December 17, 2005

Among the few things that people nowadays just refuse to live without is music. Music is one of the most popular forms of entertainment. It provides an easy escape from the problematic world we live in. But in this mobile world of cellphones and notebooks, even music needs to be carried around.

This is perhaps why portable gadgets playing music have carved a huge niche in the market. Thanks to all the advancements in technology, data storage has become extremely easy to manage. We have moved from large bulky vinyls to the smaller and more portable CDs to the current dominant music format — MP3s. Combine all of the above, and carrying around your favourite music has never been easier.

Unfortunately, with the amount of different music players available right now, making the correct choice is extremely tedious and difficult. Should you buy a Zen Micro from Creative or an iRiver player? Just step into a local electronics shop and you will see that there are so many choices that the average user will most certainly get confused.

The latest on the music scene is the newborn in the iPod series: the iPod nano. When you see a nano for the first time, be prepared to be taken aback by the utter thinness of the product, no matter how many analogies you may have heard. But the defining feature of nano is that it is not a derivative of the iPod mini in any shape or form.

With a frontside that looks similar to a fourth generation iPod sporting a colour screen which got shrunk in a washing machine, and a mirrored backside to match, you will initially be under the impression that you are simply looking at a full-size iPod through the wrong end of a magnifying glass.

The iPod nano’s Click Wheel puts music under your thumb. You can click to fast-forward, rewind, play, pause or access menus or you can use the touch-sensitive surface to control volume or browse music.

Finding and playing music on iPod nano is simple. Menu options let you browse by artist, composer, album, song, genre or playlist. If you cannot decide on what to listen, simply click Shuffle Songs. The 1.5inch colour display adds to the fun with creative visuals: album art appears alongside your songs, so you see your music as you play it.

The iPod holds up to 25,000 photos you can sync from your Mac or Windows PC via iTunes. Use Click Wheel to scroll through photo thumbnails the same way you scroll through song titles. To see a photo full-screen, click the centre button. You can even view photo slideshows, complete with music. Just select Slideshow Settings and choose the time between slides, the transition effect and the music.

One of the notable features in the new iPod nano is the calendar and the address book. This feature, which was present in the previous iPod as well, makes this handy machine a multi-functioned one. With support for Address Book and iCal on the Mac or Outlook Express, plus industry-standard vCalendar and vCard files, iTunes syncs your calendars and contacts so you can access everything with a quick spin of the Click Wheel.

The iPod nano’s World Clock lets the user check the time, fall asleep to music and wake up to it, too. Open more than one clock to scroll between as many time zones as you choose. The clock faces appear in white or black to indicate day or night in different time zones. You can also put on the sleep timer which will turn off your iPod after some time. What is more, the user can set the built-in alarm clock to his/her favourite wake-up tune.

Other features include the calendar, contacts and the World Clock appear in Extras, along with a few more handy items. Take the Screen Lock, for example. Use the Click Wheel to choose a four-digit combination and protect the iPod nano from prying eyes. The built-in stopwatch logs the user’s best times. And when it is finally time to play, iPod nano features four fun games: Music Quiz, Solitaire, Brick and Parachute.

The nano can be synchronized to a Mac or PC by a USB 2.0 connection only, although you can charge it over a FireWire connection. The PC setup is very simple and easy to implement. The Setup Assistant keeps giving tips on the different features of the iPod nano. The USB port will be a positive point since firewire ports are not yet common in Pakistan.

Like other iPods with small hard drives, if the music collection exceeds the capacity of the nano, the iTunes offer to create a selection of music. Also, the automatic playlist creation feature is not terribly discerning.

On the downside the headphone jack of the nano is located on the bottom of the device which can be quite annoying for the user. It also means that even though the iPod is slim enough to comfortably fit in your pocket, it will have to be put in upside down position. Also, most iPod sleeves and jackets are already made for the headphone port on top. Therefore, the headphone jack will be a bother to some of the users.

The iPod nano is certainly very small, but it does not have one important feature: the video support in the new player (which is available in the original iPod). According to the manufacturers, this feature was not added due to a limitation of space. However, Apple has planned to put the feature in the up-coming players.

Another issue popular among the critics is the non-availability of a built-in camera. According to some detractors, the iPod feels “incomplete” without a camera. This feature was not seen in the previous iPods either, but it is one which the fans are looking forward to.

Another major defect in the first few iPod nanos involved the cracking of screens. This was immediately resolved and all the iPods with cracked screens were replaced. Also, according to some iPod users, their nanos are more susceptible to scratching than the earlier ones.

Although the nano is made of the same polycarbonate plastic as the fourth-generation iPods, Apple said it does not believe the scratching problem is widespread.

The price is also an issue for the local people. Priced at Rs19,000 (4GB) and Rs17,000 (2GB), there is a very low probability of iPod nanos getting really popular in Pakistan. A person would rather buy a cellphone with a music player rather than spend this amount of money on an iPod. Also, most Pakistanis are not even aware of iPods. Hence, it will take some time before iPod nano can become popular in the local market.

All in all, however, the iPod nano has made an excellent entry, with its small size and all. According to some sources, half a million iPod nanos have already been sold throughout the world. The iPod has almost become a phenomenon and it’s impossible to guess what Apple will come up with next.

The writer mashhoodr@ gmail.com is a freelance contributor