I want to get an Ipod. How do they work? Do you have to buy every song?

Question

Does it get expensive having one?

Answer 1

No, you don't have to buy songs for it, you can use limewire (any file sharing program) to download your songs from or you can burn Cd's onto your computer and then transfer them to your ipod. The initial cost is really the only expense, i have owned an ipod for 3 years and I havent had any problems with it

Answer 2

I have a mp3 player but I think an Ipod is cute .Im not sure what they do either but you can hook them up to a radio a pillow sold separatly .There expensive but look cool!

Answer 3

You can buy any shop they work like when you turn the circle the volume no we don't have to because we can download the iTunes you can burn into CD or ipod.

Answer 4

no, you can obtain "free" mp3s on servers such as limewire and kazaa. but beware that it is still illegal, but many get away. also, those sites do have some files that contain viruses. if you purchase, you usually don't have to worry about that.

Answer 5

no it's not! all you have to do is subscribe to Limewire and for 20$ you get 1 million songs. on itunes each song is 99 cents. ask if you have anymore ?s

Answer 6

not at all. u can download all the free music u want if you download Ares or something similar.

(don't use kazaa...gave my computer a virus. I've had ares forever though.)

Answer 7

iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple and launched in 2001. Devices in the iPod range are primarily digital audio players, designed around a central click wheel — although the iPod shuffle has buttons only. As of October 2005, the line-up consists of the video-capable fifth generation iPod, the smaller iPod nano, and the display-less iPod shuffle. The full-sized model stores media on an internal hard drive, while the smaller iPod nano and iPod shuffle use flash memory. Like many digital music players, iPods can also serve as external data storage devices. In January 2007, Apple announced the iPhone, a device that combined the features of the video-capable iPod with mobile phone and mobile Internet capabilities.

Apple's iTunes software is used to transfer music to the devices. As a free jukebox application, iTunes stores an entire music library on the user's computer and can play, burn, and rip music from a CD. It can also transfer photos, videos, games and calendars to the models that support them.

Apple focused its development on iPod's unique user interface and its ease of use, rather than on technical capability. As of October 2004, iPod is the world's best-selling range of digital audio players and its worldwide mainstream adoption made it one of the most popular consumer brands. Some of Apple's design choices and proprietary actions have, however, led to criticism and legal battles.

Software
iPod can play MP3, AAC/M4A, Protected AAC, AIFF, WAV, Audible audiobook, and Apple Lossless audio file formats. iPod photo introduced the ability to display JPEG, BMP, GIF, TIFF, and PNG image file formats. Fifth generation iPods can additionally play MPEG-4 (H.264/MPEG-4 AVC) and QuickTime video formats, with restrictions on video dimensions, encoding techniques and data-rates. Unlike most other media players, Apple does not support Microsoft's WMA audio format — but a converter for non-DRM WMA files is provided with the Windows version of iTunes. MIDI files also cannot be played, but can be converted to audio files using the "Advanced" menu on iTunes. Alternative open-source audio formats such as Ogg Vorbis and FLAC are not supported. Each time iPod connects to its host computer, iTunes will synchronize entire music libraries or music playlists and the user can choose for automatic or manual synchronization. Song ratings can be set on iPod and synchronized later to the iTunes library, however only one host computer is allowed.


User interface
iPods with color displays use high quality anti-aliased graphics and text, with sliding animations. These iPods have five buttons and the later generations have the buttons integrated into the click wheel — an innovation which gives an uncluttered, minimalistic interface. The buttons are:

Menu: to traverse backwards through the menus, and toggle the backlight on older iPods
Center: to select a menu item
Play / Pause: this doubles as an off switch when held
Skip Forward / Fast Forward
Skip Backwards / Fast Reverse
Other operations such as scrolling through menu items and controlling the volume are performed by using the click wheel in a rotational manner, while an additional Hold switch helps prevent accidental button presses. iPod shuffle does not have a click wheel and instead has five buttons positioned differently to the larger models: It has a Play / Pause button in the center, surrounded by four buttons: Volume Up / Down and Skip Forward / Backwards. The later models automatically pause playback when the headphones are unplugged from the headphone jack, but playback does not resume upon re-insertion. An iPod that has crashed or frozen can be reset by switching Hold on then off, then pressing Menu and Center (Menu and Play on the third generation iPod) for 6 seconds.[5]


Operating system and firmware
iPod's operating system is stored on its dedicated storage medium. An additional NOR flash ROM chip (either 1 MB or 512 KB) contains a bootloader program that tells the device to load its OS from the storage medium. Each iPod also has 32 MB of RAM, although the 60 and 80 GB fifth generation have 64 MB. A portion of the RAM is used to hold the iPod OS loaded from firmware, but the majority of it serves to cache songs from the storage medium. For example, iPod could spin its hard disk up once and copy approximately 30 MB of upcoming songs into RAM, thus save power by not requiring the drive to spin up for each song. Rockbox and iPodLinux offer open-source alternatives to the standard firmware and operating system, respectively.


iTunes Store
Main articles: iTunes and iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is an online media store run by Apple and accessed via iTunes. It was introduced on 29 April 2003 and it sells individual songs, with typical prices being US$0.99, EU€0.99, or GB£0.79 per song. iPods are the only portable music players that can play the purchased music. The store became the market leader soon after its launch[6] and Apple announced the sale of videos through the store on 12 October 2005. Full-length movies became available on 12 September 2006.[7]

Purchased audio files use the AAC format with added encryption. The encryption is based on the FairPlay digital rights management (DRM) system. Up to five authorized computers and an unlimited number of iPods can play the files. Burning the files onto an audio CD, then re-compressing to a different lossy format can create music files without the DRM, although this results in reduced quality. The DRM can also be removed using third-party software.

iPods cannot play music files from competing music stores that use rival DRM technologies like Microsoft's protected WMA or RealNetworks' Helix DRM. Example stores include Napster and MSN Music. RealNetworks claims that Apple is creating problems for itself,[8] by using FairPlay to lock users into using the iTunes Store. Steve Jobs stated that Apple makes little profit from song sales, although Apple uses the store to promote iPod sales.[9] iPods can however play music files from online stores that do not use DRM, such as eMusic.


Additional features
In March 2002, Apple added limited PDA-like functionality: Text files can be displayed, while contacts and schedules can be viewed and synchronized with the host computer.[10] Some built-in games are available, including Brick (a clone of Breakout), Parachute, Solitaire and Music Quiz. A firmware update released in September 2006 brought some extra features to fifth generation iPods including adjustable screen brightness, gapless playback, and downloadable games (available for purchase from the iTunes Store).


File storage
All iPods can function as mass storage devices to store data files; this function is controlled by the "Enable Disk Use" option in iTunes. If the iPod is formatted on a Mac OS X computer it uses the HFS+ file system format, which allows it to serve as a boot disk for a Mac computer. If it is formatted on Windows, the FAT32 format is used because Windows cannot access HFS+ filesystems. With the advent of the Windows-compatible iPod, iPod's default file system switched from HFS+ to FAT32, although it can be reformatted to either filesystem (excluding the iPod shuffle which is strictly FAT32).

Unlike most other MP3 players (including PlaysForSure devices), simply copying files to the drive with a file management application will not allow iPod to properly access them. The user must use software that has been specifically designed to transfer media files to iPods, so that the files are playable and viewable. Aside from iTunes, several alternative third-party applications are available on a number of different platforms.

iTunes cannot transfer songs or videos from iPod to computer, although iTunes 7 allows it for music purchased online. Media files are stored on the iPod in a hidden folder, together with a proprietary database file. The hidden content can be accessed on the host operating system however, by enabling hidden files to be shown. The audio can then be recovered manually by dragging the files or folders onto the iTunes Library or by using third-party software.

Connectivity

Originally, a FireWire connection to the host computer was used to update songs or recharge the battery. The battery could also be charged with a power adapter that was included with the first 4 generations. The third generation began including a dock connector, allowing for FireWire or USB connectivity. This provided better compatibility with PCs, as most of them did not have FireWire ports at the time. However, the device could not be charged over USB, so the FireWire cables were nonetheless needed to connect to the AC adapter. The dock connector also brought opportunities to exchange data, sound and power with an iPod, which ultimately created a large market of accessories, manufactured by third parties such as Belkin and Griffin. The second generation iPod shuffle uses a single 3.5 mm jack which acts as both a headphone jack and a data port for the dock.

The iPod mini and the fourth generation iPod allowed recharging via USB and eventually Apple began shipping iPods with USB cables instead of FireWire, although the latter was available separately. As of the fifth generation iPod, Apple discontinued using FireWire for data transfer and made a full transition to USB 2.0, due to its widespread adoption. FireWire was then usable for recharging only.

Accessories
Many companies, including Apple, produce accessories designed for iPods. This market is sometimes described as the iPod ecosystem.[13] Some accessories add extra features that other music players have, such as sound recorders, FM radio tuners, wired remote controls, and audio/visual cables for TV connections. Other accessories offer more unique features like the Nike+iPod pedometer and the iPod Camera Connector. Other notable accessories include external speakers, wireless remote controls, protective cases/films and wireless earphones.[14] Among the first accessory manufacturers were Griffin Technology, Belkin, JBL, Bose, Monster Cable and SendStation.


The white earphones (or "earbuds") that ship with all iPods have become symbolic of the brand. Advertisements feature them prominently, often contrasting the white earphones (and cords) with people shown as dark silhouettes. The earphones have been revised twice: The first type came with the first and second generations, and the second type appeared on all iPods up to the second generation nanos.

In 2005, New York's Metropolitan Transportation Authority placed adverts on the subways warning passengers that "Earphones are a giveaway. Protect your device",[15] after iPod thefts on the subway rose from zero in 2004 to 50 in the first three months of 2005.[16]

BMW released the first iPod automobile interface,[17] allowing drivers of newer BMW vehicles to control their iPod using either the built-in steering wheel controls or the radio head-unit buttons. Apple announced in 2005 that similar systems would be available for other vehicle brands, including Mercedes-Benz,[18] Volvo,[19] Nissan, Alfa Romeo, Ferrari,[20] Acura, Audi, Honda,[21] Renault and Volkswagen.[22] Scion offers standard iPod connectivity on all their cars.

Some independent stereo manufacturers including JVC, Pioneer, Kenwood, Alpine and Harman Kardon also have iPod-specific integration solutions. Alternative connection methods include adaptor kits (that use the cassette deck or the CD changer port), audio input jacks, and FM transmitters such as the iTrip — although personal FM transmitters are illegal in some countries. Many car manufacturers have added audio input jacks as standard.[23]

Beginning in mid-2007, four major airlines, United, Continental, Delta, and Emirates reached agreements to install iPod seat connections. The free service will allow passengers to power and charge their iPod, and view their video and music libraries on individual seat-back displays.[24] Originally KLM and Air France were reported to be part of the deal with Apple, but they later released statements explaining that they were only contemplating the possibility of incorporating such systems.