It's dead, Jim

After 3.5 years of faithful service, my beloved iPod Nano appears to be dead. I've tried everything in Apple's support section but the clickwheel no longer works. Considering how much I use I shouldn't be surprised, but I am. I didn't expect it to just quit. I guess I thought there would be other symptoms first. Oh well, at least the prices have come down on the new ones. Wal-Mart has good deals where you can order it and it will be shipped to your local store in 7 to 10 days.

I couldn't wait that long so I went to Wal-Mart today for a new one. I got a new Nano (i.e., third generation) which means it does everything my old Nano did (podcasts, music, audiobooks, basic games) plus video and video games. This means I can play video podcasts, TV shows, and movies on it. It holds 8 GB (twice as much as my old Nano) and, while I can't remember exactly what the original Nano cost, I'm pretty sure this one was cheaper. Amazing! In addition to the iPod I bought a clear cover because I can't stand the idea of not having a screen protector.

I was surprised and delighted to learn that my old cables (travel charger, lanyard headset, etc.) work with the new Nano. Call me a skeptic, but I assumed that Apple would make each generation of a particular iPod slightly different so that you'd have to buy all new accessories. What a pleasant surprise to learn that I don't!

The new Nano is amazingly fast. It was partially charged so it only took a few minutes to add my music, books, and podcasts. Then I started looking for video podcasts so I could try out that feature. There are lots of free video podcasts available and you can now search iTunes by the type of podcast you want (audio or video).

I'm sorry to lose my old Nano but I think I'm going to like the new one. The Nano is dead; long live the Nano.