Well, this time I'm spending a couple minutes to introduce you to the iPod nano. And, like the subject of this post says, this thing is tiny. (I was trying to start a trend of all subjects being song lyrics, but I couldn't think of a good one for this post.)

So what's so cool about it? Well, besides being small, it basically has all the features of my more expensive and much bigger iPod. It's only got a lot less space. You can store your photos, listen to podcasts, and play games. Plus, exclusive to the nano (at least for now) is a stopwatch, multiple clocks for different time zones, and a screen lock that keeps others out of your music and settings.

How did it get so small? Well, the iPod nano uses flash-based memory (like on your USB keydrives) instead of a hard drive. This is only now an option for Apple because, a year or two ago, flash memory of the size of 2GB or 4GB was way too expensive it was even feasible to put it on a chip. Plus, they've perfected almost everything about it these days, so they can make it really small.

The fun thing about keeping up with the technology geek community is the things they do with their nanos just seconds after they get them out of the package. First, somebody in Japan took it apart before hardly anyone in America had one. Then Systm took it apart and recorded the process on video. And now, Ars Technica included a stress test with their review of the nano. Let's just say that if you drop it out of a speeding car a couple times then run it over a couple times, you should still be able to hear your music. (Oh, and you probably won't need the Best Buy extended warranty for it with those kind of specs.)