When Apple Computer released the iPod, a small portable music player, few would have predicted it to be such a large success.

But even fewer would have expected the iPod, along with its coexisting iTunes Music Store, to have become such a huge phenomenon.

The iPod has become so popular that it has even been named Time Magazine’s Invention of the Year for 2003.

“The iPod/iTunes combination is the first major thing Apple has released in awhile,” says Jeremy McKinley, employee of Academic Information Technologies in the Durham Center.

“Now that it’s compatible for Windows users too, iPod has taken off in a whole new market.”

The Apple iPod is a device used primarily to store and play MP3 files.

Although the product was released to the public more than two years ago, it wasn’t until Apple created the iTunes Music Store in April that the iPod became a product worthy of pop icon status.

The iTunes music store has more than 400,000 songs available for 99 cents apiece, including legal downloads from all five major record label as well as from more than 200 independent labels.

Recently, Apple announced people have downloaded more than 20 million songs from the store.

The AIT center has been selling iPods on the ISU campus since the original 5 GB model came out two years ago.

McKinley says they saw a rise of sales in April when the Music Store was created for Mac users.

However, the major increase in sales occurred when iTunes was made compatible with PC users in October.

“It’s an MP3 player that does a lot more,” McKinley says.

The iPod also functions as an external FireWire hard drive, address book and calendar.

Although online download services were available before its time, the iPod was also the first device to incorporate its available online music store and library management software into one integrated software package.

The iPod’s most recent competition is the Dell DJ.

Although all of the Dell DJ models are priced about $50 less than the Apple model of the same memory, McKinley says the iPod is more fully featured.

“The iPod is one of the most accessorized products in history,” McKinley says.

Accessories include everything from voice recorders to Burton Snowboards backpacks and jackets. It even has a storage space specifically designed for it installed in the new Volkswagen Beetle.

But it’s the device’s highly visible spot in pop culture that has set it aside from its competition.

In addition to ads featuring music by the Black Eyed Peas and Jet, a countless number of celebrities have been seen sporting their ‘pods both in music videos and in public.

Lindsey Senn, sophomore in pre-journalism and mass communication, received her iPod as a gift from her parents last year.

Senn says she had her iPod before the trend of owning one started its recent snowball effect.

“A lot of my friends were talking about wanting one, so I checked it out,” Senn says.

“It was sweet-looking and the only thing like it out there, so I wanted one too.”

Senn says she has probably used her iPod every single day since she got it.

She has about 1,700 songs stored on her iPod and also utilizes the address book feature.

“It’s my music collection and all of my contact information,” Senn says. “I only have to take one thing with me when I travel.”

But Senn doesn’t only use her iPod for traveling. On a day-to-day basis, Senn says she listens to music while walking to class and when she works out.

“It takes away the hassle of CDs,” Senn says. “You don’t have to carry all of them around and worry about them getting broken or stolen. I just put it in my pocket and go.”

Padraic Cepek, freshman in English, bought an iPod two months ago. Because he was paying for it, he looked at the competition for the best product. Cepek says he talked to others who owned MP3 players and went to the Durham Center and “test drove” the iPod before purchasing it.

“The iPod was put together the smartest compared to the competition,” Cepek says.