They weigh between 3.6 and 5.6 ounces, come in a miniature or regular design, and are dancing across the nation in hues of pink, green, blue, gold and silver.
The iPod is an MP3 player extraordinaire. Its storage capacity ranges from four gigabytes, which holds 1,000 songs, to 40 gigabytes, which can store up to 10,000 tunes.
It's no wonder three million people own the small, chic MP3 players.
"They have such a big demand," said Matt Runyan, a telecommunication, information studies and media junior and sales associate at the MSU Computer Center. "People like them because of the fact that you can hold so much music on them while they're lightweight and small."
Runyan said the Computer Center sells the iPods for $30 less than most other stores around the area, but some iPods have quite a lengthy wait before you can purchase them.
"The pink mini (wait) is four months," Runyan said.
In addition to holding your favorite Debbie Gibson hit, the iPod also can be used as a hard drive, just like a computer.
"Lots of students come and buy iPods," said Chuck Yang, a sales associate at Circuit City Stores Inc., 2655 E. Grand River Ave. "They're cool because you can store a lot of information, such as pictures and word documents."
Yang said although he currently does not own an iPod, he is in the market to purchase one.
"Basically, it's a device I can use to store music and store information," Yang said. "I have a laptop, and it's hard to carry around something so large, so it's nice to have a smaller option."
And options are what Apple pushes to the maximum.
The iPods not only come in three different sizes, but they also have a plethora of features even the most not nerdy person would enjoy, such as voice notes, address books, games, calendars and alarms.
"Eventually, iPods will replace CD players because their technology is much more enhanced," Yang said.
But Rick Pniewski, manager of CD Warehouse, 228 Abbott Road, thinks CDs, records and tapes will be around forever.
"There's nothing permanent about an iPod," Pniewski said. "If you lose what's in it, you lose it forever, but if you have the physical CD, you have that to fall back on."
Pniewski said sales at CD Warehouse have not dipped since the introduction of MP3 players because music lovers will always want to collect hard copies of their favorite grooves.
"You can't collect a data file," Pniewski said. "I think anyone who truly loves music would say a digital file doesn't cut it."
