Sep 13, 2010 10:12 GMT  ·  By

Protect Your Bubble an online insurance provider, has carried out a study to find out how folks regard Apple’s iPods. Following the release of a new line of players from Apple, the insurance company learned that iPods are many users’ “most prized possession”, a September 12 report by protectyourbubble.com notes.

Protect Your Bubble currently offers gadget, travel, personal emergency, home emergency, car, life, car hire, home and pet insurance.

“After new versions of the iPod were recently launched, the portable media playing devices have been voted 'most prized possession' amongst Facebook users, coming out just on top ahead of the Blackberry and closely followed by iPhones and laptops,” Protect Your Bubble reports.

According to the online insurance provider, only 1% of respondents regarded their wedding ring as their most prized possession. Cars followed with 4% of people voting them as most valuable on the popular social network.

9% said their dogs were their most prized possession. Cats nabbed 5%.

Carried out in August, the survey saw 12% of the 500 respondents voting for their iPods as their most prized possession. The Blackberry came in close, with 11.5% of the votes in the survey carried out on behalf of Protect Your Bubble.

“The first iPod launched in 2001 and the devices are still hugely popular despite the massive surge in purchases of smartphones in the last 12 months, with new versions of the iPod nano and iPod touch recently hitting the shelves alongside the iPod shuffle and the iPod classic,” the company acknowledged.

“Stephen Ebbett, spokesperson for Protect Your Bubble, said:

"As online insurers it is particularly interesting for us to see what people regard as their most prized possession and with the iPod evolving so much since its release it has clearly won a place in our hearts.

“The popularity of the device over laptops and smartphones is quite revealing and we offer competitively priced policies to cover the entire range of gadgets."

"Perhaps some of the results show more about the demographics and preferences of Facebook users, with wedding rings and cars so far down the scale, but the iPod definitely seems to still rule as the gadget of choice."

The survey result in full are provided as follows:

iPod 12%; Blackberry 11.5%; iPhone 10%; Laptop 9%; Dog 9%; Games console 8%; Macbook 7%;iPad 6%; Cat 5%; Camera 5%; Television 4.5%; Car 4%; Video camera 4%; Other jewellery 4%; Wedding ring 1%.