Nanonano

After a lot of struggling with my inner demons… I finally succumbed to getting an iPod Nano.

In fairness, I think it was a very reasonable acquisition – after all, I chose to get it over getting a iPod Video. Making [somewhat] reasonable decisions is very difficult when one has technolust.

Anyways, the Nano is one of those innovations which I fell in love with the moment it was unveiled. You can read from my past posts that unlike other people, I don’t just ogle over everything Apple spits out. Sure they’re all impressive to some point, but if you try analyzing the technology for it’s actual benefits and use, you’ll see that Apple products aren’t that impressive all the time ¹ I submit the Shuffle, the Mighty Mouse, Cube, old iMac, eMac, among countless others as products that were hits… for about five seconds hehehe.

Anyways, there’s another day for that whole bitterness of mine. Point is: the Nano, though expensive, is something that is true to Apple’s supposed mission: AN INNOVATION. No matter how much you may hate Apple, I don’t think there’s no one in their right mind that would diss the Nano for what it is – a really friggin’ small TRUE iPOD (Shuffle sucks!).

Of course my dilemma ever since was as much as I was lusting over it, I was pretty certain that it was just because it was damn sexy. I don’t deny it’s functionality as a legitimate iPod… but I already had one. I hadn’t a reason to get another – until I realized the hassle of lugging a bulky iPod during trips.

I don’t like “clipping” iPods in my pocket/belt, so I usually just put them in my pockets. Of course my 60GB Photo is already thick as it is, so the only way to minimize added size for protection is to get a thin silicon casing. So do the math: rubber and thick iPod = hassle to put into pants (unless they’re really loose) Not to mention that if you put it in your shorts, you have a whole wight problem tugging downward. These are the problems I’ve been plagued with ever since, but only during my trip to Australia did I really snap and decided I need another, thinner model.

My first choice was to upgrade to a video since it was supposedly thinner. My sister has a 30GB Video, and it is indeed considerably thinner. But of course the price would mean I’d have to sell my 60GB Photo. Now space was an issue to me. Naturally, for me to upgrade to a video, it would have to be a 60GB model too. But then I noticed how much more I had to shell out to get the new unit. Not to mention it was still pretty thick.

So I was thinking: Still thick and shell out a lot of extra green. The only real benefit was of course the video support – but after thinking a lot, I decided I really didn’t need the video that much to justify the cash I had to shell out. I imagined that I’d definitely be using the Video feature a lot for say the first few months… then like all others, the iPod Video would return to the simple audio player it was ultimately designed as. So in the long run, I just shelled out cash for something my Photo was already doing!

Simply put, I’d rather see the price premium go to a feature where I’d know I’d appreciate in the long run. That’s where the Nano comes in. I must admit that 4GB even now will never cut it for me. The Nano, through no fault of its own, disappoints me in that area. The difference however, is that I don’t have to sell my Photo – so I still have a 60GB unit at my disposal (which believe me, is a factor that geek reasoning can justify ² The need to have that large space just in case you need the space – it gives us geeks peace of mind. ). Now the price premium goes up a notch since I’m not “trading-in” anything. But at least I know where the price premium is going to – the size. Granted a Nano is on the pricey side, but as of now you literally can’t touch its value as a portable player. I need not get into the whole size thing – just hold one and you’ll know. But other than that, there’s the whole flash-memory based bonus ³ Which is basically the ONLY legitimate argument for those losers who got Shuffles. which means it’s more resilient to impact (no moving parts), and a longer battery life (draws less current).

So simply put, I thought about it a lot before I actually got it obviously… else I would’ve gotten it the first day it was released. And I’m pretty happy with that decision.

Oh and FYI… in case iPod users aren’t aware, you don’t have to buy the Apple USB adaptor so you can use your cable on a wall socket. You can get any USB to wall adaptor that can charge your cellphone and it will work… at much less the price. Why pay 30 dollars when you can get one for 6 – mine was 300 pesos.

I just tried plugging the cable of my Nano to the USB wall adaptor I got for my XDA, and it apparently works!

I’m guessing if you already have the Apple wall adaptor, you can similarly use it with you regular USB powered devices. USB power rails have set voltages as a standard. If you don’t believe me, then think of this: if you have devices that work computer USB terminals, then for a wall/car/etc. adaptor to work on it… without frying it, it should give as much juice as the computer (give or take more or less, but not too far from specifications. Now unless computer/motherboard manufactures suddenly decide that each USB terminal should have different specifications, I’m led to believe that even for power, it literally should be a UNIVERSAL bus.

So Theoretically, as long as you’re talking about power, USB terminals by nature should be interchangeable – hence my point. There are exceptions of course… but not because there’s a difference in voltage (usually it’s in the milli Amps) but as a rule, it should work SAFELY (meaning you can do trial and error without frying your USB devices)

Having said that -I hope my generic USB CAR adaptor will work too.