The fifth generation iPod was the first Apple product I ever bought and wasn't long after I started working in a purely Apple working environment where everyone used Macs. I'd from colleagues how great Steve Jobs was at presenting their keynote speeches and hyping up new products and it wasn't long before I eagerly anticipated watching an Apple event streaming over the net for the first time.
I'd seen the iPod product previously but thought it was overpriced and didn't really do enough for the price. Then they announced the new wave of iPods that were now in colour and could play video - the time had come for me to buy my first Apple product. As soon as the event had finished I eagerly awaited for the iPods to be made available on the site and then ordered the 60Gb model in black straight away. The delivery didn't go as smooth as I would have liked, and I guess it was probably down to Apple receiving a much higher demand for them than they anticipated. The day after Apple said it would be due for delivery, their website said it was out for delivery in Amsterdam - which wasn't a good sign as I live in England. After a few phone calls and three weeks had passed it finally arrived on my doorstep. My first ever Apple product, in a nice black box designed by Apple in California.
Minutes after it had arrived it was on charge and plugged into my PC (yes, it was before I bought my Macbook Pro!) ready to get some music onto it. Initially I was dismayed to learn I could only use iTunes as previously I'd used WinAmp for listening to music with and had fun skinning it. Fortunately it didn't take me too long to get used to this change of application and today I now prefer iTunes over others, primarily because of the Coverflow.
The iPod itself is great and is really helpful to be able to carry a good portion of my music library around with me when I go on holiday - I can't sleep on planes so it's handy to have this iPod to listen to music and watch videos on. It's battery life isn't too bad and easily lasted me throughout a flight from England to Peru but unfortunately didn't then last long enough to watch the film I'd transferred to it when I came to use it in Cusco.
It has all the normal features you'd expect these days as well, shuffle, display of cover and ID3 tags, and even includes a few surprises in the form of some games, a calendar, and a contacts app.
Despite the fact I have since added an iPod shuffle (the belt clip style one) to my Apple collection, I still use this iPod a great deal and fully intend on taking it on many more trips in the future. I am tempted by the newer iPods, but until this one dies (touch wood isn't doesn't yet!) I'm content enough to let this one continue proving it's worth time and time again.
Keep on rocking.
