How Do Ipods Store Memory?
- First released by Apple in October of 2001, the iPod revolutionized the personal music player and MP3 industry, which at the time only offered a choice between big and bulky products or small and virtually useless products, both of which were known for quirky user interfaces. First generation iPods used up to 10 gigabytes (GB) of space on a 1.8-inch hard drive and had a battery that lasted for 10 hours. By 2005, Apple had released multiple versions of its iPod models, including the first generation of the iPod Nano, the iPod Mini and the iPod Shuffle.
- Flash memory has no moving parts and is one of the two types of memory available currently in iPods. The lack of moving parts means that mechanical reliability is enhanced, while the "wear out" quality is diminished. Flash memory can be rewritten up to 100,000 times. Flash memory can store files more quickly and efficiently than any other type of memory on the market today. Flash memory can hold up to 8GB of data. Flash memory uses two gates, a control gate and a floating gate, separated by a minuscule thin oxide layer, through which electrons pass to represent the 1 or 0 of binary code through a process called Fowler-Nordhein Tunneling.
- Miniature hard drives represent the other current technology for iPods, mainly used on the larger iPods, such as the Classic model. Miniature hard drives are smaller than 2 inches and can fit as much as 80GB of data. Technology has allowed for miniature hard drives to use smaller and lighter sliders, which functions in keeping the spacing between read/write heads and the recording surface. Thin-film technology and the heads and platter of the hard drive allows for more bits to be squeezed into tinier spaces.
- iPods come equipped out of the box for using iTunes software and has the ability to store music in a variety of different formats. MP3 formats generally carry a minimum of a 10:1 compression ratio versus uncompressed formats and has very little, if any, reduction in the quality of the music. Compressed file formats allow for iPods to store more songs on less space. iPods use a signature combination of nano technology and compression and decompression algorithms to install highly complex formulas for storing and playing music files.
- Scientists looking ahead to 2020 believe that an iPod will be able to hold half a million songs with new chip technology that will make the current flash memory storage technology obsolete. In 2008, scientists at IBM announced the development of a new type of digital storage that uses racetrack memory where the spin of an electron can store data, operate more quickly than normal hard drives, and run on a single battery charge for weeks at a time. With racetrack technology, iPods would be virtually unable to wear out their ability to erase and store memory. Even beyond racetrack memory is the promise of breakthroughs to three-dimensional micro-electronics using electron spin-tronic engineering.
