Two observations about the new iPod nano

Apple today presented a new iPod nano which is really small and has a touch user interface. Two predictions:

• The iPod nano makes the iPod shuffle meaningless. It is almost as small and has a display. Psychologically, it might be important for Apple to keep the shuffle, though, because cheaper options help sell more expensive devices. The shuffle could retain its usefulness if it still were a USB stick (as it was in the beginning), but I doubt that will ever happen.


• The iPod nano should become a watch. Steve Jobs already mentioned that one of the board members will strap it to his wrist. A nano watch would have many of the innovations of the Mutewatch (charge via USB, touch interface, etc.), but be more versatile. All that is needed is a “watch mode” where a single tap on the surface shows the time. Otherwise, the display would not be switched on, which should lead to the battery lasting long enough for comfortable watch use.

Update: You can read more about the iPod nano on Edgadget. Apparently, you can already configure your nano to behave like my hypothetical watch mode. Alas, it does not have an alarm, because it has no external speakers. Thus, for a watch, some kind of beeper would have to be added (which should not take up too much space), much like the first iPod touch had.