Numbers, numbers.

Let's start off with some figures. To date:

- 5.3 million iPods shipped on second fiscal quarter of 2005
- 15 million has been sold since iPod was first introduced in 2001
- 350 million songs has been purchased and downloaded from the iTunes Music Store

More figures:
- 43 percent of the market share that the iPod shuffle has taken on February of this year
- 70 percent of the total MP3 players sold are iPods
- 70 to 75 percent of online music sales are from iTMS
- over 90 percent of hard-drive based MP3 players sold are iPods

On April 13, Wednesday, Apple reported in its 2005 second fiscal financial results revealed that 5.3 million iPods and 1.07 million PCs have been sold on February. On the same report, Apple said that its music products accounts for 38 percent of its total revunue for the second fiscal quarter. More from iPodlounge, CNet News, The Mac Observer and MarketWatch.

In the meantime, iPodlounge has reported that Apple has taken the lead in the flash-based MP3 player market. The iPod shuffle accounted for 43 percent of the flash-based MP3 players sold on February. In the same article, iPodlounge said that the iTunes Music Store has sold over 350 million songs. iTMS now has 70-75 percent share of the online music sales.

Gordon T. Anderson of CNN Money said that the iPod in one of the five inventions to change your life.

Now, I walk for blocks each day through Manhattan with those signature white earbuds firmly in place. Seemingly every other pedestrian I pass, or nearly so, does the same thing.

It's a little big idea that changed my life -- and set it to music.