POD is a specifically guitar/bass guitar designed amplifier tone emulator with additional on-board effects targeted as a professional/semi professional recording tool.
Unlike guitar effects processors/pedals the POD is designed to sit on top of the amplifier in its custom designed holder and can be connected to a pedal board which acts as the stomp boxes. POD looks aesthetically pleasing and futuristic and appealing, while also having a kidney-shaped metal outer body which comes in metallic red, charcoal or polished silver.
The nature of POD which places it into a league of its own, is that it can be used as a Direct Injection (DI) into a multi track sequencer/recorder, plugged straight into the amplifier or Public Address (PA), or listened to by plugging straight into with head phones. Also POD comes with software, which enables the user to connect POD into their home computer, thus allowing down-loads from the Line 6 website direct to the user's POD in their home/studio. POD comes with preset and user functions of amplifier models which can be stored in its memory, also this can be done from down-loads. This function allows the user to store guitar tone settings, which when the POD's user plays their guitar/bass guitar, through the POD with these settings, the user can sound like other famous guitarists.
The concept of POD's array of guitar amplifier cabinets and amplifier heads and the number of speakers with which the sound and tone one would get from a real amplifier cabinet and head was digitally processed in POD's settings. So although in real life it might not be possible to get the desired sound from a well know make of vintage amplifier if it's cabinet was mixed with the make of a modern amplifier head, but for example played through eight times twelve inch speakers; this may not be done in real life, but could be performed using and cross matching and mixing of cabinet and head settings with different size of speakers and effects etc, would give a tone which no other pedal, or manufacturer had managed to do all in one small compact and desirable unit.