Lab+-+Week+1

**Question:** Compare and contrast a Sony Walkman with an Apple iPod, and describe the differences in their physical construction, interface design, technology and delivery of sound. Quick sketches are helpful for this analytical process.

Working closely with Steve Jobs of Apple, designer Jonathan Ive was highly involved in the creation of the iMac which evolved from the opaque grey or cheap beige plastic of existing computers ( Design Museum, 2007 ). Much like the iMac, the iPod was created to be visibly appealing, with a sleek and simple design, staying away from dull colours of typical music players. The iPod stands out as being aesthetically appealing with its slender casing and an option of various colours. 
 * Physical Construction**

**Interface Design** iPod’s Click Wheel differentiates itself from all other MP3 players. Its touch-sensitive ring allows the user to navigate through a variety of features that the iPod offers. The iPod functions by sliding a finger within the boundaries of the Click Wheel and pressing buttons located on five click points to input commands. The iPod also has a coloured, LCD display screen which is thinner and lighter than the average CRT’s. Ergonomically, of the iPod may be questionable to new users, and on the other hand, the Sony Walkman provided simple and easily understandable buttons. But in comparison, the bulkiness of the walkman utilizes more space and weighs significantly more than the iPod, with less functionality.

Sony Walkman was introduced to the market as a new portable music device to play audio cassettes. Although cassette tapes are relatively durable, maintenance is a common routine for tape players as dust and other particles easily enters the device’s tape deck. The cassette tape is now seen as a limiting factor of music storage, with an average recording time of 60 minutes, as compared to Apple’s iPod with internal memory of up to 160 gigabytes, storing an average of 40,000 songs (Apple, 2009).
 * Technology**

When looking at modern day Apple creations, a word commonly associated with the company is innovation. The iPod has revolutionized the landscape of the music world as it introduced an entirely different technology. Within the iPod casing consists of compressed technology, which was created in collaboration with many external companies such as, “…dedicated MP3 decoder and controller chip from PortalPlayer, a Wolfson Microelectronics Ltd. stereo digital-to-analog converter, a flash memory chip from Sharp Electronics Corp., a Texas Instruments 1394 firewire interface controller, and a power management and battery charging IC from Linear Technologies Inc.

Audio cassettes which used thin magnetized tape, resulted in poor sound quality. On the other hand, iPod’s sound quality is determined by the bitrate and format of music tracks. Higher bitrate results in an improved quality. High quality headphones may also enhance listening pleasure with a more accurate sound (Crutchfield, 2009).  
 * Delivery of Sound**