iPod Touch (First Generation)
© 2007 Apple
Since it was first released in 2001, the iPod has revolutionized how people interact with music, lectures, and most recently videos. The 2008 editions have more features and iPod varieties; all making great gifts for kids, and work with either Macintosh or Windows computers. The tiny $80 iPod Shuffle holds 280 songs and is just larger than a coin. It is designed to clip onto your belt or armband while exercising. The $150 iPod Nano now has a color screen for showing video, comes in two sizes (4GB and 8GB) and five colors. The battery can show five hours of video. The $250 iPod Classic comes with 80GB or 160GB of hard disk storage and a color screen (that's 20,000 and 40,000 songs, by the way). The battery lasts for up to 40 hours of audio playback. The $300 iPod Touch borrows the patented multi-touch features from the iPhone, and combines it with the ability to pick up a nearby wireless signal, flick through photos or album covers, twist and rotate photos, and touch type (literally) with a virtual QWERTY keyboard. A light sensor adjusts the screen brightness, and an accelerometer detects when the iPod is moved from horizontal to vertical display. Amazing. But more amazing is the "app" store; an online collection of thousands of free or cheap applications that can include dozens of poorly designed children's programs. Note that most iPod content is managed by a computer running iTunes, which makes it possible to browse, store and purchase digital content and keep a backup copy, in case you drop your iPod into a mud puddle. Most of these ideas were not invented by Apple (there were numerous MP3 players that used Napster), but they were packaged and marketed extremely well by Apple. Today, a variety of digital music players are available for children, such as the Sandisk Sansa.
$230400, Windows, Mac OSX
Teaches: music