iPod Nano
 

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...TAgAI0L%2Ftjyw

Has anyone seen this? It's so thin...

i don't care if it has a metal back to it.. i know i'd find some way of breaking the dang thing in half

Do your gadgets need a lot of protective gear or something?

no, they just need to not have the physical properties of vanilla whafers..
http://www.lamisgroup.com/images/bis...rmal_wafer.jpg
http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/2.../aufmacher.gif

I wonder how tough the Nano is... Didn't some cellarist say in another iPod thread how they threw their iPods into the washing machine and it came out alright? (Were they exaggerating?)

Here's an extensive stress test.

My iPod Shuffle went through the washer and dryer and came out fine. Of course the damn thing died on me the other day. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with it's deep-cleaning, because it worked for so long afterwards.

Here's another extensive stress test

Browse the mp3 player reviews at amazon. Every single one I've looked at has at least one bad review saying the thing broke some short time after it was purchased. I'm wondering if the technology is really ready in this area - or perhaps the effort to make them so light has made them less durable?

I dunno. But it's one of the reasons I've held off from getting a player.

any product with lots of parts will always have a few that just break due to poor craftsmanship on that particular item, just a bad batch of plastic from their supplier, a robotic arm that solders the chips incorrectly calibrated for just a few boards on the line, any number of reasons. There will never be a perfect consistantly functioning product, esp. not an mp3 player, in my opinion. You just have to take what your given and deal with it, hoping that improvements will be made where they can be.

You know, the Nano is so perfectly positioned as a Christmas killer... I can't imagine them not selling a million in the fall.

Apple has outdone themselves wrt marketing. Apple marketing is genius. It is near ideal. The smartest and best marketers on the planet work for Apple.

Absolutely true. But it sure helps to have a good product to market.

There is 1% difference between Apple's product and any other player on the market. A 1% that doesn't really justify an additional $100 in price, but... marketing!

$199 for a 2GB flash player? Why? My 40GB Creative Nomad Zen Xtra was that price a YEAR ago. (Better battery life than an iPod, but the user interface is on the side of the unit and not the front.)

Apple products have always had an emphasis on the user interface along with a larger price tag. Is that marketing, or design? Or both?

You know, I don't the first thing about the innards of the company, but I would guess... I would guess that there is no separation between the two parts, as there is in every other company. At least Jobs has a unified vision of it, as well as a relentless focus on strategy for the future.

I don't buy the products because I am tough on prices. But I am a big admirer of the company. I would love to get a Mac mini.

Anybody have an opinion on what company has the best competition for the Shuffle? Dell is pushing one with a screen for the same price and claims it compresses music more efficiently for more tunes.

iRiver
 

Griff,

Before my fiancee was given a 1GB Shuffle by someone, we were seriously looking at the iRiver because of its external microphone jack and expandability. It also can use Windows Media Player, which isn't bad given the competition :).

I would stay far away from any device requiring either MusicMatch Jukebox, Creative Labs, or Sony software to load the mp3s onto the device. I've found those three to be the most horrible out there. I remember when Apple had to bundle MusicMatch with iTunes. I bought XPlay, and so did 3 people I know, due to how bad MusicMatch is. Dell uses MusicMatch, from what I remember. Sony, for all the good walkmans I owned, has put out garbage for software.

Pretty much anything else seems like a pale imitation, especially anything Creative Labs sells.

Mitch

thanks, Mitch :)

my nanooooooo
:shocking:

more

Dude - you need to clean your mouse!

All of these new iPods are messing my iPod up... all of the software updates and such... I like to think I made the iPod cool since I got mine a long time ago!

The extra cost is justifiable mostly because the iPod nano doesn't HAVE a side (ok, slight exaggeration). And, of course, being a flash player, it's skip-proof.

Point is you could get a 3GB Archos flash player for $150.

Maybe it is possible to be too thin. Apple to replace cracked screens.