IT'S OFTEN SAID that "you are what you eat." Nowadays, it seems people are also being judged by "what they listen to"—especially what's on their iPod. The most popular electronic component sweeping the nation and indeed the world is probably the Apple iPod, and to a lesser extent, similar MP3 devices from other companies in a crowded field of digital players, with brand names like ZUNE, Creative Zen iRIVER, Samsung, SanDisk, SONY, RCA, Dell DJ and others. For the time being though, Apple has cornered the market with the iPod which has a whopping 82 percent share of all MP3 sales.

Compact iPods come in various configurations from the ultra small Nano to the powerful yet sleek 80 gigabyte video iPod that can play entire movies and music too. Smaller than a deck of cards, an iPod is capable of storing and playing thousands of songs flawlessly. The iPod's appeal is so strong that the airline industry is even "hooking it up" so you can watch movies on your iPod on a larger screen in front of your plane seat. More than 70 percent of 2007 cars will also have iPod support.

iPods are even making their way into the classroom. One inventive local teacher, Mitch Kalin at May Elementary School, uses one regularly in conjunction with math lessons. That's right, he teaches math with the aid of an iPod!

The iPod's biggest plus is that you can download whatever music, spoken language or video you want to a digital "library" and play it on demand. You can play what's on your iPod at random, or create special "Playlists." It so happens that I have about 4-thousand tunes on my iPod, plus other audio and video as well. While I prefer older soul, bluesy jazz and smooth jazz music, I love virtually all music genres as attested by the fact that I even have Tex Ritter's version of "High Noon" and the entire original "Sound of Music" soundtrack on my iPod. In fact, my music preferences vary so much that I maintain an assortment of several different playlists reflecting my momentary taste and interest. (Tex Ritter is a hold-over from growing up in Fort Smith, listening to KTCS radio.)

Here are some of the tunes and artists on my current favorite iPod playlist: You Send Me, Roy Ayers; Breezin' and Mornin', George Benson/Al Jarreau; A House is Not a Home, Aretha Franklin; Play Another Love Song, Atlantic Starr; Last Summer in Rio, Azymuth; Sad, Sad Girl, Barbara Mason; You're so Good You're Bad, Barry White; More Today Than Yesterday, Charles Earland; Love Has Found Its Way, Dennis Brown; Let's Clean Up the Ghetto, Philadelphia International All-Stars; All Day Music, Patrick Yandall; Darlin' Darlin' Baby, The O'Jays; Walk on By, Peter White & Boney James; It's All in the Game, Tommy Edwards; Keep Your Head to the Sky, (solo) Phillip Bailey; 5-10-15-20, The Presidents; Sweet Summer Days, Ray Obiedo w/Peabo Bryson; Come With Me, Tania Maria; The Entertainer, Tony Clark; Tonight I Give in to the Feeling, Angela Bofill; Deep Into My Soul, Gerald Albright; and Just a Love Child, Bobbi Humphrey.

Also, It's All Over, Walter Jackson; Just My Imagination, Gwyneth Paltrow and Babyface; When Your Life was Low, Joe Sample & Lalah Hathaway; Let's Get Back on Track, Johnnie Taylor; I Found Love (On a Lonely Highway), Jeff Floyd; Give Me the Reason, Kirk Whalum; Love Won't Let Me Wait, Nancy Wilson; Never Too Much, Mary J. Blige; Can This Be Real, Natural Four; Joy and Pain, Frankie Beverly and Maze; Let's Get it On (Motown Remixed), Marvin Gaye; Goodbye is the Saddest Word, The Manhattans; Walking in Rhythm, Joe McBride; Love is Here to Stay, The Futures; River of Tears, Gene Chandler; Strokin' (long version), Clarence Carter; There Was a Time (Live at the Apollo), James Brown; I'll Always Love My Mama (extended version), The Intruders; and Here We Go Again, Isley Brothers.

For the record, my favorite singing groups include: The Chi-Lites, Intruders, Delfonics, Stylistics, Natural Four, Manhattans, Blue Magic, Enchantment, Controllers, Confunkshun, Dramatics, Main Ingredient, Whispers, O'Jays and Isley Brothers.

If you're unfamiliar with the technology used to transfer music to an iPod, here's how: download the free iTunes software to your computer. Connect the supplied USB cable to your computer and your iPod. Insert a music CD into your computer and follow the prompts to download the music to your iTunes Library. Once downloaded to your iTunes Library, you simply connect and sync your iPod with your computer.

In addition to downloading movies, TV shows and news programs, the feature I like the most, costs little to nothing. It's called "Podcasting." Podcasting is a media file distributed over the Internet that you download directly onto your iPod.

Some of the iTunes podcasts that I currently subscribe to include Farai Chideya, host of NPR's African-American Roundtable series, The Tavis Smiley Show, and BMA: Black Media Archive. These programs and others too numerous to mention can be downloaded free or at nominal cost. Free podcasts are popping up on host Web sites all over the Internet.

Another convenient iPod feature is "Audiobooks." With audiobooks you can download a recording of a human voice reading a book and listen to the entire book, word for word, chapter by chapter, on your iPod.

So, whether you're driving to a destination, flying on an airplane, at the beach, or sitting on a bench at a shopping mall, you can enjoy your own music, catch up on the latest news, learn more about what's happening in the African disaspora—or "read a book," all on your iPod, through personal earphones, car or auxiliary speakers.

Currently, over 20 percent of the U.S. population owns an iPod or other brand of MP3 player. If you joined the iPod revolution as of late, you can now proudly say that you too are "cutting edge."

To know is to grow. Until next time.