iPod Nano
 

http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPL...TAgAI0L%2Ftjyw

Has anyone seen this? It's so thin...

i don't care if it has a metal back to it.. i know i'd find some way of breaking the dang thing in half

Do your gadgets need a lot of protective gear or something?

no, they just need to not have the physical properties of vanilla whafers..
http://www.lamisgroup.com/images/bis...rmal_wafer.jpg
http://www.tomshardware.com/mobile/2.../aufmacher.gif

I wonder how tough the Nano is... Didn't some cellarist say in another iPod thread how they threw their iPods into the washing machine and it came out alright? (Were they exaggerating?)

Here's an extensive stress test.

My iPod Shuffle went through the washer and dryer and came out fine. Of course the damn thing died on me the other day. I'm not sure if it had anything to do with it's deep-cleaning, because it worked for so long afterwards.

Here's another extensive stress test

Browse the mp3 player reviews at amazon. Every single one I've looked at has at least one bad review saying the thing broke some short time after it was purchased. I'm wondering if the technology is really ready in this area - or perhaps the effort to make them so light has made them less durable?

I dunno. But it's one of the reasons I've held off from getting a player.

any product with lots of parts will always have a few that just break due to poor craftsmanship on that particular item, just a bad batch of plastic from their supplier, a robotic arm that solders the chips incorrectly calibrated for just a few boards on the line, any number of reasons. There will never be a perfect consistantly functioning product, esp. not an mp3 player, in my opinion. You just have to take what your given and deal with it, hoping that improvements will be made where they can be.

You know, the Nano is so perfectly positioned as a Christmas killer... I can't imagine them not selling a million in the fall.

Apple has outdone themselves wrt marketing. Apple marketing is genius. It is near ideal. The smartest and best marketers on the planet work for Apple.

Absolutely true. But it sure helps to have a good product to market.

There is 1% difference between Apple's product and any other player on the market. A 1% that doesn't really justify an additional $100 in price, but... marketing!

$199 for a 2GB flash player? Why? My 40GB Creative Nomad Zen Xtra was that price a YEAR ago. (Better battery life than an iPod, but the user interface is on the side of the unit and not the front.)

Apple products have always had an emphasis on the user interface along with a larger price tag. Is that marketing, or design? Or both?

You know, I don't the first thing about the innards of the company, but I would guess... I would guess that there is no separation between the two parts, as there is in every other company. At least Jobs has a unified vision of it, as well as a relentless focus on strategy for the future.

I don't buy the products because I am tough on prices. But I am a big admirer of the company. I would love to get a Mac mini.