Looking back at some of the original iPods (no color display, no pictures, text graphics, etc.), you may wonder now why they were so popular.  However, 5-6 years from today, people may say the same things, but what will the next generation of iPods have that today's iPods do not?

Here are a few predictions:

• More storage space - One thing that we can count on is that storage space will continue to grow. We'll eventually see 500 Gig and then 1 Terabyte iPods.
• Wireless Internet - Already a part of the iPod Touch, other iPod models will have wireless internet with access to iTunes and eventually the Internet as well. The wireless capability will allow for iPods to connect wirelessly to your iTunes library on your computer or media server.
• Easier connection to large displays - Watching a movie on the iPod Video or iPod Touch isn't bad, but it isn't the best it could possibly be either. New iPods will be able to more easily connect to your home television and allow for wireless streaming (both ways eventually) of data, music and videos. Eventually projectors will be able to easily hook into iPods, and way down the road, iPods themselves will be able to project video and display onto larger surfaces.
• Transmit video - iPods will eventually be able to transmit video back and forth much like how Skype communication currently works over the Internet.
• More applications - Of course more applications will be developed for the iPods, but especially in academic segments. iPods will become more and more like their Mac counterparts. A Mac tablet will be very closely related to the iPod and at some point may be in many regards one and the same.

With Apple's secrecy in development, who really knows when these advancements will be released.  Whether it be in the near or distant future, great innovations in the mp3 player segment will continue to grow thanks in a large part to Apple's iPod.