From pirated playlists to pop music promotions, MP3 technology has become a subject of public fascination.

The new music format has given way to a deluge of portable players that offer consumers the ability to take their music collection away from the computer and on the go.

The first players were introduced a few years ago, and sales have grown progressively ever since, local retailers say, as more and more manufacturers enter the game and prices drop.

Jake Johnston, computer salesperson at Best Buy in Des Moines, said sales of MP3 players are still looking good.

“It’s kept pretty steady,” he said. “Ever since November, we’ve been selling out of about everything every week.”

Johnston said people come looking to buy an MP3 player for various reasons.

“It just depends on what they’re going to need it for,” he explained. “Like if they’re going to do athletics with it, things like working-out, weight-lifting, or if they’re just going to want it because it’s portable.”

Johnston says a few people are buying some of the larger-capacity models for different purposes than just listening to music.

“A lot of people buy the bigger ones for data storage, too, because it’s actually a portable hard drive,” he said.

Corwin Colebrooke, sophomore in pre-journalism and UDA Entertainment Chair, said the main benefit he saw in an MP3 player was its portability.

“I’d use it in my truck, since I don’t currently have a CD player, and to have around campus,” he said.

Colebrooke said he has considered getting an MP3 player, but hasn’t made the purchase yet.

“I’ve thought about it, but never feel like spending money on it,” he said.

Colebrooke thinks the current price range of MP3 players isn’t too expensive.

“It’s just not as high on my priority list as other things since I have a computer to play MP3s,” he said.

Johnston said the price range hasn’t been prohibitive for most customers. Most players can range from $50 to $400.

“Price hasn’t been a real huge issue,” Johnston says.

Regardless of price, all models seem to sell the same, he said.

“We sell the cheaper ones a lot quicker. But for the most part, we sell just as many of the $339 ones as we do the $150 ones,” he said.

There are many factors to consider when looking at MP3 players.

Johnston said storage is the primary consideration when deciding which type of player to purchase.

“They all work almost identically,” he said. “It’s just the size of the actual player and how much memory you want it to hold – whether you want a couple hours worth of music or a hundred hours worth of music.”

The majority of players use either internal memory or expandable storage methods to hold the music.

These interchangeable units can hold from 8 to 128 megabytes, and price-wise can run anywhere from $10 per piece on up. Depending on the file size and sound quality of the actual MP3s, this can translate to just a few minutes or many hours of music per unit.

Johnston said the largest expandable devices will hold about three and a half to four hours worth – or “about a minute and a half per meg.”

Some models don’t store the music at all, but rather read them from burnt CDs. This kind has a dual functionality, playing standard CDs as well as MP3s.

Colebrooke said, if he was to purchase a player, he’d most likely get one that plays both CDs and MP3s.

“It’s just more versatile,” he said. “I could have more songs on a CD and make my own random mixes.”

Johnston said he thinks those who are looking to be pretty active when using their player should consider a couple things.

“If you’re into athletics or things like that, you’re going to want a small portable one to wear around the wrist.”

Mike Root, a customer at the Best Buy in Clive, said he’s very interested in what an MP3 player can offer him.

“It’d be nice to have something like that when you’re jogging or whatever.”

Root said the storage capacity of the player is the main thing he’s considering and price isn’t really an issue.

Johnston said even customers with minimal computer knowledge shouldn’t be afraid of being able to use their MP3 player.

“Basically, they plug into the computer, almost like a second [hard] drive,” he said.

“You select the song you want to store on there, you drag it over into the file, and that stores it into the [player’s] hard drive.”

Jeff Greiner, senior in history, purchased a model that plays both CDs and MP3s and is very pleased with the purchase.

“It’s been better than I thought it would be,” he said. “I use it not only for the things that I originally planned on using it for, but I also use it to listen to MP3s as I walk around town, and on long trips in the car. It’s great that I can drive from Ames to Minneapolis, never change the CD, and never hear the same song twice. Over all, I’ve loved having it.”