By: Toni Mihaylova

When Apple released the “new and improved” iPod nano, fans all over the place went to buy it. It blew the iPod mini right off of the store shelves. However, is it really worth paying $300 for this new iPod, or should we spend our well-saved money on something more worthwhile?

One of the best-known features of the iPod nano is its size. Able to fit into the palm of your hand, and as wide as the width of an HB pencil, this new music player can fit into the smallest pocket of the tightest jeans imaginable. A thousand songs in a gadget, barely the length of your finger, may seem like a miracle, but is the iPod nano’s small size a positive or a negative aspect? Because of its tiny size, the iPod nano is incredibly fragile, and there have been numerous cases where the screen has been cracked, ruining your expensive toy and your investment. All it takes is for one person to accidentally push you into a wall, or an accidental fall and with a small “crack”, all that money you carefully saved and spent on that little gadget in your pocket is gone to waste. So, be careful. If you’re not such an amazingly responsible person, reconsider your choice on buying the iPod nano.

Everything has its good and bad aspects, and although the small size of the iPod nano seems like a negative, here’s something that is definitely a positive. Whenever you buy a device that plays music, whether it be a walkman or and mp3, there’s always the negative part of the music “skipping” if the music player is jostled around. However, the iPod nano uses flash memory instead of a traditional hard drive, and because the flash memory is one solid piece and has no moving parts, it doesn’t and will never skip. So go ahead, take a jog with your new iPod nano, or shake it up and down and all around if you really want to, but your music still isn’t going to skip. Thanks to this improvement, you’ll finally be free of those annoying blanks caused by your music skipping.

A final point to consider is the cost. Most of the increase in cost is due to the fact the memory of the ipod allows you to hold up to 1000 songs. However, most people I know who have some musical device like an mp3 player barely listen or record up to 100 of their favourite songs. You need to ask yourself if you’re really going to use all that space for 1000 songs? What about those other 900 songs.

In conclusion, the iPod nano may seem like an awesome must-have for any music lover, but consider the negatives as well if you’re going to fork over the 300$ to buy one. The iPod nano is an amazing advancement in technology, but think carefully before buying one, or you might just catch yourself regretting spending so much money afterwards.