the life of a simpleton

Inquiring with an apple-savvy friend, I ask about the newest releases & updates to the apple iPod line:

I went to the site last night and they have new iPods. But it looks like the offering has gotten narrower (which is not a bad thing) but there are no more short little squat Nano's. They are tall and skinny now. I think I prefer the short squarish squat ones. Should I not?? As for the iPod touch correct me if I am wrong on this chronology: they make the iPhone, then the iTouch (which is the phone without the phone), and now the iPod Touch, which is just an iPod with a giant "touch" screen. Is that right?

I have to say, I'm not all that pumped about the updates. Am I just not seeing the cool parts?

Savvy friend replies:

The iTouch you refer to has always been known as the iPod Touch. It was, and still is, an iPhone without the phone. The previous version and current version of the iPod Touch can run all of the applications, have built-in WiFi, etc.... The new version is cheaper ($229 vs. $299 for 8 GB, $299 vs $399 for 16 GB and $399 vs $499 for 32 GB) and has a slightly different design (with dedicated volume buttons), but that's about it. Well, it does have the Nike+ receiver built into it now, but I don't know how much you care about that.

The Nanos... you are getting double the storage for the same money. You also get nifty new headphones and an accelerometer (shake it to shuffle your music, rotates the display when you rotate the iPod). I personally much prefer the tall/skinny design because it is easier to hold and actually use.

Apple added the "genius" feature to iTunes as well as the new iPods (recommends similar songs to the one(s) you have selected, can create playlists for you around that song), but I don't know how useful that truly is. iTunes 8 has some other new features, but I just haven't had time to play with it, so I can't really comment on them.

Apple also updated the iPod Classic to just one model with 120 GB hard drive. My guess is that this is the last version of the iPod Classic Apple will produce. Next year at this time, it will be completely discontinued.

I was actually quite pleased with the iPod updates and I really like the Nanos. If nothing else, the update was primarily a price drop and those are never bad.

Moral of the story?
It isn't very couth to say "I think I prefer the short squarish squat ones."