The buzzword in today's society is "wireless." Everything and everyone is on the go. It's not uncommon for the older generations to comment that the younger generation cannot live or stay by themselves for a long period of time. This would seem to be true, considering that almost everyone seems to be wearing a pair of earphones and are listening to their favorite music tracks, or watching videos on their portable players. It seems as though today's generation is dependent on the new technology.

One of the most popular wireless devices on the market today is the Apple iPod. Its popularity is due to its small size, which makes it easily portable. Additionally it is no longer necessary to bring a CD, cassette tape, or other media outside the player itself. However, with this convenience comes a shortcoming. IPods are quite expensive, often impracticably so. It is due to this high price that the iPod is so universally sought as a status symbol, while simultaneously floating just outside the reach of many people's finances.

For many people, daily life simply does not permit indiscriminate spending. Since these gadgets are not the first priority for most people, they remain in the possession of a relatively small number of people. For the rich and the more financially affluent, this want is not a problem. But for those with tighter budgets it becomes necessary to look for alternate solutions in order to obtain an iPod.

For those who want to have an iPod but don't have the budget to support the purchase of one, there are places where iPods can be purchased more cheaply. These cheap iPods are not copies, imitations, or fakes. These cheaper iPods were most likely built using cheaper materials or may not offer the same special features. The cheapest model currently available is the 512-megabyte iPod shuffle. This device can hold up to 120 songs at an average of 4 minutes per song. This can provide 8 hours of continuous music before repeating a song. This model runs around $70.

That is the cheapest iPod currently offered and as one would expect, the price varies according to the memory capacity of the iPod. Though they are all iPods, the quantity of memory contained can be different from model to model. Some have bigger memories that allow them to save more songs, while others have a smaller memory to allow them to be built smaller and less expensively. A simple rule of thumb is that the bigger the memory capacity, the more expensive it is going to be. If the only criteria are to have a device that is portable, can play music, and wears the iPod name, the cheapest iPod is probably going to be the best solution.

Remember, 120 songs is nothing to sneeze at for an iPod this small. Taking into consideration the comfort, convenience, and enjoyment it will bring, the price is not outrageous. Instead of spending too much on a bigger iPod than is really needed, the smaller version can fill the need while leaving a sizeable portion of money left-over to be spent on more important things. For this reason it is recommended to consider seriously the cheaper models of iPod.

The next rung up in the ladder of cheap iPods is another iPod shuffle. Like it's smaller brother, it is not as big as the other iPods that are available but it still plays the same music. There really isn't much of a difference beyond the memory capacity. The next larger iPod shuffles is still considered to be a cheap iPods, but it has a much larger capacity of 1GB.

While this may not seem like much, it can still allow a significant number of favorite hits to be stored. Since it has a bigger memory compared to the smaller model, it is also more expensive. This cheap iPod can store up to 240 songs, double of that of the cheapest iPod. This simply goes to prove the saying, "You get what you pay for."

Fortunately it isn't necessary to pay too much simply to be entertained. The iPod shuffle provides that entertainment, but it doesn't carry an unreasonable price tag. Weighing in at around 100 dollars, the 1GB iPod can fit most budgets. While it carries more songs than the 512MB version, the physical appearance of these iPods is the same. These are the cheapest iPods available on the market.