text: what is an ipod?   ipod is a brand of portable digital media player designed and marketed by apple computer. devices in the ipod family provide a simple user interface designed around a central scroll wheel (with the exception of the ipod shuffle). most ipod models store media on a built-in hard drive, while the smaller ipod shuffle and ipod nano use flash memory. like most digital audio players, an ipod can serve as an external data storage device when connected to a computer. discontinued versions of the ipod include two generations of the popular ipod mini and four generations of the full-sized ipod, all of which had monochrome screens except for the fourth-generation ipod with color screen (previously sold as ipod photo before it replaced the monochrome ipod in the top line). as of january 2006, the lineup consists of the fifth-generation ipod which can play videos, the ipod nano which has a color screen, and the ipod shuffle; all three iterations were released in 2005. the ipod is currently the world's best-selling digital audio player.  the bundled software used for uploading music, photos, and videos to the ipod is called itunes. itunes is a music jukebox application that stores a comprehensive library of the music on a user's computer, as well as being able to play and rip it from a cd. the most recent incarnations of ipod and itunes have video playing and organization features. other forms of data can be added to ipod as if it were a normal data storage device.