We'll be celebrating the iPod's 5th birthday in a week. With that in mind, Newsweek's Steven Levy interviewed Apple CEO Steve Jobs about Apple's much-beloved MP3 player, about how it all began, about Job's outlook on Microsoft's Zune player (reputed to be the next iPod killer), and about Job's outlook towards the near future.

First up. Jobs, when asked about the iPod's success as a player, and how it had succeeded where players before it failed. The secret? "Look at the design of a lot of consumer productsÂ?they're really complicated surfaces. " Jobs said about the designs that had been there before. He further explained that the iPod's forte had always been its simple elegance - it was a very well thought-out system that didn't burden its user with complicated music libraries; that was what iTunes was for.

The other more pressing note, Newsweek inquired what was Job's opinion on the Zune, Microsoft's contender against the iPod. Was he worried? "In a word, no," Jobs said about the Zune, as he explained how the internet vids of Zune users being able track other Zune owners, and its ability to share music had not impressed him. His suggestions for sharing tunes? Share the earphones. Simple, practical, foolproof.

Lastly, he was quizzed regarding his outlook for the iPod as a music player. With features like web books and podcasts now part of the iPod's functions, would the iPod still be a music player? "I think that music faded in importance for a while, and the iPod has helped to bring music back into people's lives in a really meaningful way," he said, implying the iPod's core would always be its music-carrying ability, even as it expanded into uncharted waters.

And with this, we kick off (NOT the iPOD!) the week prior to its birthday.

So far it's still a rumor - neither Apple nor Google is confirming anything. But a report in Newsweek suggests that the quintessential search engine company will offer content through the newest product of the quintessential high-tech company. Given that the iTV will communicate wirelessly with a Mac CPU, and that it has a port for an Ethernet connection, chances are it will be the TV's gateway to the Internet - or at least the content in the Internet.

Like Google Video. Maybe. Google's saying that they're in talks with Apple, but they're not saying what they're talking about. Cupertino's not saying anything at all. We have no comment, either.