An Ipod is a specific brand of music player put out by Apple. They are made to play Apple proprietory files,but are not limited to playing them
An mp3 player can be put out by many different companies.Most can play different file formats but cannot play the Apple formats.

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They both store and play digital music, but as Kim says, ipod has it's own "format" and doesn't play mp3s.

What it does is convert mp3s to its ipod format, which can't be played on mp3 players.

MP3 players are probably cheaper and more versatile. But, ipods are easier to use and more cool and interface with Apple's iTunes music store.

If you are interested in ipods, go to Apple and download their free itunes software. It will play all your mp3s and itunes music from your PC. It's the itunes store that really seperates ipods from most mp3 players...You buy a song/cd/movie and it downloads automatically. Then, just plug in your ipod and itunes will "sync" them automatically, you don't have to do anything.

Itunes is great software for all your multimedia files, even if you don't buy an ipod. The the itunes store lets you browse through millions and millions of songs and gives you 30 second samples of each before you buy...I enjoy just browsing and listening to different versions of songs. For example, there's about 20 different versions of Johnny Cash's "Ring of Fire"...Punk, country, rockabilly, etc.

I also like that you can buy individual songs for 99 cents and don't have to buy the entire album. While there's a lot of songs I like, there are very few albums where I like every song on it.

If you have CDs, you can easily use itunes software and convert them so they can be added to your ipod.

I'm not a gadget person, but I love my ipod. And my "reward" for meeting goals is often a few songs from itunes.

Download the itunes software, check out the itunes store (both free), and if you like it, get an ipod.

PS...Itunes just added a new feature I really like called "genius". You pick a song from all your songs, and Genius creates a playlist based on that song.

I think it does a great job of selecting similar songs...If I choose an old blues song, it lists other older blues songs. If I choose Ed Dale, I get a list of 60's surfer music songs/early rock and roll.

Again, you have to already have these songs, but I think Genius does a great job.

It also lists a bunch of similar songs that you don't have, but are available from the itunes store...A great job of "auto-marketing".

Thanks Kim and Kurt !

I could not have asked for a better
explanation.

Best,

Chuck