iPod vs MP3
There is almost no need to introduce what an iPod is as it is already very popular all over the world. Apple released the iPod in 2001 as a personal music player to compete with the dozens of Mp3 players and has become the market leader ever since. MP3 is a type of codec that is used to store digital audio. Its main draw is in the very small file size of the resulting files which makes it possible to store a lot of files in the same amount of drive capacity. Personal music players prior to the iPod have also been generally refered to as MP3 players since it was the only file format that was supported initially.
iPods deviated from the norm and moved away from using MP3 as the default file format that is supported. Although it can still play MP3 files, its default format was AAC which was far superior to MP3 when it comes to quality. iPods also moved away from the usual drag and drop solution of putting music files into the device. Although you can still do it to store files, music files stored this way would not appear in the playlist. The only way to properly place music into the iPod is with the use of the iTunes software. It also connects user to the iTunes music store where you can purchase individual music files directly via the internet.
Today, Apple dominates the personal music player market with its four variants of the iPod, the shuffle, nano, classic, and touch. Each at its own price point with different specs and storage capacities. The iPhone can also act as an iPod but is not added here as it is considered to be a different product altogether. All other Mp3 players in the market shares in the tiny piece of the pie that the iPod has left behind. Among the most popular of these Mp3 players are the Zen from Creative and Zune from Microsoft.
Check out iPods in Amazon
Summary:
1. iPods are the music players of Apple that has become very popular while MP3 is an audio codec for storing and playing lossy sound and also the general name for personal music players
2. iPods use AAC as a default but can play MP3 along with other audio file formats while most MP3 players uses MP3 as its default
3. MP3 players can recognize and play files that are simply dragged and dropped into it while iPods cannot
4. iPods have the bigger share of the media player market while the rest shares on what remains