Identify Your iPod Mini

Identify Your iPod Mini
“From a marketing point of view, you don’t introduce new products in August.”
That’s what Andrew Card, the first Chief of Staff of President George W. Bush,
said to the New York Times when asked why the Bush administration waited
until September 2002 to sound the alarm against a grave and gathering threat.
True to Mr. Card’s insight, Apple brought out the iPod mini not in August, but in
February 2004.
The iPod mini is smaller, thinner, and lighter than the already small, thin,
and light iPod. Its storage capacity rivals that of first-generation iPods,
although the iPod mini uses a Microdrive for its internal hard drive.

The marketplace saw two generations of iPod minis before the iPod nano
knocked it into obsolescence.

First Generation iPod Mini
The first-generation iPod mini with its 4-GB Microdrive came in five different
colors: pink, green, gold, silver, and blue (see Figure 1-11). On the bottom of
the iPod mini, you’ll find a docking port, which works just like the one on the
iPod proper.
Unlike all the other previously released iPods, the storage capacity of the iPod
mini is not stamped on the back of the unit .
The LCD of the iPod mini is in monochrome and is backlit. The iPod mini can
connect and charge through FireWire and USB.

Sencon Generation iPod Mini

The iPod mini entered the second generation in February 2005 with 4-GB and
6-GB models. These look almost identical to the first generation, but there are a
few tell-tale differences. First, the storage capacity of a second-generation iPod
mini appears on the back of the unit . Second, the markings on
the second-generation iPod mini’s Click Wheel match the color of the casing

The docking port is on the bottom of the unit, and the monochrome LCD
is backlit. You connect the iPod mini to other devices through FireWire
or USB 2.0.