Some of you reading this may remember something called the Sony Walkman.

Or, if you aren’t old enough to recall what those are, just ask your parents or an older brother or sister; and you’ll see this kind of pleasant, reflective smile cross their face.

You see, the Walkman was the coolest thing to come out of the early 1980s. And if you had the fortune (or maybe the misfortune – really big hair was in back then) of living back then, you almost certainly owned one of these devices.

They were everywhere. In airports. On busses. In malls.

Heck, even in cars you’d see kids in the back listening to their own thing, while the parents rocked out to the soothing, mellow driving tones of Perry Como or Dean Martin (which many kids at the time found intolerable; many still do).

The Walkman was beyond a phenomenon; because that term implies that something is here today, then gone tomorrow. The Walkman was a mainstay; a staple of the society in which it was introduced.

Without exaggeration, if a Time Capsule was created for the 1980s, it would simply have to have a Walkman in it; to neglect this item would be like discussing technology in the 21st century and failing to note that strange little thing called the Internet.

So why trip down memory lane to talk about the Walkman? Well, don’t worry; we aren’t just waxing nostalgic for our own amusement.

We’re setting the stage for the next generation of personal entertainment devices; an innovation and invention that is sure to become the Walkman of our time.

We’re talking, of course, about the iPod.

In case you’ve somehow managed to avoid seeing the marketing and advertising associated with the iPod, it’s almost certain that you’ve seen them. They’re everywhere (sound familiar?).

And it’s not just kids who walk around with those two little white wires protruding from their ears and into something that kind of looks like something dental floss might come out of.

The iPod, like all truly amazing inventions, has crossed demographic consumer lines. People of all ages are sporting these things; from teachers to senior citizens; from athletes to Generation Y skater types who somehow manage to keep those earplugs in place despite flying through the air (and sometimes crashing to the ground).

Now, if you haven’t yet entered iPod country yourself, then please don’t feel intimidated or worse, obsolete.

Though iPods are incredibly popular, there are still enough people out there who haven’t yet tried one on. And furthermore, there are also a growing number of people who have an iPod, but haven’t really taken it out of first gear. Why is this?

Well, it’s because technology can seem confusing, and despite its small size, figuring out the ins and outs of the iPod can seem intimidating and time consuming. Yet nothing could be further from the truth!

Apple, which makes the iPod, has built a reputation on simplicity of use; and the iPod most definitely reflects this approach. As such, the iPod is as easy to use as a DVD player; even easier, perhaps.

Mia LaCron is the founder of IpodFunctions.com - http://www.ipodfunctions.com - devoted to helping individuals get the most out of their Ipod.

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