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TMCNet: The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., Etan Horowitz column: Now is a good time for neophytes to catch up with the iPod

[September 21, 2008]

The Orlando Sentinel, Fla., Etan Horowitz column: Now is a good time for neophytes to catch up with the iPod

(Orlando Sentinel, The (FL) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Sep. 21--When Apple released the iPod in October 2001 it cost $399 and held just 5 GB of music, or about 1,000 songs. The new line of iPods that Apple introduced last week range in price from $49 to $399, can hold up to 120 GB of music (30,000 songs), videos and photos, play games, surf the Internet, access e-mail or download music.

So what's changed in seven years? Why should you care that Apple refreshed its line of digital music players?

Well if you're happy with your iPod or music player, you might not care. But if you've been holding out on getting an iPod or thinking about getting a new one, now is a good time to buy.

Although each year the price of an iPod goes down while its storage capacity goes up, the new 8GB iPod nano is the perfect size and price for someone who's never had an iPod before and doesn't want to shell out a ton of money to join the party. It can hold up to 2,000 songs or eight hours of video and costs only $149. There's also a 16GB model, which costs $199. (If you're looking for an even better deal, check out the "Refurbished iPod" section of Apple's online store.)

The new nano is the first iPod that does an equally good job of being small and light enough to strap to your arm while you work out while still having a big enough video screen to let you comfortably watch a movie or TV show while you're on a plane -- though the two-inch screen may be too small for some. Video viewing isn't perfect, as some of the names in the opening credits of an episode of Mad Men could not fit on the iPod screen.

It's amazingly thin (6.2 millimeters, or about as thick as two business cards) and it has an attractive curved aluminum design with a curved glass screen. It's so small that it barely takes up any room in a pocket or purse.

The nano has some neat features that come from its more high-profile relatives, the iPhone and iPod touch. It has an accelerometer, so that when you turn the nano horizontally, photos and album covers switch to a landscape view. The accelerometer also makes playing games a lot of fun. The nano comes preloaded with three games, including one addictive one called "Maze," in which you tilt the nano to maneuver a ball.

There are also some new features that are unique to the nano, a few of which might appeal to older people and the visually impaired. You can increase the size of the iPod's font so it's easier to read song, artist and album names, and you can also enable the iPod to speak menu names and song information. And there's a fun new feature that lets you shake the nano to shuffle to the next song (you can turn it off so the song doesn't change while you're running).

Another thing that has changed in the past seven years is our expectation of how we want to access entertainment and information. These days, many people expect to be able to check their e-mail, surf the Internet, download and listen to music while they're on the go. If you're one of these people, you might want to check out the revised iPod touch, which isn't a whole lot different from the original version released last year, but is cheaper.

The touch remains the best iPod for viewing video and the new model is smaller and lighter than the original. It also has physical volume controls and a built-in speaker. It sells for $229 for the 8GB model, $299 for the 16GB and $399 for the 32GB model. Like the original version, it's basically the iPhone without the phone, so you don't have to sign a contract with AT&T to use it, but you can access the Internet only when you are connected to a wireless network.

The introduction of the App Store (also available as a software update to the previous version) makes the touch more useful when you aren't connected to the Internet because there are dozens of games and services (many free) that you can download.

Finally, the new nanos and the touch include an interesting feature called "Genius" that lets you create playlists and discover new music. To use it, simply select a song for Genius to use as the basis for your playlist. From there, the program picks similar songs to make the playlist.

You can create Genius playlists from your iPod and while using iTunes on your computer.

My music collection isn't huge, so Genius had trouble creating playlists, but the ones it did create made sense and provided a handy way to quickly play the best of my music without having to keep hitting the shuffle button.

Etan Horowitz can be reached at ehorowitz@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5447. To read his technology blog, visit OrlandoSentinel.com/techblog.

To see more of The Orlando Sentinel or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.OrlandoSentinel.com.

Copyright (c) 2008, The Orlando Sentinel, Fla.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

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