As iPods arrive on York's high street for the first time, STEVE CARROLL profiles Apple's magic MP3 player.

JUST a small advertising board heralds its arrival, but eagle-eyed consumers who spied the sign outside Dixons in Coney Street have already got their wallets at the ready.

Apple's MP3 player, the iPod, has finally arrived in the city's high street.

Until recently, buying an iPod in the UK was harder than getting your hands on an England rugby ticket, but its introduction to York means more of us can finally find out what's got the world in such a spin.

Retailing at £249 and upwards, two million people worldwide have splashed out on the sound machines, which can hold up to 10,000 songs and thousands of digital pictures.

Weighing less than 2CDs and seen as iconic for its cream, simple white case, the iPod comes in models ranging from ten gigabytes (the size of the hard drive which holds the songs) to 40 gigabytes.

MP3, which stands for MPEG-3, was created by the Moving Picture Expert Group. It digitally compresses computer files - in this case music - making them much smaller, but ensuring the same quality.

This means that you can cram more files on to a disk, safe in the knowledge that the sound will still be crystal clear.

Apple's real coup was to harness this possibility and realise that the more music you could cram in, the more players you would sell.

You would think that thousands of hours of songs would be enough for a generation that has grown up with single CD changers.

But whole cults have risen up on the internet, dedicated to people who have claimed to have filled their iPod's memory banks and need more space.

Despite looking like a phaser out of Star Trek, the little player has become an obsession, if not a way of life. It's an obsession that looks only likely to get even bigger.

And while a number of look-alikes have sprung up to challenge for its crown, the iPod remains the king of portable music.

Paul Shippam, store manager at Dixons, in Coney Street, said he was delighted that the iPod was now available in York.

"We have lost sales because we didn't have it," he said. "It's so popular because Apple is such a well-established name and people like the look of the player. It's the kind of thing gadget people love.

"It's a player people can rely on and it is really good news for us that we are now able to stock it. We are definitely expecting to shift quite a few."

If Dixons' head bosses were already hoping to retire and splash out on properties in Beverly Hills, they will be even more delighted when the iPod mini lands in UK stores in April.

This player is exactly how it is described - a smaller iPod in every way. It is the size of a business card, it carries 1,000 songs and it has been flying off the shelves in US pre-orders.

Mr Shippam said Dixons in York would be among the first in the queue to stock Apple's new money-making venture.

The smaller version comes at a smaller price of £199, and is already being sold in vast quantities on internet auction site ebay.

A four gigabye capacity may put off some of the music hoarders who have warmed to iPod Mark One, but the overriding image is of cool.

Millions have already become "Pod People". Now it has finally arrived on York's ancient streets, there is no excuse for city dwellers not to get in on the act as well.

Updated: 11:57 Thursday, March 18, 2004