First Impressions

I ordered my iPod Nano over the internet from Apple’s official website and it took approximately two weeks to arrive to my humble home in the middle of Europe (all the way from China). In addition, I had also ordered those iPod socks because they were so damn cute and would help my iPod from getting scratched (more on that later). I was extremely surprised at the size of the packaging since I received two packages of absolutely identical weight and size. For a moment, I doubted that one of the boxes even contained the iPod within it since they were tiny beyond belief

Anyways, once my initial shock had worn off, I opened the cardboard boxes to find a small pack of iPod Sock and my brand new Nano (both completely undamaged after the long flight). Apple had packed the small music player in an extremely stylish, yet minimalist box. Once I had taken everything out, I looked at what was bundled with my Nano and found it to be a bit lacking. You only receive a CD-Rom with iTunes on it, a proprietary USB cable, a dock adapter, a few manuals in different languages (English, French and German) and the famous iPod headphones.

I was surprised that there wasn’t a wall charger or anything of the sort (and was quite disappointed). But apart from that inconvenience, Apple supply everything you need to get up and running with the minimum of fuss.

So what is the Nano really like? Is it really as thin as everyone says so? Is it fragile and scratch prone? Does the screen break easily? Those are just a few of the questions everyone has been asking about the Nano. So first of all, yes; the Nano is extremely thin. You can look at some comparison photos I have taken of it against some common household items, in order to better portray its dimensions. It’s the thinnest electronic appliance I have ever owned by a long shot.

One of the disadvantages of most music players is that, due to their size, they are not very convenient to carry around. If you are wearing a jacket it’s not much of a hassle but during the summer, having a large music player in your shirt pocket is not always practical - hence some music players just don’t make much of an impact on the market, no matter how good they really are. Most people (including myself) don’t like big bulging things in their pockets, always going for sleeker and thinner objects. The beauty about the Nano is the possibility to fit it in your pocket and walk around without anyone noticing it and without it bothering you. For many, it might just be a small detail but to me, it’s extremely important and one of the major deciding factors to buy it.

A delicate subject about the latest small iPod from Apple is its build quality. It all started on a small website and even made headlines on CNN – it seems that some Nanos are prone to having cracked screens and scratches. Of course, I was scared that I might experience the same problem (especially considering my usual bad luck) but I decided to trust Apple and buy one anyway. Was it a wise choice? Well sort of. The first thing I checked my Nano for was a broken screen and I found it to be intact on arrival. And ever after pressing hard on the screen, carrying it in my pocket and putting it through other various tests, I was pleased to see that the screen didn’t crack, even though I use it daily for the past few weeks. However, after only a few minutes of having my iPod, it was scratched and smudged beyond repair.

I just felt very sad since I wanted to keep my Nano in perfect condition, but I quickly realized that this was impossible. Apple must have done it on purpose since the Nano is just unbelievably scratch-prone no matter what you do. As I mentioned before, I bought the iPod socks too when I ordered my Nano – the only reason I did that was to protect my music player, and since they are made out of cotton, I wasn’t expecting any problems really. But imagine that; even their soft fabric scratches the iPod! They say a picture speaks a thousand words, so take a close look at how my iPod became after a few weeks of normal use. Note that I always had it inside its sock, and that didn’t prevent the damage.

To close this section, let me mention a few things about the iPod socks. First thing to say about them is that they are extremely cute. Nobody can deny it and everyone from my mom to all the girls I know simply adore them. They come in several colors (pink, green, blue, orange, purple and grey) and are made out of 40% cotton. The good thing about them is that they can stretch quite a bit, meaning you can easily fit something slightly larger than a Nano within them. It’s helpful to protect some items from damage but apart from that, they are quite useless so only buy these if you have some extra money lying around (8 socks for 29$ is a lot) or want to be mobbed for their cuteness.