I’m always surprised at just how different Apple’s iPod designs look and feel in the hand compared to their first appearance held on stage or displayed across their website. For years now I’ve seen the look of curious puzzlement that spreads across the faces of those playing with one for the first time, as they try to work out why it seems lighter, smaller, or cooler to the than they had been led to believe.

 

Photographs always seem to give the wrong impression, not in a deceitful way, but in some perceptual trick our minds play on ourselves. Apple admits they’ve explored the phenomenon, investing considerable money in trying to photograph their products to convey the right feel, but so far their own industrial design eludes them.

I mention this because it caused an unusual scene at this year’s demo room. After each of Apple’s Special Events they invite the gathered press into a back room full of demo tables and sample products in order to give them some time to try them out and get a physical grasp on the ideas Apple is trying to market. From one event to the next, a trend has emerged where photographers, bent on trying to capture a more realistic image of the products, have started to take over the demo tables for impromptu and increasingly elaborate photo sessions. At this week’s event, several photographers, frustrated to a point of obsession with the task, had to be pulled aside and spoken to by Apple staff who advised them to give up and use their valuable time actually testing out the new iPods instead.

iPod Shuffle

The new Shuffle can blend in quite easily with your pocket change. Its clickable ring is exactly the same size as a quarter. Exactly. At first glance it may seem like a step back, yes Apple has abandoned the unique buttonless design of their previous Shuffle for the older square look of the model before that, but it’s now smaller, made with a brushed aluminum finish, and includes the Voice Over feature that was the best part of Apple’s no button design.

Yes, this means that a synthesized voice can call out each song title or artist’s name, but no longer will you need to have a special pair of earbuds with built-in controls to use it. Any set of headphones will do thanks to an added button to the iPod itself just for Voice Over. It’s a very practical and rather unstylish choice, but it’s comfortable.

While the Shuffle is available in five different colours, the new silver model, which includes a black version of the clickable ring is so decidedly original and modern-looking compared to the others, that it alone conveys some kind of leap in the Shuffle concept and will surely be the first colour choice to sell out.

iPod nano

By far the most radical of design changes in the line-up is the new nano. So very square and just one step up in size from the Shuffle, the screen looks out of place at first glance, as if a large sticker has been slapped onto the case by mistake. Once you clip it onto your clothing or turn it on, that look makes complete sense as the 1.54” screen comes alive and the display takes on a thick black border.

It’s astonishing that Apple’s multi-touch controls work so well on such a tiny screen. Not only can you use it to flip from screen to screen, but you can hold your finger down to make the icons jiggle and shift them about to customize their order on the screen. Although the feature icons may look like apps at first, the nano can’t actually download or use new apps, but you can activate new icons simply by exploring different features. Adding podcasts or voice recordings to the nano can trigger it to add icons for those features to the menu screen as if you had just downloaded some new apps.

No need for a “back” button, you simply swipe the screen from left to right to return to the main menu screen. The only real buttons on the device are for power and volume.

I’ve yet to try the built-in pedometer or FM radio, but both should get a great deal of practical use. Comparedto the past nanos, the design is more utilitarian and stylish, but the addictive touch screen controls mean that Apple can never go back to the old clickwheel now.

iPod Touch

Still sporting the same esthetic look and screen size, the new iPod Touch is a marvel for being incredibly thin. That’s astonishing when you consider that it has most of the features offered by the thicker iPhone 4. Just how much space does the phone component take up? Quite a bit apparently.

The new iPod Touch sports a metallic backside with deeply beveled edges to allow it to be better cradled in your hand. While the iPhone 4 had to offset it’s front facing camera to compensate for the earpiece, the new touch has no such issues and the camera is centred properly. The rear-facing camera, with built-in mic, almost looks like it’s been stamped into the metal backside, but delivers fantastic image quality.

The A4 processor makes a considerable difference in performance. Apps including Google Earth load with remarkable ease.

As someone who is quite used to using an iPhone 4 I can tell you that the iPod Touch is nearly identical. Just a little thinner, rounder, and considerably less expensive.

While the iPod Touch may offer the smallest physical transformation of the line, it certainly wins as the coolest of the line-up for managing to include so many capabilities into a such an astonishing form factor.