Technology has fetishized miniaturization as of late — just compare Zach Morris’ shoebox-sized cell phone on Saved by the Bell to Derek Zoolander’s supersupersmall one. The transformation of devices into their smaller and sleeker counterparts is not only aesthetically pleasing, but it also reflects a mastery of optimization — stripping away the excess and leaving only the essential. This minimalist trend has been most obviously adopted by Apple, who manages to forge products that are both visually attractive and simple to use — a trend perfectly embodied in the new collection of iPod Nanos.
Upon seeing the new Nano, you’ll immediately be struck by how different it looks from its predecessors. The device remains the same length as the original Nano, except this time the screen takes up two-thirds of the face. In addition, the edges of the device are rounded (similar to the first iPod Mini), and the face curves with the edges, giving it more surface area.
Apple’s advertising tends to emphasize how thin the new product on display is. In fact, the Nano is probably the thinnest Apple device ever made, at under 6 millimeters thick. And despite the exterior colors looking slightly muted in the commercials, in person they look stunningly vibrant.
On a technical level, however, if you don’t use Apple computers and aren’t intimately aware of the workings of an iPod’s system, you might get lost using the new device. This doesn’t mean you won’t figure it out after tinkering for a bit, but this is definitely not the toy to get for grandma.
The Nano-chromatic contains the Genius Bar feature that will take a song you like and compose a playlist of comparable songs. The one downside is if you like indie music, it’s not going to have a clue as to what you’re talking about — much like the rest of the world. On a brighter note, its new browsing features allow you to search, browse and switch from one song to another with ease.
But the major new addition to this iPod is, without a doubt, the accelerometer. This feature constantly informs the Nano of its position relative to the ground. So, if you were to tilt the Nano on its side, it would go into a landscape-viewing mode where you could browse your album covers. Or, even better, if you wanted the Nano to shuffle to a random song, you just give it a little shake.
Complete with addictive games that are played by moving the Nano about, this is the perfect device to satisfy the techie within while making sure that you look miles ahead of the curve.
