It is no coincidence that the Apple iPod has received so many kudos over the past year. When one starts from scratch and has lofty design goals, as Apple did with the iPod, it is very rare to actually be able to pull it off. Apple deserves the praise that it has been getting for the iPod for this reason alone.

What sets the iPod apart from the others is Apple's continuing attention to detail. Every part that went into the iPod was obviously highly scrutinized for its ability to deliver an overall experience that reached far beyond that of any other product competing in the same product category.

It is easier to use, offers exceptional battery life, has a very readable, well-lit display, excellent shock protection with its 32MB of RAM, speedy transfers with its 1394 Firewire interface, good sound on both the high end and the low end, and, maybe best of all, it comes in a small and very sexy package. When you combine all of this, you come up with a product experience that is well beyond the norm.

While the documentation isn't what we would consider to be best in class, and the Musicmatch Jukebox interface clearly isn't as polished as iTunes, these are minor glitches that will improve over time. We still would have liked to see a cover for the Firewire port on our 5GB model. While this is perhaps a minor concern, we were somewhat irritated about it. While working on this article we found that www.ipodlounge.com was a great resource for iPod owners providing excellent coverage of the iPod scene. In fact we found some of the documentation and FAQs on this site more helpful than Apple's own support resources.

When looking at the price versus performance, it is clear that the iPod does deliver, but it is expensive. Many might pass on the iPod due to the price alone, but if you are looking for the most easy to use product with the best sound in the most compact format, the Apple iPod is way ahead of the curve.

Apple didn't really surprise me with their effective design with the release of the iPod, but what was surprising was the way that Apple is able to execute. Even though they were, in my opinion, "late" to enter the Windows market, they were able to do it with a product that users will want to buy. Will Apple enlist any converts to the MAC platform with their release of the iPod? I don't know about that. One thing is for certain, however. People need to pay more attention to what Apple is doing, because they got it absolutely right with the iPod.

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