We all know the ipod to be the most popular portable media device in the world. First seen in 2001 the original model had 5 gig of memory and was only compatible with mp3 files but at the time, 5 gig of memory was the most anyone had every seen in an mp3 player so it was a monumental success.

Since the release of the original there have been five updates and re-releases meaning that the ipod is now in its sixth generation. If you compare the specs on the original and the newest sixth generation model, you can see that how far theyve come is quite astounding.

This sixth generation ipod comes with either 80 or 160 gigabytes of memory and supports pretty much any file format. It can play back images, games and videos and due to the vast amount of memory available, it can also be used as a portable hard drive to store anything on.

Over the last few years there have been different models of the ipod, the first of which (apart from the classic of course) was the ipod mini. This was the first to be available in multi-colours and was much cheaper than the classic version and so for a while, ipod minis were to be found everywhere.

Then there was the ipod shuffle, which was essentially a cheap version without the screen. The shuffle is a much simpler version and only plays songs. The lack of a display screen means that they are far cheaper to manufacture and therefore far cheaper to buy.

Moving on to more recent additions to the ipod back catalogue, the ipod touch is the largest ipod to date and has a full length touch screen. It looks quite similar to the iphone and some have even said that the only way in which they differ is that you can make phone calls on the iphone. There are obviously more differences than this but on first use of both of them you would probably say this is true.

All the new models and updates have seen the ipod grow to be the most popular portable media device available today, over 173 million have been sold world wide and that number only looks like it will continue rising as ipods adapt to changes in consumer needs.