod also includes a clock/ alarm application, as well as a breakout style game to help you kill time. Apple didn’t really design the iPod to handle applications, but it is obvious that many users would like to be able to do more with their iPods than just listen to music.

Because the iPod has upgradeable firmware, it should be fairly easy for Apple to build additional applications for the iPod platform, but it remains to be seen if this is a direction that Apple is going to take.

There are other software options for the Apple iPod, such as Mediafour’s XPlay application for iPod. XPlay uses a more familiar “Explorer” type interface for managing the iPod. This may feel more comfortable to typical Windows users that don’t have experience with Musicmatch. Since I have been a Musicmatch user for some time, I was not put off by the fact that Apple chose to use the Musicmatch interface, but after seeing iTunes, it is obvious that there are better solutions. While at IDF, we were talking to one of the guys from Musicmatch who suggested that the next release of Musicmatch would feature a major overhaul of the user interface. If this is the case, it could be that Musicmatch will rival iTunes in the future, but, at least for the moment, if you don’t like Musicmatch, you might want to consider other products such as XPlay or EphPod; however, do be warned that they might only be compatible with the MAC version of the iPod.

We knew it was in development for some time. XPlay from Mediafour acts as another possible interface for getting your music from your PC to your iPod.

It’s All About Ease Of Use & Convenience

The iPod uses a layered menu system that is controlled by the navigation wheel. Using Musicmatch, play lists can be developed and downloaded to your iPod. While this isn’t the most convenient of options, it is about the only negative point that we have regarding the user interface.

The iPod uses the MP3 Tags, and you can sort by artist’s name, album, or title. The iPod supports repeat and shuffle options to keep the music flowing, and flowing it will be, with our 5GB unit’s ability to store almost 1,000 songs encoded at 160Kbps. To give you an idea, 1,000 songs are about the equivalent of approximately 100 CDs. Depending on the size of the CDs, your mileage might vary.

This picture gives you a close up look at the iPod in action with the back lighting turned on. You will have no problems being able to read the display with the back light on.

The scroll wheel is also a very good part of the iPod experience. You can scroll between and select menu options very quickly. You can also choose a mode for the iPod to offer an audible click as the wheel is turned. This audible click gives new users an idea of how much turning action is necessary to move the cursor between highlighted menu items. This option can be turned off so as to avoid driving you nuts with the clicking sounds.

The iPod is nearly skip-proof, using a large 32MB buffer to load music and play the music from the buffer. This strategy serves two purposes. First, it allows the hard drive to spin up and upload the music to fill the buffer, and then spin down. Secondly, it conserves battery life by not having to power the hard drive to keep it spinning all the time.

With that being said, it is important to realize that this is a key part of Apple’s battery conservation strategy for the iPod. If you were to play titles in such a way that the hard drive always had to remain ‘spun up’ to keep filling the buffer, this would reduce the battery life. In our testing using typical MP3 files encoded 160Kbps from Musicmatch Jukebox, we were able to achieve 10 hours and 4 minutes, 9 hours and 47 minutes, and 9 hours and 53 minutes in our three battery life tests. For each of these tests, we loaded the iPod 5GB with MP3 files and used a pre-programmed play list in repeat mode while timing the unit until it shut off. These tests did prove that the iPod was able to live up to its bold battery performance claims.

Another great feature of the iPod is its quick-charging battery performance. The battery in the iPod can be recharged to 80% of total capacity in one hour, and 100% capacity in four hours. As we explained, charging can take place either by connection to a six-pin firewire port or by using the AC to Firewire adapter brick that is included with the iPod. During our uses of the iPod, we found these recharging estimates to be accurate.

The iPod offers the ability to help smooth out the volume differences between MP3 files using a filter called “Sound Check.” We found this option to be quite effective at helping smooth out the volume differences among music files.

The iPod supports the following audio file formats: MP3 (up to 320 Kbps), MP3 Variable Bit Rate (VBR), WAV, AIFF, Audible (for Mac only). As we explained above, the unit is firmware upgradeable to allow support for future formats.

The sound quality of the iPod was excellent, and by far one of the loudest MP3 devices that we have ever tested. Apple claims that it has a frequency response rating of 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz with maximum output power 60 mW rms (30 mW per channel). These specifications are impressive when compared to other players in the same class.

The iPod is also able to function as an external portable hard drive when needed. This can prove to be a excellent portable storage media for documents and presentation files.

We found the 1394 Firewire interface to offer exceptionally quick transfers. With the Firewire interface offering almost 400mbit of performance, it was necessary to store files that can quickly fill up gigabytes of disk space. The iPod user interface is easy to use and even the computer novice can get the hang of using it within a few minutes. This is part of the beauty of the iPod, and something that seems to be lost by other manufacturers of similar products.

Conclusion – How Much Praise Can You Heap On This Product?

It is no coincidence that the Apple iPod has received so many kudos over the past year. When one starts from scratch and has lofty design goals, as Apple did with the iPod, it is very rare to actually be able to pull it off. Apple deserves the praise that it has been getting for the iPod for this reason alone.

What sets the iPod apart from the others is Apple’s continuing attention to detail. Every part that went into the iPod was obviously highly scrutinized for its ability to deliver an overall experience that reached far beyond that of any other product competing in the same product category.

What stand out are the reasons why iPod is better than its competition. It is easier to use, offers exceptional battery life, has a very readable, well-lit display, excellent shock protection with its 32MB of RAM, speedy transfers with its 1394 Firewire interface, good sound on both the high end and the low end, and, maybe best of all, it comes in a small and very sexy package. When you combine all of this, you come up with a product experience that is well beyond the norm.

While the documentation isn’t what we would consider to be best in class, and the Musicmatch Jukebox interface clearly isn’t as polished as iTunes, these are minor glitches that will improve over time. We still would have liked to see a cover for the Firewire port on our 5GB model. While this is perhaps a minor concern, we were somewhat irritated about it. While working on this article we found that www.ipodlounge.com was a great resource for iPod owners providing excellent coverage of the iPod scene. In fact we found some of the documentation and FAQs on this site more helpful than Apple’s own support resources.

This brings us to perhaps the biggest issue of all with the iPod: the price. The 5GB iPod for Windows is priced at $299 US, which is a little pricey when compared to other players on the market today. Given what is included with the 5GB model, it is clear to us now that the $399 US 10GB model is perhaps a better deal with its better quality ear buds, wired remote, case, and 10GB of hard drive space. If you purchase the 5GB model and purchase all of these accessories separately to add to your 5GB iPod as I did, you will spend nearly $100 more, and you will still end up with 5GBs less storage than the 10GB model offers. Although we didn’t really like the case that was included with the 10GB model, it clearly deserves some additional consideration if you are looking to get the overall iPod best value. (The 20GB model retails for $499 US, by way of comparison.) Also, if you don’t happen to currently have a 1394 Firewire adapter installed in your system, you will need one of those as well, which should only set you back about $39 – $49 US.

When looking at the price versus performance, it is clear that the iPod does deliver, but it is expensive. Many might pass on the iPod due to the price alone, but if you are looking for the most easy to use product with the best sound in the most compact format, the Apple iPod is way ahead of the curve. We award the Apple iPod for Windows our Editors Choice Award as a solidly recommended best buy. Although the 10GB model is $100 US more than the 5GB model, if you plan to use or purchase any of the accessories as we explained above, the 10GB is clearly a better option.

Apple didn’t really surprise me with their effective design with the release of the iPod, but what was surprising was the way that Apple is able to execute. Even though they were, in my opinion, “late” to enter the Windows market, they were able to do it with a product that users will want to buy. Will Apple enlist any converts to the MAC platform with their release of the iPod? I don’t know about that. One thing is for certain, however. People need to pay more attention to what Apple is doing, because they got it absolutely right with the iPod.

iPod (5GB Model) Specifications