How an iPod works?

Posted: September 5th, 2013

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How an iPod works?

An iPod works thanks to its main features. One of these features is the audio. Depending on the model type, an iPod is proficient in holding between 20,000 and 40,000 songs. This may seem like many songs to sort through but the iPod has an exceptional and expedient search function. This search function allows the user to type in the song or artist of the song you want to listen to or transfer. An iPod accepts and recognizes audio files in ‘MP3, WAV, AAC, AIFF and Apple Lossless’. Apart from downloading music from iTunes, an iPod user can also employ other downloading sites to get his or her desired variety of music. IPods come with their intrinsic self-adjusting equalizer for those who have a preference to listen to their music by connecting the iPod and the stereo or computer.

Another feature is the Click Wheel. This feature assists the user to browse for, find and play music on all IPods. It is made in the form of a ring, which is especially sensitive to touch. The click wheel is also made up of four buttons ‘forward, back, menu’ and play/pause. These four buttons are used to control all the functions of the iPod. To implement a command on the iPod, you glide your finger lightly around the click wheel. You can also click the button.

The Apple iPod has far-reaching storage capacity. This is because it uses codecs. These are ‘compression decompression algorithms’ which shrink MP3s and other music formats that are digitally compatible into small expedient files. After attenuation of the files, the Apple IPod has an ingrained ‘Digital Audio Chip’, which reads these files and engenders better-quality audio files. This storage predisposition is given by the existence of diminutive hard drives or flash memory in the iPod. The hard drives accept up to 80 gigabytes of data while the flash memory takes between 1 to 8 gigabytes of data.

An iPod can hold more than 25,000 photos. It accepts file formats in ‘JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF and PSD’. Downloading photos to the iPod can be done using either the Adobe Photoshop Album or the Mac iPhoto software. When connected to home theater systems, IPods can be used to watch movies on bigger screens and view picture slideshows. IPods also have remarkable games. The fact that you can download or generate your own games on the iPod makes it the number one portable entertainment gadget today.

IPods use the ‘Pixo 2.1 Operating System’ and the ‘PortalPlayer’s Digital Platform’, which is responsible for some of the hardware like the core processor. Another component is the iPod hack program. This program is created to authorize the iPod to perform specific functions for example, transfer of pictures devoid of using iTunes, altering the central media player and converter to something exclusively different from iTunes. Some programmers charge a substantial fee for users to access and use their software, but others offer it free.

The screen of the iPod, though small, offers 320*240-pixel resolution. There are different connectors in an iPod, which are coated to make them functional. The most important of them is the motherboard, without which none of the others connectors would function. The Click Wheel utilizes both digital and analog data. The analog data is sent by the user’s finger on the Click Wheel. This analog data needs to be converted into digital data, which can be used by the iPod to perform its functions.

Griffin Technology invented the iTrip, which is a contrivance that is plugged into an iPod through the headphone socket. This device converts the Ipod’s audio productivity into a continuous FM radio signal that can be picked up by any radio 15 feet and within. It comes in 8 different models; these are the ‘original iTrip, the iTrip mini, the iTrip black, the iTrip with Dock Connector, the iTrip with LCD, the iTrip Auto, the iTrip for Nano and the iTrip for PSP’. The iTrip is ideal for long drives and breaks.

The iPod Touch has a touch screen that is controlled by the finger. Just like the regular iPod, the iPod Touch allows you to play music and videos. It has many applications that make it possible for its user to surf the internet with ease. However, you cannot operate it like a phone because it does not possess phone features. It is motorized by a rechargeable ‘lithium-ion-polymer’ battery, which allows the user to play music incessantly for more than 36 hours and video for approximately 6 hours. Christopher Breen adds that all this depends on whether your Wi-Fi is switched on or off because “Wi-Fi consumes a lot of battery power even when it is supposedly doing nothing” (4).

In conclusion, the iPod is an advanced gadget, which is transforming the music industry given by its ease of use, convenient small size and shape, and “ability to store a lifetime’s worth of music” (Kahney 13). However, it has its challenges. First, the battery is built into the iPod denoting that when it dies, it will be very expensive to change it, as it requires a professional who comprehends the insides of an iPod to change it. For all this to come about, you are obliged to send your iPod back to the manufacturer, who charges a fix-it fee and a shipping fee. This, apart from being expensive to you also means that you will have to wait a while as they fix it.

Work cited

Breen, Christopher. The IPod & ITunes Pocket Guide. Berkeley, Calif: Peachpit, 2008.

“How iPods work”. Thelongestlistofthelongeststuffatthelongestdomainnameatlonglast.com. Bid for Position, n.d. Web. 13 June 2012.

Kahney, Leander. The Cult of Ipod. San Francisco: No Starch Press, 2005. Print.

“How an iPod Works.” Tech-faq.com. Tech-Faq, 2012. Web. 13 June 2012.