i-popping crowds

Paul Clinton

Apple Computer rolled out its new iPod music player Friday, drawing

sizable crowds of technophiles at Fashion Island and South Coast

Plaza who were eager to get a first glimpse of the device.

The unveiling followed Monday’s announcement by Apple, which runs

retail stores at both shopping centers, of its new iTunes service,

which allows users to download songs.

The new iPod can store up to 7,500 songs, compared to the 1,000

songs the device could store in its first incarnation two years ago.

“The appeal of it is the idea that you used to have to bring five

or six CDs with you,” said Mark Adams, the manager of the Fashion

Island store. “Now you can have all the music you want to listen to

right there with you.”

The 4.1-inch-by-2.4-inch iPod weighs 5.6 ounces, or less than two

CD jewel cases. It is available with three hard-drives for 10-, 15-

and 30-Gigabyte space. They hold 2,500, 3,700 and 7,500 songs. The

devices cost between $299 and $499.

The iTunes software that comes with the device allows users to

plug the iPod into their laptops of desktops and access a

music-industry sanctioned Web site to download songs. There are no

monthly subscription fees and each song costs 99 cents. Albums can be

downloaded starting at $9.99.

On Friday evening, between 6 and 10 p.m., shoppers gathered in the

Apple store for a live demonstration. A disc jockey used two iPods to

show the way the device is used.

Adams said customers have been popping into the store all week,

about 40 per day, following the Monday unveiling of iTunes by Chief

Executive Steve Jobs. That press conference was broadcast live in the

store, Adams said.

The Apple store opened in Fashion Island on Nov. 10, 2001, the

same date the first iPod was introduced. The latest iPod is the third

generation of its kind.

The store offers broadband access, so shoppers can view Web pages,

read their e-mail and experiment with Apple computers.

Adams said the store offers weekly seminars on how to use the

variety of software Apple sells as part if its iLife suite that

includes iPhoto and iMovie.