Tabs in iTunes 5.0

Ok, before I write anything else, let me say I was wrong. To quote myself: "...why would Apple move to a flash-based iPod mini? Isn't it the shuffle's role to go after the flash-based music player market? Apple typically keeps very distinct lines between products, and as such I don't see a "merging" of the hard drive players and flash players." Eh, what do I know? Anyway, here are a few observations on the day.

I've finally had a chance to sit down and check out iTunes 5. I've got to answer C.K.'s poll with a thumb's up. I really like the new tabs in the iTunes Music Store's front page. Now we can view eight albums at a time, and jump between genres easily. That's pretty nice, but for me this update is all about the folders in the playlist column. For clutter-phobics like me, that's a dream come true. More after the jump.

As for the iPod nano...I just can't buy one quickly enough. Yes, I know that the price is a little high ($250US? I'd like that to be closer to
$200), but just look at that little thing! I am a bit surprised that it replaced the iPod mini, though. I have an iPod shuffle, and the truth is I do miss the display on occasion. When I want to hear that particular song, I can either skip like a maniac thirty or forty times,
or select "shuffle" and hope I get lucky. I would have liked to see displays across the line.

As for the phone, all I can say is "finally." I don't own a cell phone,
so I can't really get excited about this one. Still, it will be nice to stop putting up one erroneous post after another.