Gartenberg on the iPod Nano

Hands On with the iPod Nano:

I had a chance to chat with Steve Jobs about the decision to drop the mini and go with the shuffle and I believe it’s a pretty wise move. With mini competitors like the Dell DJ and Creative Zen Micro, it was getting hard for the mini to stand out of the crowd. Apple could have done the expected and upped the capacity of the shuffle to 2gb and tweaked the mini but instead chose to take the road less traveled, to kill a successful product at the peak of success and create a brand new family of product. But making decisions like that is how you make all the difference.

This chimes with the way I see it too. In the conversations I've been able to have about the iPod nano so far a few things stand out: The move to the iPod signature look and (almost) full-feature set is hugely significant, and will make this device connect with the those who aspire to own the iconic player; the miniaturisation is stunning, and plays to Apple's strengths in getting this stuff right before the competition have figured it out; the price is $50-75 more than many people would have hoped – in other words it's spot on (remember the mini was the same, and they sold as many as they could manufacture, dropping the price a little when demand settled. In all, I'll miss you iPod mini; you've been a great little (silver) bulge in my pocket, but I'm greatly looking forward to meeting your highly-evolved descendant. My podcasts, latest music purchases, a few photos, notes and calendars, all in a (black) package that I don't even notice carrying. 3 days to shipping is just too long to wait. Can I cancel my order and buy it retail this weekend?

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