iPod Nano 1G vs 6G
So everybody on the intertubez has already twittered, blogged, reviewed and what not else about the new iPods. Especially the new Nano, that is sort of not a “Nano” anymore.
There was only one Nano that had a slight different style but in general they had all a display and the click wheel. This new Nano has only a display, in a iOS style way, no click wherel, square form.
Square is the new hip.
After I owned my iPod Nano for ages and although it still worked the battery started to get on my nerves. Two to three hours maximum music is kind of annoying when you are not charging your iPod every day.
So when the new Nano came out I decided to get one. Finally 16GB (or almost 16GB) of memory of music, not anymore squeezing everything I want on 4GB. But how will the new interface work compare the old one?
My normal iPod usage is very simple: Play music in album by shuffle. Normally I do not interface with the device at all.
What I never really liked about the old iPod was the not very easy way to change the volume because with the click wheel I never got it right, on the other hand the click wheel was a very good interface to go through the list.
The new list interface, exactly like on the iPod Touch or iPhone.
Now the list is one thing that has changed, it got much bigger, because it now has to be able to be selected by a finger, not really a problem for me, because normally I do not much go through the list.
The volume control on the new iPod is much better, there are now two buttons on top and therefore give an easy interface to it. Often important if some music is very quiet and other is very loud.
Now my most negative point, there is no shuffle by album anymore. I was very shocked and asked myself. WHY? Why would they remove it? Is the hipster Starbucks Frappuchino Mocca Latte drinking iPod welding crowded only hooked on one day hits? For me, a kind of more older person, that still likes those older LP/CDs that were more or less one big track I really cannot get this. I hope this function comes back in an iPod Software updated.
Besides this I really liked the new iPod Nano. It has a radio (will never us it), the interface to the Nike shoes (never use that), a pedo meter (might use it just for fun). It still has an interface to photos (never used that). But it does not have any of the games anymore, or the world clock (none I ever used). It still has a big clock, which can be set to be the first seen.
The play interface.
Now if you do not set this, the first screen is where you can start playing the music, so the first step interface is as easy as with the old iPod. But, because there are no physical buttons for play, you need to take the iPod our of your pocket if you want to pause the music. Something you have to think about, if you are in the group of unseen-iPod-interface users.
So my final remark is. I like the new iPod Nano, except that it is missing the shuffle by Album feature, besides that I see no issue. And if anyone complains that the iPod does not have good sound, I just think you either don’t have good quality mp3 files or shitty headphones.
