Apple is number one in the world when it comes to portable MP3 players. What started out as a niche industry by a company named Rio in the late 90s (who almost got sued out of business by the RIAA trying to convince the judge that we didn’t have the right to place-shift our music from CDs to MP3s), has exploded in the past 8 years. Apple leads the digital music industry with over 1.5 billion songs downloaded from the iTunes store. Apple now ranks as #5 on the list of music sellers, behind Wal-mart, Best Buy, Target and Amazon.
The iPod nano is the single best selling portable MP3 player in the world and Apple’s price point has had much to do with its success. By selling a reasonably sized player (previously 1, 2 and 4GB, and now 2, 4 and 8GB) at prices that appeals to kids, their parents, and college students alike, the nano is perfectly positioned in the market. It has been about a year since this product was last updated, and this refresh not only doubles the storage capacity at the same price points but Apple has also brought back something their iPod Mini line was very popular for. Color! Once again we have a variety of colors to choose from in an iPod, this time in a nano. This will likely serve as a compelling reason for folks to upgrade from their old iPod Minis. I fully expect the new iPod nanos to fly off the shelves this holiday season.
So what improvements did Apple make for the second generation nano? Apple has made a number of improvements over the first generation iPod nano - most notably the anodized aluminum case and the different colors, but also longer battery life, a brighter LCD and new UI features like quickscroll and search. I’ve got a first generation iPod, a first generation iPod nano, and my new second generation iPod nano here to see how things have evolved the past 5 years.
eration 4GB MP3 Player - Blue With its anodized aluminum enclosure and rounded edges, iPod nano looks asdazzling as it feels. And it's sleeker than
