iPod nano 6th Generation: Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back?

Partial family photo: 1st, 5th, & 6th generation iPod nanos My first iPod was the first generation iPod nano. You can see it on the left side of the photo above. I skipped the second and third generation devices. The ability to record video on the fifth generation device provided enough of an incentive to buy that model. As you can see from the photo above, the newest nano's screen is just a bit larger than the original nano's. Neither one can play video. You can also see the the new nano's display is significantly smaller than the previous generation's (5th) model. My daughter and I had similar reactions to the new nano: Apple should have kept the screen the same size as the previous generation's and kept the ability to play video. It is, however, ok to lose the ability to record video. The new iPod nano also lost the ability to record voice memos. This was, it turns out, a handy feature as was the small speaker. The iPod nano's touch screen will be very familiar to iPod touch and iPhone users. The icons look the same, tap and hold lets you reorganize screens, the swipe gesture works as expected (perhaps even better than on the iPhone/iPod touch). The only difference is that screen orientation is changed using a two-finger gesture instead of simply turning the device. This, however, makes sense in context of how the nano is used. While the new iPod nano will probably be one of the most purchased items for the 2010 holiday buying season, I believe Apple made a relatively rare marketing misstep by not moving away from the nano branding as they did when they dropped the iPod mini in favor of the iPod nano. Video courtesy of Apple

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iPod nano 6th Generation: Three Steps Forward, Two Steps Back?

Todd Ogasawara

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Todd Ogasawara