New iPod From Apple

Apple Inc.’s new iPod, which went on sale Saturday, may look like an oversized iPhone or iPod. And it runs the same operating system, and most if not all the applications already available for those devices. Yet the experience of using the iPod turns out to be surprisingly different. Almost like learning a new language. Luckily for them, though, Apple has made the new language both elegant and very easy to master.

The 9.7 Inch diagonal Backlit screen is great for watching high Definition videos, playing games or reading, at least in normal conditions. The screen is something of a fingerprint magnet, though; keep a good cleaning cloth handy. The One of Feature is a convenient backlight control accessible from the iphone books.

The iPod’s screen size makes Web surfing a nice experience, except for one thing. Like the iPhone and iPod Touch, the iPod doesn’t support Adobe Systems Inc.’s widely used Flash animation software, meaning that video clips on thousands of sites won’t play. Apple’s Steve Jobs may have his reasons Apple says Flash consumes too much power, among other alleged flaws but those empty boxes on so many Web pages really are a distraction.

The ipod is more like a hardback: substantial, more enjoyable in a visual and tactile sense, but bigger and heavier. I haven’t yet tried reading on the iPod at the beach.

The new iBook store has many fewer volumes available than the Kindle. But the books it does have, which seem to include most current titles, look like real books, with color illustrations, a paper like feel and even the ability, if you stop in mid page turn, to see the words on both the old and new pages.

That kind of slick animation, and the iPod’s general speed and responsiveness, are products of the custom designed Apple micro processor called the A4 that’s at the heart of all models. They start at $ 499 for a unit with 16 Giga Bytes of solid state storage, and Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity; 32 and 64 Giga Bytes models will be $ 100 and $ 200 more, respectively.

There are good reasons to be skeptical about the iPod’s potential as a device for productivity. Unlike a Microsoft Windows PC or Mac, it doesn’t run multiple applications at the same time. Storage is limited, and carrying the add-on keyboard might be a pain. With no camera, at least in version one, the iPod won’t be handling video Conferences over Skype.

Still, because the iPod is so different from what’s come before, it may take a while before we figure out just what it really is, and how it will be used. Ultimately, its users, app developers and content publishers will have more to say about that than Apple itself. Right now, the possibilities are vast.