This holiday season, the only time some people may hear Christmas carols or holiday cheer is when they turn the volume down or take off their headphones. Students have overwhelmingly responded to what they’re giving and getting this year: music. Whether it be a new compact disc or the trendy iPod, this Christmas season is going to be loud.
Apple MP3 players are becoming the new favorite among consumers who want music everywhere they go. The popular players have dominated the field with recent sales: the iPod holds 92 percent of the MP3-player market this year, up from the 82 percent market share it held last year, according to The Associated Press.
David Lacy, manager of The Mac Store, at 61 W. 8th Ave., said some customers have never even heard of the store before coming in to look for iPods. It’s not just students coming in the store, either.
Now, Lacy said, The Mac Store is “getting customers all across the board” to buy the iPod as a stocking stuffer. The store even
offers a customized red and white case
for the music player that resembles a
Christmas stocking.
“Parents, businessmen and students are all coming in to buy the iPod,” said Lacy, noting sales are usually good throughout the year but spike during the holidays. “People getting the iPod mini want a fashion statement or a small MP3 player they can use while working out.”
The regular iPod sells for $300 and can fit about 10,000 songs, or 20GB worth, if using Apple’s AAC music format, and a little less if using the regular MP3 format. Either way, for the regular music fan, the space will suffice. Its 12-hour battery life and sleek, solid white design means anyone who finds an iPod under the tree will bask in its ability to play throughout the day and its trendiness.
Even the iPod mini, with 4GB, can store most people’s music collections — or at least the most-listened-to songs — in its tiny body. The iPod mini comes in five different colors and has a slimmer profile than the regular iPod that won’t weigh down the pockets of music listeners.
The iPod Photo also gives users the option of looking at digital photos. The iPod Photo looks the same as the normal iPod, but users can easily scroll through menus full of pictures and can view slide shows with music playing in the background. It comes in both 40GB and 60GB sizes.
Lacy points out that many people are interested in the iPod because it also acts as a hard drive, letting users store electronic books and files that can be transferred between computers. Lacy also mentioned the iPod Photo’s ability to hook up to a television and that it can play PowerPoint presentations with accompanying music if the slides are saved as an image.
For the gift-getter that already has an iPod, accessories offered by Apple and third-party developers can turn the music players into almost anything, whether it be a laser pointer, voice recorder or flashlight, Lacy said.
The most popular accessories are FM add-ons that let iPod users listen to radio stations, and car adapters, some of which can charge the iPod while playing music from a
car stereo.
The stereo is also being revived through satellite radio. Both XM and Sirius are cutting prices on their stereos and portable dock players to get people away from MP3s and into commercial-free radio.
While portable products are very popular options, video games remain one of the hottest-selling items during the holidays. The PlayStation 2 and Xbox are still kings compared to the newly-released Nintendo DS, the next generation of Nintendo’s Game Boy that offers two screens and extra options, such as wireless connections to other DS handhelds.
PlayStation 2 and Xbox have seen sales boosts, and systems are selling off shelves once or even twice a week, Big City Gamin’ Manager Jessie Baravilala said.
In addition to these new products, two of the most anticipated blockbuster game sequels have hit shelves just weeks before the holiday season — Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas for PS2 and Halo 2 for Xbox, which Baravilala said “sparked the holiday season.”
“Those games are hard to keep on the shelves, along with the new Metroid Prime 2 game for the GameCube,” Baravilala said.
Although the gaming industry has steady sales throughout the year, Baravilala said during the holiday season a lot more adults are coming in to get video games, indicating a market shift toward the adult game player.
Adults have been the target for Grand Theft Auto and Halo 2,
violent shoot-’em-up games that have players playing either a
gangster in the early ’90s or a futuristic soldier blasting aliens,
respectively.
But Baravilala said the Nintendo DS should also do well with adults once the bulk of its games come out in February and March. Features like a touch screen and PictoChat software that can send messages between DS users make it “Palm Pilot- like,” Baravilala said.

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