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HARDWARE
$399
1,000 MP3s to go
I vividly recall my first Walkman. Although barely larger than the cassette, it created an immersive audio world. Then came the all-digital Rio 500 with no moving parts. Now, the next evolutionary leap in mobile music has arrived: Apple's iPod.
This deck-of-cards-sized device deals 5 Gbytes of data - roughly 1,000 MP3s at 160 Kbps, compared with the Rio's 64 Mbytes. The FireWire port provides prodigious bandwidth and quick power-up: Move music about 30 times faster than USB speeds while the 10-hour battery recharges in less than 3. Any space unused by tunes becomes a hard drive; the iPod appears as a disk on your desktop.
Right now, the iPod is Mac-only and talks exclusively to Apple's iTunes (running under Mac OS 9 or X). Within iTunes, you add and remove songs and playlists. Apple's enlightened stance on digital rights (unlike Sony's) means there are no annoying obstacles to getting music you own onto the iPod; but once uploaded, it can't be copied off elsewhere. Finally, you can autosync your iTunes library to the iPod upon plug-in just like a PDA.
Beyond its tech specs, the iPod feels good in the hand, with a slick stainless steel back and rounded edges. The LCD interface uses the ever-chic Chicago typeface and is controlled by a scroll wheel that lets you zip through your audio archive.
On the downside, the shiny back becomes perma-smudged at first touch. And while the wheel is great for navigation, it's placed so far down on the unit, in-pocket volume adjustments turn into tests of dexterity. Despite all this - and a steep price tag - the iPod is by far the most well-executed digital music player to date.
Apple: www.apple.com/ipod.
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