[Macworld]

Post your comments for iPod nano (sixth generation, late 2010) here

[buzglyd]

I can't control it wearing motorcycle gloves so I'll have to stick with my old fatboy nano for riding duty.

[Wiggin]

How can you first say how much better the touch screen is than the scroll wheel and then turn around say how difficult it is to use? Sounds more gimmicky than functional. Sorry Apple, this is a suped up shuffle, not a nano. Maybe I'll just buy a discontinued model before they are all gone.

[Dan Frakes]

Wiggin, on 07 September 2010 - 06:24 PM, said:

How can you first say how much better the touch screen is than the scroll wheel and then turn around say how difficult it is to use? Sounds more gimmicky than functional. Sorry Apple, this is a suped up shuffle, not a nano. Maybe I'll just buy a discontinued model before they are all gone.

As I noted in the article, the Multi-Touch interface offers dramatic improvements over a Click Wheel for a good number of functions. However, the benefits of Multi-Touch are limited by the tiny screen.

[nathanator11]

I bought my nano for the functionality, not the pretty.
Pretty is nice, but not worth trading all these features for.

I thank you, Apple, for increasing the resale value of my Nano G5.

[fixmacs4fun]

Dan,
Are you sure the new iPod nano no longer needs the Nike + receiver plugged into the iPod nano to work with the Nike+ sensor? Have you tried it with a sensor to see if it links up and records a run properly? I'm looking to buy a new nano to run with but it's not clear on Apple's website if you need the receiver or not. Thanks for the information.

[Dan Frakes]

fixmacs4fun, on 07 September 2010 - 06:53 PM, said:

Dan,
Are you sure the new iPod nano no longer needs the Nike + receiver plugged into the iPod nano to work with the Nike+ sensor? Have you tried it with a sensor to see if it links up and records a run properly? I'm looking to buy a new nano to run with but it's not clear on Apple's website if you need the receiver or not. Thanks for the information.

Ah, good catch. I meant to update that before publication. You do indeed need to connect the Nike + iPod dongle to use the built-in Nike + iPod "app." Corrected.

[LSlugger]

For music, my second-generation nano is much more convenient than my wife's third-generation touch.

For contacts, the click wheel and 176 x 132 screen is clunky, but plenty functional. I use it all the time. The touch screen is a premature gimmick if it can't handle contacts on a 240 x 240 screen.

[fixmacs4fun]

Dan Frakes, on 07 September 2010 - 07:02 PM, said:

fixmacs4fun, on 07 September 2010 - 06:53 PM, said:

Dan,
Are you sure the new iPod nano no longer needs the Nike + receiver plugged into the iPod nano to work with the Nike+ sensor? Have you tried it with a sensor to see if it links up and records a run properly? I'm looking to buy a new nano to run with but it's not clear on Apple's website if you need the receiver or not. Thanks for the information.

Ah, good catch. I meant to update that before publication. You do indeed need to connect the Nike + iPod dongle to use the built-in Nike + iPod "app." Corrected.

Thanks for the reply Dan. I was really hoping you were correct. I didn't want to have to buy and connect the Nike+ receiver to the bottom of the nano. The stupid receiver is almost as big as the nano itself. Too bad they didn't add that as a standard feature considering all the features they removed. Maybe they will at some point.

[TrollandRhodes]

Do the three buttons do anything when you're not playing music?

It seems you should be able to hold the Sleep/Wake button to start VoiceOver and navigate it with the volume buttons as before. Or use the volume buttons in a list view to scroll through the list.

If they don't have any functionality now, it could potentially be added in a firmware update.

[JonathanHendry]

"The big question, for me, is why the nano’s screen had to be so small. "

I suspect the image they're going for is that it'll be like an dynamic pin on your lapel, showing the cover of the music you're listening to, with the image changing as the songs change.

[PhilipBrandes]

Any comment on sound quality compared to previous Nanos? It is primarily a music player, after all...

[gerwitz]

JonathanHendry, on 07 September 2010 - 08:15 PM, said:

"The big question, for me, is why the nano’s screen had to be so small. "

I suspect the image they're going for is that it'll be like an dynamic pin on your lapel, showing the cover of the music you're listening to, with the image changing as the songs change.

Nails it. The screen on this new Shuffle Plus is not about control, it's about fashion. The ads highlight this, and it's brilliant; album art becomes the ultimate fan pin.

[wily]

Being on the north side of 50 and requiring reading glasses for just about everything, I wish Cupertino would forego form over function for a change. I have a classic and can't make out the artists name without some assistance and when I workout I prefer to go sans eyewear.