After having the new ***iPod|http://www.apple.com/ipod/*** for three days, here’s what I have to say about it:

First, I skipped three generations of iPod when I did this upgrade. So many of the features that are “new” to me are really from one of the previous generations.

It’s great to have 20 GB of space to store music in. I had just reached the 5 GB limit on my old iPod, but I think 20 GB will do fine for a while. I have 6.08 GB on there right now.

I like how the iPod automatically pauses when the headphone jack is unplugged, and unpauses when plugged back in. This makes it easy to take it from the car in to work, and vice versa.

The touch/click wheel is cool. The 1G iPod had an actual scrolling wheel that could come off easily, and did many times in my case.

There’s a ‘music quiz’ game which is kind of fun. It chooses random songs from the iPod, and gives you a short clip from each one. As it’s playing, you have to choose from a list of possible song titles. Fun way to pass the time. There are also three other games – Solitaire, Parachute, and Bricks… also good diversions.

The backlight fades in and out, rather than just snapping on and off. A nice, if pointless and time wasting touch. 🙂

Though the height and width of the device are the same as the first generation, the thickness is significantly less. Check out these comparisons:

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iPod versus casette|ppp

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iPod versus iPod|ppp

I think we have a winner!