Apple’s rise as the leading light in the portable music industry has been quick and effective. iTunes has been the winning alternative to buying CD’s in shops such as HMV and the easy ‘iTunes to iPod’ system has truly helped Apple monopolize the market in how people get and listen to their music nowadays. Even though the market has moved on to include the new Apple iTouch, the iPod Nano remains one of the most popular and practical music players around at the moment.
Available in a variety of colours from the standard black and white to the more personalized purple, green and blue, you can pick your Nano to match your wardrobe, Football team shirt or just simply your favorite colour and after a few months of it being in your pocket you won’t be worrying about scratches too much. What sets the Nano in such high stead is its simplicity yet futuristic appearance, usually new gadgets are packed full of additional add-ons and complicated button systems leaving you spending ten minutes every time you want to add a new playlist or look at your photo’s but with the iPod I feel comfortable to say its accessible to every age generation. Unlike the new iTouch or old iPod Shuffle the Nano is small enough to slot easily into any pocket without it falling out or being visible to pick-pocketers, this has to make it the most practical portable music player to carry around with you all day long and because of its value compared to the for mentioned iTouch you won’t spend the whole day worrying about scratching it against the keys or loose change you’re carrying around in the same pocket.
There’s no doubt that the ability to rotate your finger around the circle set of buttons to scroll up and down is the unique selling point to the iPod. This function allows you to find the perfect song in seconds, even if you have Ziggy Marley on your list. The graphical display is also faultless, with clear menu layouts and the option to customize every aspect of them; once you spend a few minutes setting your iPod up you won’t have to enter the settings menu again.
Once you get your Nano, you are going to have to sync it up with you iTunes library on your PC. For anyone new to this it isn’t like copying music across to your old MP3 player, iTunes requires you to select the iPod once it has been connected and then select the music you want by either artist, album or your own specifically created playlists. At first this may seem a little complicated but once you get used to it, it is a very good way of organizing your music. For those with old mp3 tracks that haven’t got the artist embedded in the file you are going to have to edit the file manually and then add it to your library for it to be recognized by iTunes and to allow you to copy it to your iPod.
If you’re looking for a portable music player (not an all in one camera/video recorder/Social networking device etc.) just a music player, there’s none better than the iPod Nano. Despite the hefty price tag of around £100 keep in mind that you are getting the official iPod, Chinese replicas for £15 or £30 MP3 players made my Samsung or other makes may do their Job but when it comes to longevity and practicability your be thankful when you buy the Nano.
By Matthew Trevett
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