A friend of mine took me for a spin in her brand-new car. Even as a passenger, a new vehicle is a treat. Everything is pristine and you kind of want to sit up straighter, like you're at church. The dashboard was smartly designed, with subtle use of variable-color LED illuminators and screens to guide the eye through what could be baffling distractions of information. Its console touch-screen was as slick as any smartphone. Supermodern all the way!
Except for the source of the music: a scuffed-up second-generation iPod Nano with a cracked screen. No wonder she stuffed it out of sight, in the armrest, plugged into one of the USB ports. But when I think about it, using it instead of her phone is brilliant.
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The space on your phone is way valuable: If you run out, you suddenly can't take any more pictures, download software updates or get critical email attachments. Why not move those 2 to 8 gigs of music onto an out-of-date iPod that's just displacing air in a kitchen drawer?
Plus, the connection to your car can be fiddly. Either you have to attach a cable every time you get into the car or you have to wait for Bluetooth to find your phone (and Murphy's Law remains in effect). With an iPod living inside the armrest, you can listen to music while you do all of your preflight stuff.
And, frankly, iTunes has begun to stink at syncing the music libraries on phones. But an iPod that can't run apps is in an express lane: Your playlists land on the device quickly and without fail.
Once connected, the music on a 2007 iPod works exactly the same through your console app as it would on a phone. Sure, you have to take the thing inside to sync its content. But I've got the phone for Spotify and the freshest meat: The iPod is my library, which doesn't require constant churning.
I have genius friends. And, now, a 16-gigabyte Nano in my glove box.
Andy Ihnatko is a nationally known tech writer and Cars.com contributor.
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