It is amazing to find out that almost each day, a new use of the iPod is discovered, and although the device itself is not capable of performing so many tasks as the... iPhone, let's take that as an example; the iPod is being used for education, entertainment, briefings and who-knows-what-else. Today, I just found out about a new field where the iPod started to make its way to the top - sports!

Some sports are very popular, especially for those that sit on their couches, drink beer and eat popcorn while watching the matches on TV, but I won't tell you about the use of iPods for watching games at home or on the road, because there's more than just that.

One of the best examples of iPod use in the sports world is the fact that the Colorado Rockies adopted Apple's video iPod back in June 2006 as a tool used by players to browse useful information about their opponents and review plays before entering the field. This use found for the iPod brought Apple's personal media player uses beyond the realm of personal entertainment, and Jason Jennings, pitcher for Colorado Rockies, was saying that "It's a good way to refresh yourself on how you got guys out".

Apart from being a useful learning aid in the Major League, as well as in major educational institutions, reports also pointed out that the iPod has an influence on the entire music industry by influencing the selling prices of physical albums.

At last, a negative impact of the iPod has been noted in Yokohama, Japan, where Apple's player had a major influence on the closure of a smokey jazz coffee shop called Chigusa. The reason, according to Michael Molasky, author of "The Jazz Culture of Postwar Japan", is that "these days, kids don't listen to jazz, and they walk down the street with iPods, which makes the whole idea of 'place' irrelevant". It is sad to find out about such things, especially since the Chigusa closed 73 years after opening its doors, and the device that made this happen is less than 6 years old...