So in my last blog I wrote about how I found the iPod, or should I say the iPod found me. Okay, fine, we found eachother and it has been a great relationship thus far. I love my iPod and it along with my cell phone it travels with me everywhere and anywhere I go.

Fast forward: now that it's been about 5 or 6 years since the iPod was introduced, Apple along with many other technology companies have jumped onto the bandwagon of making gadgets smaller and smaller, as if they weren't small enough. Even though it was called the iPod mini, apparently it wasn't small enough. Apple's next gadget, the iPod nano. It served as a replacement for the mini. The nano, first introduced September 7th 2005, was America's newest guilty pleasure. What this one had: yep, a color screen and it was smaller than the already mini 'mini'.

Apple kept throwing these new gadgets at the American public, and many asked themselves, questions similar to this, "This new iPod model looks so cool, and look how much it can do and how many songs it can hold. Should I buy it, or wait for something even better to come out?" Those who waited made the wise decision as Apple's newest latest and greatest model introduced video. Okay, at first I was amused that this little machine was able to hold that many songs and now they were saying movies can be watched too. I thought this was as good as it was gonna get, seriously, how can it get better than this. But it did.

Apple's next venture, the iPhone. The iPhone was another major change on America's technological ride. Now, not only was this gadget capable of playing music and watching videos, it could also be used as a cell phone. Along with the phone were other features such as wi-fi internet access, access to the iTunes virtual music store, safari internet, Youtube, calandar, contacts, clock, and calculator. Users were also able to access maps, stocks, notes, and even the weather. Apple had by this point revolutionized technology, people we practically carrying around what seemed to be like handheld computers. Can you imagine, having life in the palm of you hand.

The iPhone most of all created the 'gotta have it' phase for Americans. People began going to stores at their earliest opening times, waiting online over night, and bidding ridiculous prices just to get their hands on one.

What really amazes me is the level at which the new nano has escalated to. Remembering back to the introduction of the original nano, the mini, I just can't believe how far this gadget has come in such a small amount of time. Like people say, my generation is living through the technological boom, as everything for us is digital, and is changing, metamorphing oh so rapidly. At this point who knows how many songs the latest iPod can hold, probably in the millions.

I was watching tv and a commercial came on for the new nano, I could not believe what I was seeing on this advertisement. Complete genius. This 4th model of the nano is simply unbelievable. I researched and found out that this newly introduced model comes standard with an even larger screen than past models, the screen is also rotating so when it iPod is turned on it's side the picture turns as well. It has a new stylized sleek look. Also included is a voice recording feature. And I don't even know which is best: that is is the most environmentally friendly iPod yet, or that it has the new 'Genius' feature which automatically created playlists based on a selected song using and algorithm built by Apple. On the Apple website, the new Nano is described as 'nano-chromatic', as it is available in 9 colors. As a whole, I've come to the conclusion that Apple just keeps getting better and better. They are the ones setting the bar high for the othe companies to compete up to.

Looking online, I found this video about Apple's new creation and found it so fascinating. I think you all should check it out too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VJc6e-IxqFs

What will Apple come up with next?

I can so vividly remember it. The summer of 2004, I had just graduated middle school, and was embarking onto a new adventure, high school. As I came to learn, I wasn't the only one, technology was getting a real quick boost too. Setting: Summer Travel Camp, Destination: 3 days to Conneticuit and 5 to Boston. With the long bus ride everyone needed something to keep them occupied. Whether it was a walkman, magazine, gameboy, book, or cell phone, all of my friends were finiding anyway possible to keep themselves relaxed for the 8 hour ride ahead. I even recall the counselors telling us to bring video tapes, and yes by tapes I mean 'VHS' for the bus to watch. DVDs were first being introduced, having a DVD player was a real luxury. I brought 'Grease', on VHS of course and with all the singing it made the ride so much more pleasant. In every seat, on every passengers lap was a CD player walkman with the headband-like earphones to blast out the sound. Accompanying them was a case holding their wide and vast collection of these compact discs. The actual player and set of CDs was a hassle for the average teenage to be lugging around, especially over state lines. Fast forward: boys and girls yielding toward the back of the bus to check out this new fascinating piece of technology. What was it? What was causing all this hype? I followed along having to see what this mass hysteria was all about. When I had moved about 7 seats back to see what everybody was looking at, I was amused just as well. I had never seen anything like it before. One of my fellow campers was holding in her hand what I believe changed both the music and technology industries forever. It was a small about 5 inch by 3 inch rectangle with a long white separated wire emerging from the top corner. The two buds at the end of the wire were stuck one in the girl's ear one the other in the girl sitting next to her's. They sat there singing along to what was coming out of those earbud speakers. She said that she had put about 200 songs on already. I thought to myself, is this even mathmatically possible. How can this 5 x 3 inch little device hold that many songs, as even the teens there couldn't even manually carry that many in CD form. It was amusing and eyecatching for all. What was this new technology that was so fascinating you ask? Well of course, it was Apple's lastest and greatest innovation, the iPod. From that day on, I knew I just had to have one.

I feel like it was that summer day that started it all. The launch of the iPod. I couldn't wait to tell my parents what needed to be my birthday gift. Commercials started popping up all over the tv. It was, in my opinion the launch of the technological boom. The colors first introduced were pink, silver, green, gold, and blue. A color for all personalities was available. The color that fit me best: yep, green, spunky and bright.

Apple had done something like noneother. They had created a this device that would change America. During that time they introduced the iPod, the iPod mini, and the iPod Shuffle. The iPod was a new way of life. Instead of having to carry around that collection of CD's or that heavy walkman, there was a new light weight, portable, can hook onto almost anything gadget, and it really was a must have. Plus the best part was the amount of memory and the amount of songs that had the capacity of being stored. The advertisements said the iPod was capable of holding 500 songs. I thought to myself, who listens to, better yet, who even knows of 500 songs, and how it was at all possible to fit them all into this small handheld device.

I was just an average American teenager. Would buy the latest pop, boy band CD, put it into by CD player stereo system at home and jam along. When it was time to leave the house, I'd pack up my collection and bring it along. That all changed on my 15th birthday. Eating dinner with my family and opening up what was my connection to the new world of technology, what is even affecting me now. There it was, my bright, spunky green iPod mini, with my name engraved on the back.

I still use it to this day, and even have surpassed the 500 song limit that was first said, now with a grand total of 747 songs, and I'm still uploading! The iPod completely changed both me and America as a whole.