Why the iPod nano is Brilliant

OK, so Apple will sell a lot of them — I predict that if Apple can make enough of them, they will *crush* the competition this holiday selling season. *Crush.* They’re going to sell 10-12 million iPods between now and the end of the year (nearly twice their current sell rate).

But that just makes the nano a great _product._ I believe the nano is much more than a great product. It’s a brilliant _platform._

OK, so Apple will sell a lot of them — I predict that if Apple can make enough of them, they will crush the competition this holiday selling season. Crush. They’re going to sell 10-12 million iPods between now and the end of the year (nearly twice their current sell rate).

!/images/ipod/nano-twirl_sm.jpg(The iPod nano)!

But that just makes the iPod nano a great product. I believe the nano is much more than a great product. It’s a brilliant platform.

What do I mean by this? You need to see the size of the thing, compared with other handheld devices. The nano is small, really small. A lot smaller than any other common comparable devices, smaller by half or a third, or more. (Here compared with the Motorola RAZR, one of the smallest and thinnest mobile phones on the market.)

!/images/ipod/nano-vs-razr_front.jpg(The iPod nano compared to the Motorola RAZR mobile phone, front)!

It’s small enough, you could stick it inside most other handheld devices. With room left over. Lots of room.

!/images/ipod/nano-vs-razr_side.jpg(The iPod nano compared to the Motorola RAZR mobile phone, from the top side)!

In other words, the Motorola ROKR is merely the first device that Apple could be putting an iPod into. A fully functional iPod, complete with click wheel and color screen. Inside virtually anything you’d care to carry around with you. While still doing all the same things the phone/organizer/camera/GPS/etc. ought to do.

I expect to see them starting at Macworld Expo in January 2006.

6 thoughts on “Why the iPod nano is Brilliant”

  1. I know you two are big fans of audio books, so I thought I will post a question here , for the experts.

    In regards to audiobooks on the Nano, did you ever have problems with the nano ‘locking up’ for a little while (audio still played, just could pause etc) using v1.2 firmware.
    Please read this to explain a bit better. Email back if you want.

    http://forums.ilounge.com/showthread.php?t=177366

  2. Great article. I am curently in the market for a medium-sized (capacity-wise) MP3 player, and your side-by-side comparison with the Razr really helped. I’ll still keep my regular size iPod for longer trips and my Shuffle for workouts (since it’s less prone to scratch and virtually indestructable).

  3. Yo, personally being a DJ myself, the ipod nano does not have enough capacity. But otherwise the nano is crazy… who cares about the screen.. buy a cover… plus its so small its amazing.. if i did not need to carry tons of songs i would easily buy this one.

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