From the All That Is Old Is New Again Department comes this: The new state-of-the-art high-tech iPod Nano is being used as a wristwatch.
Turns out that the compact portable music player, with its 1 1/2-inch-square screen, has a function that tells time. Not by using a digital readout but by creating a digitized analog clock face. And, we assume, instructions on how to tell time using big and little hands.
Because the small clock face is reminiscent of the face of a wristwatch, it didn't take long for people to start attaching the iPod Nano to wristbands and wearing it as if it were a watch.
During his announcement of the new Nano earlier this month, Steve Jobs, the head of Apple, said, "One of our board of director members is going to clip it onto an armband as a watch."
Good thing that big watch faces are the trend these days.
The iPod Nano is designed to go for 24 hours continuously before needing a charge, so there shouldn't be worry about draining the battery.
After a few minutes of no activity, the screen goes dark. But it can be awakened from its sleep with a touch and will display the correct time again.
Making it into a wristwatch is easy, although several companies have seen the opportunity to make it even easier by selling wristbands designed specifically for the iPod Nano.
But all you really need is a one-piece watch band. The Nano has a spring-loaded clip on the back. Just attach it to the band and you're ready to go.
There's a fairly basic cloth strap sold by Country Comm for $17. iLoveHandles sells a strap that appears more like a traditional band for $20. Incipio Linq adds a shell for the device for $25 and additional straps for $10 each.
Similar bands can be found online and in watch shops for the same price or less. Just not specifically made for the iPod Nano.
Heading into a watch shop for a band might seem particularly cruel. Those stores were already dealing with a trend among young people to use cellphones to tell time instead of watches. Now this. Strapping on a music player that has a clock face.
But Dave Donaldson, co-owner of Donaldson Watch Repair in Tempe, doesn't think the iPod can supplant wristwatches forever.
"The younger generation may be wearing an iPod Nano," he said, "but when they get to a certain age, they graduate. It's a status symbol to have a nice watch."
Even if all it does is tell time.
by Richard Ruelas The Arizona Republic Sept. 27, 2010 12:00 AM
New iPod Nano tells time, being worn as watch
