I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that the advent of the Apple iPod revolutionized mp3 players. The look, the style, the sound quality, the navigation, the features, the seamless integration with iTunes and other services, all these separate components added up to a spectacular and revolutionary mp3 player. Each new mp3 player that Apple has released has pushed the envelope for design and all around use. First they miniaturized the iPod with the iPod Mini. Then they miniaturized that, and by getting rid of the LCD screen were able to offer the Shuffle for unheard of low prices for an iPod. Now they've gone to the next level. The Apple iPod nano.

But will it really revolutionize mp3 players? Yes. And here's why:

Size and Storage

Take the iPod, shrink it, shrink it again, and then shrink it one more time and you have the iPod Nano! It's no thicker than a pencil and slides right into your back pocket without even noticing, literally! The nano is smaller than most other flash mp3 players, but has something that none of them do: 2GB and 4GB file capacities. No flash mp3 player has the kind of file capacity that the nano has. And what this means is that you can store a previously unheard amount of music on an mp3 player with no moving internal parts, i.e.- a completely skip free player.

Signature iPod Quality

Remember that this is an iPod, so you have unmatched usability and sound quality. The player comes with the Apple signature click wheel and navigation system. It hooks up seamlessly with iTunes and other standard Apple software. The sound quality, as with all iPods, is excellent.

Brand New Features

The iPod nano comes with a full color screen which can display multiple image file formats in a crisp high quality format. It also now syncs up directly with Microsoft Outlook and Outlook Express for contacts and colander functions and to-do lists. One of the coolest and most useful new features the nano comes with is a stopwatch and lap timer. Because it's small and flash based, the nano already is great for working out, but the stopwatch can record many lap times and then give you shortest, longest, and average lap, as well as your overall time and individual lap times.

The Cool Factor

What can I say? The iPod nano just oozes cool from every angle. It's small and sleek. The colors are hot. The navigation is excellent. It can play music or audio books, display pictures, or even do both at once!

Conclusion

So what's the nano done to push the envelope and revolutionize mp3 players? It's made the largest file capacity flash mp3 player ever. It's added a brilliant color screen to display images. And it's added tons of neat new features previously unavailable on iPods. And it's done all this while not giving up what we have come to know and love about the iPod: superb sound, navigation, and usability. There isn't much negative to say about the nano. At $200 and $250 respectively, the 2GB and 4GB iPod nano sure isn't cheap, but it is unmatched as a flash mp3 player and worth every penny if you want the coolest mp3 player around.