A lot of people these days have some sort of MP3 player but there are still many people who have not yet experienced the capabilities that MP3 players possess nor the accessibility to music and other functions that they have brought to our society. Many people are still wondering why everyone is so fascinated by the functionality that MP3 players have. In this article, we will be looking at what exactly an MP3 is and all of the many functions that the majority of MP3 players can perform.

What is an MP3 Player
An MP3 player is a device that is capable of playing MP3 files, or MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3, on the go. MP3 players often have other features excluding music, such as the ability to read documents, sync lyrics with songs, take pictures, and watch videos. MP3 players have found their way into the pockets of millions and have even been built into other devices. With their small size, large storage capacities, and high quality media management, MP3 players have nearly replaced all other types of music players.

Storage
MP3 players have a nack for storing large amounts of space so they can store more songs. As technology has improved over the past few years, MP3 players have expanded their storage capabilities almost to the equivalent of computers. Considering the physical size of MP3 players, this is an amazing feat. MP3 players that have video capabilities often hold even larger amounts of data than MP3 players that only store and play music. Storage capacities differ in the amount of money that you are willing to spend on an MP3 players but even the most affordable models now often hold 2, 4, or 8 GB of data.
Playlists
One of the main features of MP3 players, aside from storing and playing music, is the ability to create playlists for your favorite songs. Playlists allow you to create lists of songs and either play them in the order that you add them to your list or play random songs that you have chosen. Oftentimes, you can even just play random songs from your entire list of songs. Some MP3 players allow you to make a single playlist while others allow you to create as many as you want, giving you the ability to sort songs depending on genre and what kind of mood you are in.

Shuffle
The shuffle function of MP3 players refers specifically to the ability to play random songs. While this is no big difference from the playlist function, many MP3 players have been specifically designed for shuffling songs and some even allow you to shake the device in order to skip to another song. This, of course, creates complications as if your MP3 player gets moved around too much then it’ll skip to another song when you do not want it to. Usually, MP3 players that have this kind of functionality have a locking mechanism to stop it from being activated but if you have to constantly lock it every time a good song comes on and then unlock it to switch to a different one, it doesn’t really make things any easier.

Radio
Many MP3 players not only offer the ability to store and play songs that you put on it but also the ability to play songs from any of your favorite radio stations. The radio in MP3 players generally isn’t any better or worse than a normal radio except for the professional-grade built-in antenna that avoids static like the plague.

iPhone
The iPhone is a product made by Apple that features an MP3 player, cell phone, computer, and wireless Internet all in a pocket-sized device. The MP3 player itself includes the highest levels of MP3 player technology as well as a media processing unit that is as powerful as Windows Media Player. Combine that with the high-quality digital camera built-in that supports both videos and pictures and the iPhone is worth every penny they charge for it.

Hybrids
Hybrid MP3 players refer to the fact that MP3 players have been installed in many devices, often ones that do not have any other media functions. For example, you can now purchase swim googles that have an MP3 player built in so you can listen to music while in the pool. Likewise, they are now adding MP3 players to PDAs, DVD players, sunglasses, and even a Swiss Army Knife that has an MP3 player in it.