Brighthand Reviews the Apple iPod mini

Man has always enjoyed music. However, for thousands of years, the only form of music available was "live music." It wasn't until Thomas Edison invented the phonograph in 1877 that we finally had a way to record and play back sound. Still, it wasn't very portable. It took another 100 years, and the advent of the Sony Walkman, before we could easily carry recorded music around with us wherever we went. But that had its limitations too. The more music you wanted to listen to, the more tapes you needed to carry.

Now, a quarter of a century later, there's a solution. The iPod mini is a small, lightweight device from Apple (yes, the same folks that brought us the personal computer) that lets you bring more than 60 hours of music -- approximately 1,000 songs -- with you, anywhere you go. Plus, it can store contacts, calendar, notes and even games, much like a PDA.

Easy-to-use, sounds great

Apple launched the iPod back in 2001, with a $399 model that claimed to let you carry "a thousand songs in your pocket!" Since then Apple has sold more than 2 million iPods (it's now in its third generation of models) and has captured 30 percent of the portable digital player market. And its iTunes Music Store accounts for 70 percent of all the legal music sold online.

A key to the iPod's success is how it sounds. Apple iPods have gained a reputation as having among the highest quality sound of all portable digital audio players, and the iPod mini is no different. It's capable of playing both MP3 and AAC (Advanced Audio Codec) format files. For those unfamiliar with AAC, it was developed by the MPEG group and has a better compression rate than MP3. In fact, songs downloaded from the iTunes Store use AAC.

Another key is its ease of use. From setup and installation (which is a breeze) to the ability to convert CDs and copy the files to your iPod using Apple's iTunes desktop software (available in Mac and Windows versions) to the slick interface on the iPod itself, Apple makes the entire experience a pleasure.

Simply plug your iPod into your FireWire or USB port on your desktop or laptop computer and iTunes automatically launches on your desktop. You can configure it to automatically synchronize your entire music library to your iPod, if you wish, or selectively move files to it. iTunes acts as a hub, storing music you've converted from CDs and downloaded from the iTunes Music Store.

Not Your Father's iPod

While many consider the iPod mini to be simply a sleeker version of Apple's original iPod, there are several notable differences.

First, there's looks. Let me start off by saying that the iPod mini is much better looking in person than in pictures. Rather than the glossy white and silver shell of previous iPods, the iPod mini has an anodized aluminum casing (much like Apple's newest PowerBook notebooks) and is available in five matte colors: silver, gold, pink, blue, and green. Each of the colors are uniquely attractive and you'll likely have as much difficulty selecting one as I did. (I struggled between blue and silver before finally settling on silver.)

Second, there's size. The iPod mini is obviously smaller than the original, hence the name "mini." But you can't really appreciate it until it's nestling in the palm of your hand, or in your pocket. It's about the size of a business card (i.e 3.6" tall by 2.0" wide) and a half-inch thick, whereas the original iPod was about the size of a man's wallet (i.e. 4.1" tall by 2.4" wide) and 0.62" thick. It's also remarkably lighter, just 3.6 ounces versus 5.6 ounces for the original, and that makes a world of difference. You always knew you were carrying the original iPod; the mini, on the other hand, disappears in your pocket.

However, in order to build a smaller iPod, Apple had to modify a few things. First, the display was trimmed down from 2.0 inches to 1.67 inches. And to accommodate the smaller screen, Apple used a smaller font. But the display appears to be of better quality than the one on my 10 GB iPod. Its backlight is brighter and whiter (rather than bluish) and it seems more readable -- sharper with better contrast -- with the backlight off as well. Second, Apple modified the controls, combining the original iPod's four control buttons -- menu, rewind, forward and play/pause -- and touch wheel into a single clickable scroll wheel. I prefer this more tactile design over the previous iPods with their electrostatic buttons.

Fortunately, Apple didn't have to muck with the dock connector on the bottom or the headphone jack on the top. This means that many (but not all) existing accessories with work fine with the iPod mini. Unfortunately, Apple did not see fit to include a dock station with the mini, although one is available.

Third, there's capacity. While the iPod mini holds fewer songs than any previous iPod, we're still talking 1,000 songs. That's more than 60 hours of music, considerably more than most other portable digital players. And the key to the iPod's advantage has been Apple's decision to go with a full-fledged hard drive rather than flash memory. This enables it to have higher capacities than most portable MP3 players on the market, which means you can carry around more songs. For example, the iPod mini has a 1-inch hard drive with a capacity of 4 gigabytes and other iPod models come in 15 GB, 20 GB and 40 GB (yes, that's 10,000 songs!) capacities. The downside of using a hard drive is skipping, but Apple's solved this by using skip protection (up to 25 minutes with the iPod mini).

Fourth, there's capability. The latest iPod software lets you store contacts, calendar, notes and even games. (Yes, this software can be downloaded to certain previous iPods.)

Finally, there's price. At $249 the iPod mini is the least expensive iPod to date. However, many industry followers still believe it's slightly overpriced. Apple CEO Steve Jobs insists that the iPod mini is priced right, just $50 above many of the less desirable flash memory based MP3 players with their less friendly interfaces. Based on sales, Jobs may have been correct.

But is it a PDA?

The iPod mini can do more than simply function as an audio player, which has led some to speculate whether it can replace a PDA. Well, yes and no.

One thing it can do is function as a clock, with an alarm and a sleep timer. It's nice to be able to awaken to one of your favorite songs each day. And it also can play games (Apple includes Solitaire, Brick, Music Quiz and Parachute) to help you pass the time while waiting for a flight.

And, yes, it can store contacts, calendar, and notes, much like a PDA.

But, and this is a big but, there's no way to add or modify a contact or an appointment directly on your iPod. And you can't jot down a note either. It's read-only. You can load it up with information from your desktop applications (including Microsoft Entourage, Palm Desktop and iCal) and synchronize it on occasion, but it's information to go, nothing more. (iPod software supports industry-standard vCard and vCalendar files.)

That's not to say that these "extra" features aren't useful. They are. But they certainly fall short of the robustness found in a full-fledged PDA. Whether Apple will expand these capabilities in the future, or even re-enter the PDA market with a new device, only time will tell.

Specifications

Bottom line

Once again Apple has done it. It's combined sleek industrial design with an elegant easy-to-use interface and top-of-the-line sound at a reasonable price. Plus, it's just plain fun!

It's safe to say that the iPod mini will become one of the best-selling gadgets of 2004. The hard part is deciding on a color!