…. UNTIL NOW!

I participated in an online survey a couple months ago and totally forgot about it. The survey had a random drawing for an iPod (which was one of the reasons I took the survey.) A few weeks ago, I got an email saying, “Congratulations! You won a free iPod” and was sure it was like all the other spam I get, but when I looked at the “From” address, I recognized it. Could this really be legit? I read the e-mail and sure enough it was the survey I had taken and all they asked for was my home address. I figured, what the heck, the worst that could happen is that I would get yet more junk mail in my mailbox, so I replied.

Sure enough, I found this on my doorstep a week later!

It’s a 2GB Nano. Sure, I would’ve rather had the 4GB version, but hey, free is free.

Apple always does such an amazing job with their packaging. It really does make you feel like you are taking part in an “experience” rather than just buying yet another knick-knack. Other companies would do well to take some lessons.

I really like the Nano. I’m a big fan of the music players with solid-state memory (the ones with hard drives, not so much.) The Nano (and really the interface to all of the iPods) is a designer’s dream. It’s simple, easy to use, and just makes sense. It’s easy to access the songs you want, set up the playlists you want, or just set it on shuffle and see what you get. The Nano also can apparently show photos, though I haven’t really figured out the benefit of that yet. (Why would I want to view photos on such a tiny screen?) I already have a 1GB Shuffle and it goes almost everywhere I go. The Nano is nice for a little bit more storage and it makes the random play a little more well, random.

After a couple weeks of using it I’ve figured out some of the pros and cons of the Nano vs. my Shuffle. The Nano’s surface easily scratches (almost too easy, I’ve already scratched it up quite a bit.) I’m glad it came with a protective sleeve. Also, the backlit screen drains battery power very fast, I think I have it set now on the shortest time length. The click wheel and the screen on the Nano give it the appearance that it is much more fragile than the Shuffle (which after using for almost a year now, I have come to the conclusion is nearly indestructable.) I do like the ability to select the song I want to hear, on the Shuffle I have to upload the music in some logical order (alphabetical by band, or chronological) and rewind or fast-forward to the song I want to hear. I also like the ability to plug the Shuffle directly into my computer to recharge and synchronize, but I understand that adding a USB plug on the Nano would ruin its sleek design. Nonetheless, I fear there will be a day when I lose the cable that connects the Nano to the computer.

All this to say, each of them has their ups and downs. I think I will continue to use my Shuffle for running and working out (the lanyard makes it very easy to use it hands-free and it’s taken a beating from running and still looks almost new) and the Nano will be a road-trip/leisure activity type of music player. I feel very, very spoiled to have two iPods, but I must confess I can think of good uses for each of them.