OK...I'll try this now. Seems I isolated it.
OK...Ripping is taking the raw audio format (.wav) and converting it to MP3 or WMA or something else. These are then able to be used by another device. MP3 is by far the most common. My computer (AMD 2600+) can 'rip' an entire disc in about 2 minutes. So I spent a weekend working around the house and changing discs. My 20GB IPod is now about full at 3642 songs. Now most people do not need that much space, but I take it to work and plug it into a cheap pair of computer speakers, and it plays all day without charging.
It does plug into the computer via USB or firewire. Most PCs now have USB. Some have firewire. (USB cable costs extra and is not standard with IPod)
Here's another major selling point, and a big reason why I went this direction, instead of a much cheaper MP3 player of similar size. IPod is now into its third generation. They have been around a while, and have been improved a lot. Support is guaranteed. It's a major name, and not some fly-by-night little company that could disappear with your $$$ and a broken unit...OK on to the major selling point.
As it is basically just a tiny high-performance hard drive and a view screen, you can access the hard drive by itself for storage. What does that mean? Well, not much unless you use your imagination.
Ever take a digital camera on a trip and run low on memory card space? I have...had to start deleting 'less important' pictures. Are there less important pictures? Not really. So here's a little LARGE capacity hard drive that at the end of your day can be used as a photo dump from your digital camera. That way every morning you start with an empty camera and never lose a picture.
It beats hauling a laptop in the saddlebag. Haa. I actually did that once. It sucked, but it worked. This solution, no matter if a bit expensive, beats the heck outta that.
If I didn't cover it all...lemme know. I've done the research, and went with this. I've never bought an Apple piece of equipment before, and thought I never would. But they hit a grand slam with this one, and even I can be converted for the right reasons. Hope this helps.